Carved wood furniture, crown mouldings, antique tiling, beveled mirrors, copper tableware… This legendary spot in the Vivienne neighborhood, founded in 1890 and taken over by Alain Ducasse in the early 2000s, ticks off all the boxes for a Lyon-style bouchon that’s been given a Parisian twist! Marie-Victorine Manoa, a former chef at the Brasserie les Halles 1924 in Reims, brilliantly rekindles the cheeky classics of Lyonnais cuisine. We witnessed proof of her talent the other night: perfectly cooked vegetables (onions, leeks, carrots, celery, etc.) plunged into an extraordinary vegetable consommé and served with your choice of either a vegetable peel or bone marrow tartine; a hearty Bresse chicken prepared two ways – a carefully sliced suprême that was roasted and drizzled in a Philippe Bornard Savagnin vinegar, followed by the thighs served in a Dutch oven with a tasty jus; before a Chirac-esque Chartreuse soufflé paired with pistachio ice cream. Also seen on the table of our well-informed Japanese neighbors: pork trotters and ears served with artichokes in verjus; zander fillet with crayfish; or even a galette bressane made even more indulgent by the addition of salted caramel. // Antoine Antoine
FEELING THIRSTY? A respectable selection of Rhone wines (Gangloff, Métras, Clape…), including a Beaujolais-Villages from Christophe Pacalet for next to nothing (€5 a glass), a Lyonnais-style “pot” of Crozes-Hermitage by Natacha Chave (€30 for 460 ml) and a Côte-Rôtie from Les Jamet (€140 a bottle).
PRICE: Prix-fixe menu €28 (lunch) and €45-70 (dinner).
