John Hornick — Chef’s Apprentice
Here’s a collection of Tastes and Toasts from our recent Travels to Lyon, the Gastronomic Center of the Universe. If you are traveling around France, don’t miss this charming and historic city. This is your gourmet guide to good food, wine, and local ambience.
Where is Lyon?
Lyon is in east-central France at the confluence of the Rhône and Saône rivers, about 470 km southeast (292 miles) of Paris and 50–100 km west of the Alps. It is the capital of the Auvergne‑Rhône‑Alpes region and France’s third-largest metropolitan area.
Lyon calls itself France’s gastronomic capital. I have called it the Gastronomic Center of the Universe for many years.
What’s Its History?
Lyon was founded as the Roman city Lugdunum in 43 BCE and became a major Roman administrative and commercial center.
Throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance it prospered as a trade and banking hub, especially for textiles and silk. In the 1800s, silk weaving, manufacturing, and banking expanded the city.
Lyon has traces of its Roman, medieval, and Renaissance periods. The city’s historic neighborhoods are compact and highly walkable.
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Getting There
We flew into Paris, spent the night, then visited Provence for a week. Then we took a train to Lyon.
To book your trip to Paris or Lyon, or anywhere, and to get good prices, use this Expedia box:
We used United points to fly to Paris. If you have slightly fewer points than you need, you can buy enough to get you a free trip from United. If you want to stay in Marriott hotels and don’t have enough points, you can also buy more here.
We travel with only one bag and a backpack each. I have been using this Pathfinder bag for many years. It has a large compartment with top or bottom access, and a nylon panel can be unzipped to combine the soft upper compartment and the rigid lower. The whole bag is heavy duty, including the retractable handle and wheels, as proven by the fact that I have been using it for well over five years. It still looks new despite having been in many, many overhead luggage compartments, and Sarah just bought one because mine has served me so well for so long. What I like most about it is the pockets. I love pockets and it has many pockets both inside and out.
Where to Stay: VILLA MAÏA
We booked this 5-star hotel through American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts. It is a member of the Leading Hotels of the World. It sits on the hillside, about halfway between the city below and the church at the top, and a short walk from the ruins of a Roman amphitheater.
It was everything we expected it to be and everything that it should be. The level of service was exceptional, from opening taxi doors when we arrived, to leading us through the door that bypasses the revolving door, to remembering our name as we come and go, to having our key ready upon return, and many other small kindnesses that, together, make a hotel great.
All of the concierges were great. We worked mainly with François, whose pride in his Gold Keys beams. He’s like a character from The Grand Budapest Hotel, but real and impressively knowledgeable, connected, efficient, and likeable.
We recommend starting to work with him (or his colleagues) long before you check in, as Sarah did, which eliminates the risk of not being able to get a reservation at the last minute. Also, it’s easy to research and book restaurants online, but nothing compares to the local knowledge and tips that a concierge can provide, as Francois provided to us.
Our room was perfect, with a spacious marble-appointed bathroom and shower room, tub with a window into the bedroom room (and a motorized blind), king-sized bed, comfy chair, bottomless fresh water in beautiful glass bottles, and a furnished terrace.
Breakfast was offered in a sunny breakfast room with a terrace and a few outdoor tables. Outside the breakfast room is a lounge/library, across from which is a small bar and lounge.
The bar lounge also has a balcony with a few outdoor tables that overlook the city below. The hotel also has a spa, which we did not use, and a large indoor pool, which received the coveted SSA (Sarah’s Seal of Approval; she is a swimmer).
We had a great stay and highly recommend this hotel. Click here to book Villa Maia.
Bulle – Restaurant de Fourvière
It’s hard to say which was better here, the wonderful creative food or the incredible view of Lyon.
The first taste of the restaurant is the upper patio, which is dominated by a beautiful old tree, which might be better appreciated if it were not overshadowed by the spectacular view. This is a great place to enjoy a drink and the scenery, separated from the clamor of tourists snapping selfies on the other side of the iron fence.
If you have a reservation for the restaurant (a must), proceed past the bar, down the stairs (or take the elevator), past the polar bear 🐻❄️ , to the long hallway separating the kitchen from the dining room.
Every table in the bright room has a great view through the soaring Palladian windows, but of course tables along the wall of windows have the best vantage points.
There’s also a lower patio for restaurant guests, but it was too cool on the day of our visit to dine al fresco.
Although the menu items are available a la carte and we not planning to have a big lunch, we discovered that it’s more economical to order the four-course option (three savory, one sweet).
For two people, order both of the four course options, which will enable you to sample most if not all of the menu. So we ordered both options and a bottle of Beaujolais, and settled in for a long lunch. Click here to order a comparable wine.
The wine list doesn’t offer many bottles under 50 Euros (our sweet spot for restaurant wines), but our Fleurie choice fit our price range and taste: depth and body.
The highlights of the meal were the marinated prawns with carrot sauce and egg yolk confit (really amazing), the duck foie gras terrine, the steamed hake with cepes, and the red mullet with rockfish soup.
All were excellent, and although we viewed these four dishes as the highlights, the other two savory dishes and the two desserts were also excellent.
We were impressed that the chef and his staff were able to produce such a varied menu at such a high level for as many guests as this restaurant seats (and every seat was filled).
Restaurant Café du Soleil
If you ask ten people to make a list of top bouchons in Lyon, you will probably get 10 different lists, maybe with some overlap. The lists will reflect the author’s likes: old or new, food or atmosphere, quirkiness or conventionality, certain color combinations, etc. Although the food is certainly important to us, it’s hard to get bad food in Lyon, so we gravitate to old-world atmosphere, preferably with some quirkiness.
So Soleil makes our list, partly because of the beaten-up half-round table where we were seated by the window, the large sunflower 🌻 on the ceiling, the Chihuly-esque chandelier, the archways disappearing into the fan vaulting, the murals in the arches behind the bar, the spiral staircase to the tiny balcony dining room, and the random strands of ivy climbing across the room.
There is also ample outdoor seating, with blankets to ward off the chill and a view of the marionette theatre across the street.
We immediately loved the Bohemian atmosphere, stationed ourselves by the window, and ordered a bottle of inexpensive local red. The menu contained many of the usual bouchon suspects, such as the quenelles we coveted from neighboring tables (actually, the menu offers three different quenelles). Sarah chose the Chicken Supreme with morels, which was fall-apart tender and delicious.
As for me, I chose the Iberico tapilla (a cut from the neck), as I do anytime I see any Iberico cut on any menu. It was beautifully browned and thin and crispy and perfect, and surrounded by roasted potatoes, salsify, and carrots bathed in sauce.
Check out my Grilled Iberico Pork Secreto and Iberico Pork Pluma with Spanish Green Sauce YouTube videos.
Workshops Marinette
I don’t usually review retail shops but this is the quirkiest and most unique shop I have ever seen, by far. Offering an eclectic mix of hundreds of items that everyone needs, at some point.
Let’s say you need to rewire a lamp with the great braided cord used in European lamps, or one of the many weirdly shaped brass parts common in such lamps, or glass lampshades or Edison bulbs. Or let’s say you need to match a button, or you want to replace all of the buttons on a jacket.
Or maybe you collect film cameras or their accessories, or you need film for film cameras (which I hear are experiencing a comeback), or you need a clown nose (who doesn’t?), or little tin boxes that once packaged laxatives, or one of the hundreds of other quirky products for sale.
You surely need something from this store, even if you don’t know it.
Bistrot ANCRÉ
Looking for a lunch spot on a cool and cloudy October afternoon, we picked this bouchon pretty much at random from the many restaurants along the Rue Mercière.
It looked inviting, was busy inside and out, and had one available sidewalk table.
The interior was comfortable and cozy, with a hardwood floor, exposed stone wall, and rough-hewn ceiling beams with sky-painted plaster between them.
The menu offered many of the usual suspects of bouchon fare, and the dishes on neighboring tables looked great.
Sarah ordered the quenelle, which was beautiful and excellent. I selected the braised beef cheek, which was luscious and delicious. Both dishes paired with a 45cl of Rhône de Maison. Service was excellent.
Aux Trois Maries
This mid 1800s restaurant named after three saints named Marie is a great spot for a traditional Bouchon experience. Bouchons range in character from rustic and gritty to polished and charming. This one falls into the latter category.
Although it has existed many years, it has been updated with a neat stacked stone wall above a red leather wall-length banquette, black and white checkerboard tile floor, red velvet curtains in the front window, and frosted glass dividers displaying wine choices.
If you dine at one of the outdoor tables your experience will be good but incomplete. Dine inside to get the most out of this cozy spot. The menu is traditional Bouchon.
We started with (and loved) the deviled eggs with truffles and spinach. For mains we shared the onion soup (a delicious meal in itself) and the Salade Lyonnaise (generous on the lardons, with perfect poached eggs).
For wine we chose 46cl of Beaujolais Villages, which paired well with our dishes. Excellent service.
Boulangerie Chez Jules St Paul
Ever since we arrived in France over a week earlier Sarah was craving the lunch she had on her first trip to France many years ago: a fresh baguette with ham, cheese, and butter.
Not wanting to take a chance on picking the wrong Boulangerie, which may have served a disappointing sandwich, we asked the Super Concierge at our hotel (see Villa Maia above), who recommended this one. It turned out to be a great recommendation; the sandwich received the coveted SSSA (Sarah Seal of Sandwich Approval).
Coincidentally, I identified this place the previous day as the source of what I view as the best chocolate chip cookie in town (excellent density and distribution).
We enjoyed both the sandwich and a cookie at one of the shaded sidewalk tables. The only thing missing was wine, but we survived.
Glacier Terre adélice
We were drawn to this ice cream shop by the line of waiting patrons. We checked out the posted list of flavors and concluded they were probably not queuing up for the unusual ones, like Ardeche Mountains Hay or Chicory. So what was the draw?
As it turned out, it was sorbet that tastes like gelato, and maybe the wide selection of flavors (although I didn’t see the Hay in the freezer case). We chose the banana and dark chocolate. The banana tasted very much like bananas and the chocolate was very dark (not as dark as in Prague, which is my world standard, but still excellent, especially since it was a sorbet, not a gelato).
We walked past several times and there isn’t always a queue.
Signorini Tartufi Lyon Saint-Jean
Sarah prefers either that I not enter truffle shops or that I do so only with a spending limit. But she was caught off-guard by the Mademoiselle de Truffe (MDT) stationed in front of the shop, offering truffle samples to passersby. One sample each was all it took; we were inside.
The MDT followed us and described each product. She was very knowledgeable about the terrific tuber and, more importantly, passionate about them. She was also a cook, so she appreciated not just the aroma and taste of this one-of-a-kind ingredient, but also how to incorporate it into a dish.
I’m not sure, but I think the higher-strength truffle products were on the left side of the shop, which is of course where we gravitated. Whole truffles, shaved truffles, truffle honey, truffle cream, truffle chips (in a pepper-like grinder). These were a few of the products.
We left with a goodly supply, sans spending limit. I am imagining a ravioli with the truffle cream in a sauce, and finishing the dish (and many other dishes) with a few grinds of truffle.
The shop also ships. We wish the MDT a great truffle-filled future and we look forward to enjoying our truffle treasures.
La Mère Brazier
Francois the Wonder Concierge recommended this Michelin 2 Star. We don’t usually hunt for stars but we trusted his judgment and he didn’t steer us wrong.
The name means “Mother Brazier” after its founder, chef Eugenie Brazier, who went to the Eternal Kitchen in 1977 but is famous for being the first person awarded six Michelin stars, three each at two restaurants.
Upon arrival, we were politely ushered into the original, elegant dining room, which now has only four tables, the service bar, and a trophy case for the restaurant’s many awards, including several Michelin Man statuettes.
Although the menu offers a wine pairing option, we started by ordering a bottle of red wine from Provence (where we just spent a week) from the extensive wine list. Despite the high level of this restaurant, we were happy to see some economically priced bottles on the list (we don’t like to spend much much money on restaurant wine).
We each ordered one of the two 5-course tasting menus, which allowed us to sample almost everything the kitchen produces. The menu probably changes with the seasons (or more frequently), so I’ll mention only highlights. The first was the generous amuse bouche of creamed corn, haddock, and crunchy corn bits. Delicious. And it could have counted as the sixth course.
We were also blown away by the incredibly tasty spider crab 🦀 and sea crab emulsion with Ossetra caviar. It’s plating was also spectacular.
Another highlight was the Artichoke and Foie Gras Tribute to Mere Brazier. I’ve enjoyed many foie gras pates on this trip and others; this was the best. Although usually paired with a sweet sauce or compote, this foie was paired with artichoke. Perfect.
The line-caught pollack was also excellent, but I mention it also because the wine pairing paired it with Japanese sake, specifically, a Junmai Kimoto. Inspired. Sake pairs more easily with food than does wine.
The restaurant’s take on the ubiquitous local dish, quenelle, was also a highlight. In this incarnation it was a small, rectangular, crispy-topped portion in a beautiful Nantua (crayfish and/or lobster) sauce.
Finally, I must highlight the Grand Marnier Soufflé. With most sweet soufflés, the server punches a hole in the top, through which is poured a sauce. No sauce here, which I thought was strange, at first. But the reason, apparently, is that the soufflé was so unbelievably light and airy that a sauce would have ruined the effect. Beyond excellent.
Among the many off-menu pre-desserts and post desserts to which we were treated, we also enjoyed a glass of apricot wine, which our concierge said was a must. We had a great evening in this great restaurant, on the eve of our 25th anniversary.
Conclusion
This visit to Lyon confirmed my long-time belief that Lyon is the Gastronomic center of the Universe. Whether you explore the Medieval part of town, the 19th Century part, or the newer part, you won’t be disappointed. There’s much to see, much to eat, and much to drink.
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