Don’t Mess withL

In which we eat our way around town with hometown hero Daniel Boulud and find that all is well in the gutsy gastronomic capital BY ADAM SACHS | Photographs by Helen Cathcart Y is not a bistro. A Bistro: a term deprived of meaning, splashed about globally, indiscrimi- nately. Toulouse has bistros. So, too, Tuscaloosa and all points in between. • The bouchon, by contrast, is a fixed type, a local phenomenon, stubbornly immutable even as the world around it insists on changing. The bouchon does not Recipes by DANIEL BOULUD travel. Only here—where the snaking Rhône and Saône rivers meet, and the shops in the old town are hung with swaddled, pear- shaped sausages called Jésus de and the windows of the pâtisseries piled high with the distinctive hot-pink pralines that figure into nearly all local pastry variants—do we encoun- ter this endemic species, the true workingman’s bouchon lyonnaise. • What does it look like? Not much. Plain butcher’s paper over red-and-white- checked tablecloths. Buttery light on plastered peach-colored walls hung with chipped enamel strainers, whisks and ladles, posters advertising extinct liqueurs and Marcel Pagnol films, pati- nated copper pots and garlands of drying garlic. N

38 SAVEUR.COM S AV E U R . C O M 3 9 And at the center of the room, anchoring it, or we began with a frisbee-sized slice of the house ter- circulating with the chatty patrons, pastry-bound rine, or oreiller (“pillow”). multi-meat pâtés so massively voluminous they are “Foie gras, Guinea hen, chicken, duck gelée,” Bou- named after pillows. lud said, itemizing the pillow’s layers. He took a sip Quality of fare varies, but there is a comforting of and continued: “truffle, duck heart, the rest conformity of ritual in these establishments. They of the duck…” are built to welcome, to err on the side of over-feeding. Boulud, the celebrated king of French gastronomy in Bouchon means “bottle stopper” and there is certainly New York, operates a posh constellation of restaurants wine here, lots of it and none very fancy. (A local par- in Manhattan, , Palm Beach, and beyond. tisan once noted, approvingly, that, in addition to But Lyon is where he is from, where he studied and the bodies of water mentioned above, the city was mastered his craft and it’s the food of this region that served too by a “third river, the , which runs in his blood. The first Café Boulud operated on the never dries up and is never muddy.”) family farm in Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu, twelve or so There’s another explanation for the name: Bouchon- miles southeast of the city. The family Boulud hunted, ner un cheval refers to the act of brushing a horse raised cows, pigs, goats, chickens, squab, and rabbits; with straw. made wine; and sold their cheese, vegetables, and eggs “In the old days these were places where you could at market. The only thing imported was fish, which was have your horse cleaned and fed and you could also bought off a truck that drove by on Fridays. get a little bite,” Daniel Boulud said, quickly glancing “I wanted to get out of the farm so bad!” Boulud at the menu at La Munière. The bouchon menu is not said, smiling. The grow-your-own self-sufficiency— meant to be lingered over or debated. One just orders fetishized and in vogue now—would have felt cloying a lot of everything, much of it shared in communal, to a starry-eyed 14-year-old trainee peeling carrots in all-you-can-eat platters and cocottes. That evening the kitchen at Nandron, then an estimable Michelin

LA MEUNIÈRE 11 rue Neuve Chef Olivier Canal (left) shows off the massive meat-filledl’oreiller de la belle meunière, one of the traditional ways to begin a meal (above) at this classic bouchon lyonnaise which has been given a gentle makeover by Canal and his partners. “These pâtés are like 25 pounds,” says Daniel Boulud, digging in (right).

40 SAVEUR.COM LE SUPRÊME 106 cours Gambetta Gâteau de foie blonde, a pretty chicken liver cake, and tête de veau sauce ravigote are two Lyonnaise classics reimagined at this warm and welcoming modern restaurant owned by husband-and-wife team Yun Young Lee and Grégory Stawowy.

CAFÉ SILLON 46 avenue Jean-Jaurès; cafe-sillon.com Mathieu Rostaing-Tayard turns out inventive, seriously delicious dishes from the small kitchen of this lively neo-bistro with a bit of Scandinavian style. There’s something of the Lyonnaise swagger in Rostaing’s pairings of delicate rabbit kidneys with purple cabbage, and pork confit with chard and maple syrup.

Its bakeries and markets are just part of why Lyon proclaims itself to be the gastronomic capital of .

SAVEUR.COM 41 two-star temple on the quai Jean-Moulin. snouts. “Ah, the schnoz,” Boulud said, enthusiasti- Boulud is the most unstoppably curious, energetic, cally. “Rolled, poached, and sliced thin.” and gracious of chefs, which is why he allowed himself The mustardy salade museau was part of a perverse to be lured away from his parents’ farm and vacationing onslaught of platters that soon filled the table. Jellied family for a series of meals during which I pestered him veal trotters, lentils, (a dense and delicious with a trio of repetitive questions: What’s so great about pink boudin) and potato salad tossed with more sau- ? Why does the rest of this prideful cisson. We had no horses but these “salads” alone country allow this one city to proclaim itself as The would have fed a calvary. Gastronomic Capital of France without putting up a “Don’t get comfortable!” Boulud advised the table. fight? And: Could you please pass the pig’s snout salad? It was our first day in Lyon. We were filling up too To the first two items on my agenda, Boulud offered quickly, like amateurs. Anyway, we were already late a balance of explication and allowing the food to speak for our second dinner of the evening. for itself, which, this being Lyon, it did with swagger. Geography and supply, Boulud advised, were keys he first chef in France to be awarded to understanding its place in French cooking. T Michelin’s highest three-star rating for “The bounty of the region created a cuisine that’s two restaurants at the same time was not rich in diversity. All around there is wine. You have the the globetrotting restaurateur Alain Ducasse in poulet from nearby, the brochet, or pike, coming the 1990s, but a stout and feared Lyonnaise woman L’AUBERGE DU PONT from the rivers and lakes, crayfish, frogs legs,” he said. named Eugénie Brazier in 1933. DE COLLONGES “South of Lyon it is California, a garden all the way La Mère Brazier as she was known was part of a 40 rue de la Plage, down to . North there is the bounty of vegetables remarkable lineage of female chefs that helped define Collonges-au-Mont-d’Or; and to the west, mushrooms and Charolais beef.” the culinary identity of the area and make its res- bocuse.fr Paul Bocuse’s restau- “In Paris the cooking was fancier, more refined but taurants legend. It’s hard to think of an example (in rant, situated just a few it was a different clientele,” he said. “Here it was the or out of France, before or since) where a group of miles north of Lyon, cuisine bourgeoise. The food was gutsier, not so cheffy.” women have exerted such explicit, lasting influence and where he’s known as the grandfather Hungry for un-cheffy things, I mentioned the on a restaurant culture as the mères of Lyon. of cuisine nouvelle, has “She had the biggest cojones in all the region,” had three Michelin Boulud said admiringly as we entered the elegant stars for more than 50 years, longer than quarters of restaurant Mère Brazier on rue Royale WHAT TO DRINK WITH YOUR any other restaurant in LYONNAISE MEAL for our second dinner. Her restaurant in the country history.

In Lyon, diners mostly apricots, lemon confit, gravitate toward robust and exotic fruits. Pair Côtes-du-Rhône and lots with pan-seared foie gras, of rounded and textured cooked rind cheeses, and beaujolais to pair with apricot tarts. the region’s hearty food. Below are four picks Jean Louis Dutraive from Michaël Dell’Aira, “Domaine de la the general manager and Grand’Cour” sommelier of Lyon’s Le (2014 vintage; $30; mwc Suprême restaurant. wine.com): A superbly elegant and balanced Clusel Roch Côte-Rôtie gamay, with notes of (2012 vintage; $50; gar- kirsch, violet, and iris netwine.com): A refined flower. Pair with sausage, syrah from just south of pork, and charcuterie. Lyon, with hints of ripe red fruits (like cherries), Alain Graillot Crozes- truffles, and leather. Hermitage (2013 vintage; Serve with red meat. $30; whwc.com): A full-bodied yet softly tan- Yves Gangloff Condrieu nic syrah, with notes of (2012 vintage; $100; blackberries and spices. hitimewine.net): A dry, Serve older vintages with aromatic white from red meat and younger the viognier grape, with charcuterie. with elements of dried

42 SAVEUR.COM beat egg whites to soft peaks, 3 minutes. 1 Add ⁄2 cup sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Using a 2-cup measure and working in batches, form meringue into a half sphere and submerge in the milk mix- ture. Cook, turning as needed, until the meringues are fi rm on the outside, 3 to 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove and drain on a paper towel-lined baking sheet.

8 Divide the crème anglaise between 4 shallow bowls and top each with a meringue. Sprinkle with praline roses.

1 9 In a small skillet, heat the remaining ⁄2 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon water over high, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the color of dark amber, about 6 minutes. Quickly, and using a spoon, drizzle the caramel over the meringues until set. Serve immediately.

Tête de Veau

SERVES 10–12; PAGE 45 Active: 30 min.; Total: 4 hr. plus overnight soaking

“For me, eating calf’s head is a must in Lyon—even for breakfast,” says chef Daniel Boulud about this Lyonnaise specialty. “It brings back memories of family gatherings and special occasions. We used to raise and slaughter our own candy thermometer, cook until the temper- calves growing up.” Instead of tackling Meringue Floating ature reaches 118°, about 18 minutes. Stir in the butchery on your own, have your almonds, orange blossom water, and vanilla butcher do the heavy lifting for you: Ask in Crème Anglaise seeds; stir until crystallized, 4 minutes. for the meat, tongue, and brain to be (Île Flottante) Spread praline roses out onto a parchment separated from the skull, but leave the paper–lined baking sheet until cool. skin on because, as Boulud says, “it’s not SERVES 4 tête de veau without the skin.” Active: 1 hr.; Total: 1 hr. 30 min. 2 Place the split vanilla bean and 2 cups milk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and 1 (12–15 lb.) skin-on calf head, Sprinkled on top of these delicate bring just to a simmer over medium heat. deboned, meat cut into 2-inch 1 meringues–which fl oat in a vanilla Whisk egg yolks and ⁄4 cup sugar in a mix- pieces, tongue removed (have custard—are praline roses, caramel- ing bowl. Reduce heat to low and slowly your butcher do this for you) 1 whisk ⁄2 cup hot milk into egg mixture, 1 coated almonds dyed a bright pink. The 1 ⁄2 Tbsp. kosher salt, plus more then whisk egg mixture into remaining color’s a bit shocking, but they’re a staple 8 large carrots hot milk. Cook, stirring constantly with of Lyonnaise pâtisseries and lend a nice 6 ribs celery crunch and color to this white-on-white a wooden spoon, until mixture is thick, 4 leeks, trimmed and washed, backdrop. about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, strain through a fi ne sieve, and transfer to white and green parts

3 a bowl. Stop the cooking by placing bowl separated 3 ⁄4 cups sugar 1 into a larger bowl of ice water. Scrape 3 medium yellow onions, peeled ⁄4 tsp. Preema red food color seeds from vanilla bean into custard and powder (kalustyans.com) 3 bay leaves discard pod. Cool the crème anglaise to 8 oz. (2 cups) whole almonds 3 sprigs thyme room temperature, then refrigerate until 6 whole cloves 1 Tbsp. orange blossom water cold. (Store in refrigerator for up to 3 days.) 2 vanilla beans (1 scraped, 1 bunch parsley, stems and leaves separated, plus 2 tsp., 1 split) 5 In a medium saucepan, combine the 1 fi nely chopped 3 cups milk remaining 1 cup milk with ⁄2 cup sugar and 8 1 6 egg yolks cups water; boil. Reduce the heat to main- 1 ⁄2 lb. fi ngerling or German 10 egg whites tain a simmer and cook until the sugar has butterball potatoes, peeled dissolved, 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to 2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled 1 In a small saucepan, combine 2 cups medium-low and keep warm. 1 cup mayonnaise 1 MATT TAYLOR-GROSS MATT sugar and the red food color powder with ⁄4 cup Dijon mustard 1 ⁄2 cup water over medium-high. Using a 6 In a large bowl and using a hand mixer, 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

SAVEUR.COM 43 CUISINE NOUVELLE WAS MEANT TO BE AN ANSWER TO THE ASPIC- LADEN OLD WAYS. DECADES LATER, HERE IT WAS PRESERVED IN ITS OWN KIND OF PROTECTIVE ASPIC OF TIME AND REVERENCE AND PRIDE. closed years ago and Brazier herself passed away mothers because they were more macho than the men.” in the 1970s. But her presence is firmly felt, both We are served another pillow (partridge, wild duck, in terms of her creations still served here (Bresse pheasant—sweeter than the first and more refined) and chicken demi-deuil, or “half mourning,” with black the truffled poulet in silky sauce suprême by Mathieu truffle tucked under the skin) and the lasting influ- Viannay, suave inheritor of Mère Brazier’s kitchen. ence over Lyonnaise chefs. There’s pleasure, even a certain logic, in alternat- “No other city had a matriarchy like this one,” Bou- ing meals between these high-gloss dining rooms lud said. Many women were working as private chefs with their pinpoint lighting, table-side service and for bourgeois families. After the devastations of the velvety drapes and the more cluttered, low-ceilinged first World War, some of these women stepped into rooms of the . the public realm, filling a void left by the men who At Mère Brazier the quenelle is called a mousseline didn’t come home. de brochet and is served with fingers of lobster meat “The young chefs who followed, they loved these and an absinthe-laced seafood sauce. It costs €55 and

44 SAVEUR.COM ¼ cup chopped cornichons to use. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan 2 Tbsp. capers Pike Quenelles over medium-high. Add crayfish shells and 2 tsp. finely chopped chives cook, smashing them to extract their juices, 2 tsp. finely chopped tarragon, with Sauce 7 to 8 minutes. Add the mushrooms, car- 1 rots, celery, and leek and cook until soft, 10 ⁄4 tsp. cayenne pepper (Quenelles de Brochet) minutes. Add tomato paste and cook 1 Soak the calf brain overnight in cold SERVES 4 2 minutes. Stir in cognac and cook until the water. Put the calf head and meat, the Active: 1 hr.; liquid has almost evaporated, 1 minute. Stir tongue, and 1 tablespoon salt in a large Total: 3 hr. plus overnight resting in remaining 4 cups cream, reduce the heat pot. Cover with cold water and bring to to maintain a simmer, and cook 20 minutes. Strain sauce through a fine-mesh strainer a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a low When he was a young kitchen apprentice, over a bowl, discarding solids. Season with simmer and cook, skimming any scum Boulud made 200 of these quenelles salt and pepper and keep warm. that rises to the top, for 15 minutes. Add each week. “Fifty percent of the pleasure 2 carrots, 1 stalk of celery, the leek greens, of the quenelle is in the sauce—without 3 Meanwhile, line a work surface with plas- 1 onion, 1 bay leaf, and 1 sprig of thyme the sauce, it’s not that interesting,” he 1 tic wrap. Place 1 cup mousse on the edge and simmer for 1 ⁄2 hours. Strain and dis- says. Traditionally, they are served with a of the plastic wrap closest to you, leaving card the water and vegetables. sauce Nantua (made from crayfish from about a 2-inch border. Working from one the region of Nantua), but you can use any 2 long end and using plastic wrap to lift and Add the head, meat, and tongue back shellfish, such as crab or lobster. to the pot and cover with fresh water and guide, roll up mousse, creating a log. Twist 1 the remaining ⁄2 tablespoon salt. Bring to 1 the ends of the plastic wrap to secure. 1 ⁄2 lb. skinless, boneless pike or Wrap in plastic wrap one more time and a boil and simmer for 45 minutes, skim- sole, roughly chopped ming any scum that rises to the top. set aside. Repeat process with remaining 4 large eggs, lightly beaten mousse until you have four logs. 3 Tie the remaining 6 carrots, 5 stalks of 6 cups heavy cream celery, and the leek whites in a bundle Kosher salt and freshly ground with butcher’s twine. Stud the remaining white pepper 2 onions with the cloves and tie the Cayenne remaining bay leaves together with the Nutmeg remaining thyme and the parsley stems. 3 (1 lb.) crayfish or whole lobster, Add the vegetables to the pot. Cook steamed an additional 30 minutes, then add the 2 Tbsp. olive oil potatoes; continue cooking another 30 4 large button mushrooms, minutes. roughly chopped 4 While the head continues to cook, 2 carrots, peeled and roughly remove some of the cooking liquid into a chopped small pot and add the brain. Simmer for 2 ribs celery, roughly chopped 20 to 25 minutes, until firm, then set it 1 leek, roughly chopped 1 aside, still in the liquid, to cool slightly. ⁄4 cup tomato paste 2 oz. cognac 5 When the head meat is tender, remove the pot from the heat and strain out the 1 In a food processor, grind the fish until tongue and the vegetables, keeping the smooth. Transfer to a large bowl and gently head meat inside the liquid. Peel the skin stir in the eggs. Slowly stir in 2 cups cream, from the tongue and slice it thinly, on a bias, salt, pepper, cayenne, and nutmeg. Cover 1 about ⁄4-inch thick. Cut the carrot, leek, and and refrigerate overnight. celery into 2-inch segments and discard the onions and the herbs. Leave the pota- 2 The next day, separate the meat from the 1 toes whole. crayfish shells. Slice the tails into ⁄2-inch- 4 thick slices and refrigerate meat until ready Bring a medium saucepan of water to 6 Meanwhile, remove the white from a low simmer. Add the mousse logs and the hard-boiled eggs and chop finely. In place a smaller saucepan or weight over a medium bowl, whisk the hard-boiled them to ensure they stay submerged. egg yolk with the mayonnaise, mustard, Cook until set, about 45 minutes, then and red wine vinegar until it becomes a remove from the water. Wait 5 minutes, thick paste. Stir in the chopped parsley, then transfer to an ice bath until chilled. the reserved and chopped egg whites, the cornichons, capers, chives, tarragon, 5 Heat oven to 375°. Unwrap logs and cayenne, salt, and pepper and set the place each into individual oven proof gribiche aside. casserole dishes, or place all in one 9-by- 1 13-inch baking dish. Cover each with ⁄2 7 In a large, shallow serving dish, arrange cup of sauce and bake until bubbling, the vegetables along the outside, then add about 12 minutes. Divide tail pieces the pieces of head meat. Add the slices of between each baking dish and increase tongue and place the brain in the center. oven temperature to 425°. Bake until the Garnish with parsley leaves and serve with tops of each mousse are golden brown, 6 the gribiche. to 8 minutes longer.

SAVEUR.COM 45 LA MÈRE BRAZIER 12 rue Royale; lamerebrazier.com Mathieu Viannay’s cooking offers a refined polish on dishes that are elemental and gutsy. The stiff collar of his chef’s jacket is banded in the tricolor, a tell-tale indication of his mem- bership in the Meilleur Ouvrier de France, a club for elite culinary bad-asses.

is expertly constructed, elegant, and altogether pleas- liver was followed by an entire saucisson with pis- DANIEL & DENISE ant. At Daniel & Denise, a bouchon we ate at the next tachios, stuffed, like a prison-break weapon, inside Multiple locations; danieletdenise.fr day, a more rustic but altogether serviceable quenelle a buttery brioche loaf. Joseph Viola’s trio of with sauce Nantua will run you €18 and might easily “Ok, that’s a feast,” Boulud admitted. Then the simple but elegant dining rooms offer an exemplary be the centerpiece of a stabilizing lunch on its own—if, sabodet arrived and a low moan (exhaustion, ela- introduction to the clas- that is, one hadn’t signed on for the immersive Daniel tion) floated over the table. Sabodet is like a louche sics of a bouchon menu: Boulud experience. As it happened, chef Joseph Viola French cousin to Italian cotechino, less a cohesive tablier sapeur (“fire- man’s apron”) which (cropped grey hair, blue architect’s glasses, sneaky sausage, more a purple-skinned loose amalgam of is — pressed, smile) sent out seemingly everything his kitchen knew pork head, skin, and belly meat, braised in red wine. breaded, and fried in the how to make, much of it exceptional. This is when you really want to be dining with manner of a schnitzel— saucisson in buttery I’m a sucker for tripe and Viola’s gras-double à la someone like Daniel Boulud. Someone who can speak brioche, and perfectly lyonnaise is addictively good, both deeply meaty and about the process and seasons and importance of cooked calf’s liver. buoyantly light, layered with strands of sweet onions properly seared pig’s skin. and tart with vinegar. Perfectly pink pan-fried calf’s “In the winter when you kill the pig it’s also the

46 SAVEUR.COM 2 In a medium bowl, whisk the mustard and vinegar. Add in the vegetables and pork belly along with the lentils, parsley, red onion, salt, and pepper and toss to coat. Transfer to a bowl to serve.

3.Lyonnaise Salad with 2 Sausage and Walnuts SERVES 6 Total: 5 min. 3 Sausage is the pride of Lyon, and here, instead of being served piping hot, it gets the cold treatment—tossed with a bright vinaigrette and chervil. “It’s the perfect way to eat sausage along with other salads,” says Boulud. 4 1 lb. saucisson pistache or 1 mortadella, cut in ⁄4-inch-thick slices, then quartered 1 ⁄2 cup chopped toasted walnuts 2 Tbsp. finely chopped parsley 2 Tbsp. finely chopped shallots 2 Tbsp. walnut oil 1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar 1 Freshly ground black pepper

In a medium bowl, toss all ingredients together and transfer to a serving platter. 1. Spread 2.Lentil Salad with Pork (Cervelle de Canut) SERVES 6 4.Potato Salad Active: 20 min.; Total: 40 min. SERVES 4–6 with Herring Total: 5 min. Make sure the lentils are fully cooked, says SERVES 6 Boulud, “otherwise, they don’t absorb Active: 5 min.; Total: 20 min. This dish, which translates literally to “silk the seasoning.” Make sure to taste a few worker’s brain,” is said to be named for minutes before they are drained: They The key to this potato salad is its powerful Lyon’s 19th-century silk weavers, who’d should be creamy with just a slight bite. ingredients: Cured herring and bracing red often make a lunch of the smooth herbed- wine vinegar give each bite a pop of flavor. cheese spread. Chef Boulud’s family used 1 small yellow onion, peeled Boulud will just as soon toss in mackerel, to make it with fresh goat cheese, but 6 whole cloves sardines, or anchovy, so feel free to swap in fromage blanc works just as well. Serve 1 lb. puy lentils soaked overnight your preferred seafood. with salad, potatoes, or toasted bread. 1 lb. skinless pork belly 2 carrots, trimmed and peeled 1 lb. fingerling potatoes 12 oz. fromage blanc 1 ⁄4 cup finely chopped white onion 1 1 rib celery 1 ⁄2 Tbsp. finely chopped chervil 2 Tbsp. finely chopped chives 1 3 Tbsp. Dijon mustard 1 ⁄2 Tbsp. finely chopped chives 2 Tbsp. olive oil 1 3 Tbsp. white wine vinegar 1 ⁄2 Tbsp. finely chopped parsley 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar 1 3 Tbsp. finely chopped parsley 1 ⁄2 Tbsp. finely chopped tarragon 1 red onion, thinly sliced 2 Tbsp. white wine 2 tsp. olive oil 1 2 cured herring fillets cut into ⁄2- 2 tsp. red wine vinegar Kosher salt and freshly ground inch pieces (about 5 oz.) 2 tsp. white wine vinegar black pepper Kosher salt and freshly ground 1 garlic clove, mashed into a 1 Stud the onion with cloves. In a large black pepper paste saucepan, cover the onion, the lentils, Kosher salt and freshly ground pork belly, carrots, and celery with 6 cups 1 In a medium saucepan, cover the pota- black pepper water. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to toes with water and boil until tender, maintain a simmer and cook, uncovered, 15 minutes. Cool slightly, then slice into In a medium bowl, mix fromage blanc with for 15 minutes or until the lentils are ten- 1-inch pieces. chervil, chives, parsley, tarragon, olive oil, der. Drain, discarding the onion. Finely MATT TAYLOR-GROSS MATT vinegars, garlic paste, salt, and pepper. dice the carrots and celery and cut the 2 Toss potatoes in a large bowl with 1 Refrigerate until ready to serve. pork into ⁄4-inch thick slices. remaining ingredients and serve warm.

SAVEUR.COM 47 same time you’re pruning your vines,” Boulud said. more foie gras. This is luxury food, indulgent food, A gathering of chefs: “So you burn the pig on a fire made with the vine but there’s nothing dainty about it. It’s as lusty in its After a morning market run to Les Halles, trimmings. Ideally you are making eau-de-vie too, refined way as the nose-and-feet salad of a bouchon. but before heading off so you cook the sabodet in the skin and stems of the A loup de mer, or sea bass, the size of a skateboard is to work, the local grapes so there’s this wine flavor and alcohol flavor presented to the table wrapped in acres of puff pastry. chef’s club Les Toques Blanches Lyonnaises and nothing on the farm is wasted.” “Ah, I cut the lemons and cleaned the loup for meets for a machon, It’s an eloquent disquisition on a scenario nearly this dish when I was a stagiaire here at 15!” Boulud or workingman’s break- none of us can relate to (pigs, vines, foods dictated exclaimed, pleased to see a dish he’s known in some fast. The group met at chef Gérard Sénélar’s by the rhythms of the seasons as opposed to the on- capacity since 1972. Carpe Diem to give demand desires of hungry travelers). And the fish—big, buttery, in a sharpsauce Cho- Daniel Boulud an award ron—was…perfect. An un-updated throwback worth while he was in town; speeches were aul Bocuse’s restaurant sits a few miles a dozen new-fangled smeared plates at restaurants made, swords drawn, north of Lyon, on a bucolic compound just you can’t remember the name of after you leave. dirty jokes told, P steamy tête de veau was past the spot where the Pont Paul Bocuse Cuisine nouvelle was meant to be an answer to the eaten for breakfast. crosses the Saône river. aspic-laden old ways. Now here it was, decades later, Passing through its gates feels a bit like crossing preserved in its own kind of protective aspic of time the border into a slightly surreal land of food wor- and reverence and pride. ship, a Vatican City of haute Lyonnaise gastronomy. “I think what is special about Lyon is you have this A cobblestoned rue des Grands Chefs winds past a rich cuisine bourgeoise,” Boulud said. “And then, you lengthy fresco depicting the history of French cui- have the bouchons where you really see the talents sine: Napoleon through the great Fernand Point, of the charcutier, the pâtissier, the boulanger. Then the mères, Julia Child, and leading to the 90-year- you had the mères, and then the legends like Fernand old godfather of cuisine nouvelle himself, Bocuse. Point, and Bocuse who trained with him. People had The maison is green with pink shutters and painted money to spend on food because it was an industrial with large images of the crowing rooster, Bocuse’s city, plus you had hundreds of incredible auberges spirit animal. nearby in the countryside.” Bocuse has had three Michelin stars for 50 years. It added up. Here was a culture of eating that is, It’s understandable to fear that an institution like this like the bouchon, specific, local, animated by some would be resting on its laurels—and a great pleasure proudly out-of-step distillation of pure retrograde to realize that it’s not. Frenchiness. We pose for pictures with Bocuse in the kitchen, While we waited for the cheese cart to roll our among the toques and gleaming copper, before the way, I asked Boulud what Lyonnaise cuisine could great man is lead away. teach the world. “We’re in the temple of Lyonnaise food now!” “Oh Lyonnaise food don’t care a damn to teach the Boulud said, as genuinely excited as I’ve seen him. world anything!” he answered, laughing. “As long as We eat poached foie gras on sweet cooked ; a they keep themselves happy with what they love the salmis of Bresse pigeon in a sauce of liver, heart, onion, most, they are fine.”

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