Le Pré aux Clercs

Le Pré aux Clercs Review

This bright and beautiful Napoléon III-style restaurant is the perfect showcase for chef Jean-Pierre Billoux's golden touch, which can turn the lowliest farmyard chicken into a palate-plucking pièce de résistance—the braised volaille (chicken) de Bresse with perfect vegetables, a case in point. Most house specialties are inventive, like the delicate smoked river perch with tomato confit and chive cream, or, to finish with, a meringue with berry coulis. The welcome is always convivial, and the wine list reads like a who's who of the region's best—but not necessarily best-known—winemakers. The €35 lunch menu (including wine) is a startling introduction to modern Burgundian cuisine.