Georges Blanc

Georges Blanc Review

Set in the village of Vonnas and one of the great culinary addresses in all of Gaul, this simple 19th-century inn full of antique country furniture and—note: this is also a full-fledged hotel—home to 30 guest rooms makes a fine setting for poulet de Bresse, truffles, and lobster, all featured on its legendary menu. Monsieur Blanc, whose culinary DNA extends back to innkeepers dating from the French Revolution, made his mark in the 1980s with a series of cookbooks, notably The Natural Cuisine of Georges Blanc. Today, he serves up his traditional-yet-nouvelle delights in a vast dining room (closed Monday and Tuesday; no lunch Wednesday), renovated—overly so, some might say—in a stately manner replete with Louis Treize-style chairs, fireplace, and floral tapestries. Wine connoisseurs will go weak in the knees at the cellar here, overflowing with 130,000 bottles. The guest rooms range from (relatively) simple to luxurious. It's worth the trip from Bourg-en-Bresse, but be sure you bring deep pockets. However, a block south you can also repair to Blanc's cheaper and more casual restaurant, L'Ancienne Auberge, most delightfully set in a 1900s "Fabrique de Limonade" soda-water plant and now festooned with antique bicycles and daguerreotypes. Pros: gorgeous village; the warm and accessible Blanc family. Cons: slightly over-commercial Bocuse-like grandeur; almost too expensive to fulfill expectations.