Paul Bocuse restaurant in Lyon
 

A little crazy perhaps, but we thought we might check to see if there is a small chance this restaurant might be available on the night we are in Lyon. If it is, has anyone been there and what can you say about the restaurant? What is the dress code? How do you get there – do you need a car, or is it accessible somehow by public transportation and a short walk? We have only heard about it, but don't know enough about Lyon to know the particulars. Thanks.

no, haven't been there, I don't go to restaurants like that and he serves some things that I wouldn't touch, anyway (eg he is famous for chicken breast cooked in a pig's bladder). I don't do tasting menus, either, and don't like to eat that much food, in general. I think I saw a show of that guy on CNN who went there this year, and the food was not appealing to me. I'm sure it is excellent, of course.

Do you mean his famous 3* restaurant? That is a formal restaurant, you should dress up (you don't need to wear a ballgown, of course). Because there is a restaurant at his cooking school that would be easier/cheaper (and more casual) and is in the center of town. And he does own several cheaper brasseries in Lyon also, I believe.

His famous one isn't even in Lyon, it is in Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or which is north of Lyon about 7 km. I don't think there is any public transportation. YOu do know how much it costs, don't you? Just wondered since you want public transportation.

here are the brasseries http://www.nordsudbrasseries.com/

here is the info on the restaurant in the center of Lyon at his school http://www.institutpaulbocuse.com/fr...=1382451445221

3-star Michelin places in most of provincial France don't, generally, bother much with dress codes.

On the website for Collonges (http://www.bocuse.com/contact-information.aspx) Bocuse simply says: "Desired dress: no shorts for men"

And he means it. Ties and jackets in 3-star Lyons places are generally rare, especially in summer. On the odd occasion I've worn a jacket in Lyons or similar towns, I've been conspicuously overdressed.

Respectable and clean's important: adherence to silly rules isn't.

His restaurant's a 10 min walk from Collonges-Fontaines railway station, which is on the line from Lyons Perrache. (http://www.collongesaumontdor.fr/-Les-transports-.html). Or get a cab from your Lyons hotel.

As a matter of interest, what on earth makes some silly Americans go queasy about "chicken breast cooked in a pig's bladder"?

I can understand veganism, or distaste for America's hormone-stuffed, dyed, chickens. But proper poulets de Bresse?

And if it really is the bladder (though you wouldn't have thought even Yanks could be so absurd): what casing do you use for your sausages in?

My wife's cousin went there about 20 years ago. He still remembers the truffle soup (that's an extra if ordering the fixed price menu). In those days he was still a gourmet in training, and wondered how he would know if the three stars are really worth it. So the night before he went to a two-star restaurant. He thinks that the three-star experience is worth it.

The menu looks fairly classic to me. As far as I know, Bocuse is not known for avant garde cuisine.

Hope that the comments of a non-adventurous (and often very negative) American, who has neither been to the restaurant, nor dined at top-tier restaurants, would make one assume that all of us (Americans) are so provincial in their dining tastes. Why is pig bladder so odd, when many of us eat calves liver with relish?

http://www.bocuse.fr/upload/File/aub...e-Menus-fr.pdf

For those who might try replicating at home:

http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/cl...les_photos.php


"Nice" black trousers, or jeans, with a fairly dressy top, for women, can get you very far these days. That's more or less my regular attire for upscale NYC restaurants.

I suspect that pig's bladder is as difficult to get as sheep's lung in the States; the latter is consider unfit for human consumption by the FDA.

Well sorry - but I eat neither calves liver (my mother loved it and would cook it once in a while but I hated the taste) nor pig's bladder. Nor do I really eat sausages - who knows what's in them? Like hot dogs - how much rodent hair is allowed? (What we didn't know when we were kids).

I haven't been in a long time, but I had absolutely fabulous quenelles at La Voute-Chez Lea the last time I had dinner in Lyon.

It is not expensive.


Thin

La Voute-Chez Lea--haven't heard anyone mention it in a long time. i ate there about 20 years ago, and her poulet au vinaigre was the signature dish. Great little place.

And about 25 years ago I dined at Collonges, and the menu was very traditional--and delicious.

I've never tried to find pig's bladder, but I have seen many unusual animal parts (pig's intestine, liver, spleen, among them) on the menus of Chinese restaurants in Flushing.

My point, above, is that not all Americans are squeamish about food.

My grandmother made lungen stew, cow's lungs with garlic and onions. Calves foot jelly was another of her regular dishes. There were many dishes born of poverty that became classics of immigrant groups in the US and elsewhere. Guess I come from an adventurous tradition!

I'll be heading to Mexico this fall and cannot wait to sample the offerings of the street stalls and the small fondas. Will I stop to wonder what is in my mole? Probably not.

If you have access to CNN's Parts Unknown show with Anthony Bourdain, last season he paid a gob-smacking visit to this shrine and actually went hunting with Bocuse himself (although the master is too ancient to be allowed to hold a gun now.)It was one of the rare occasions when Bourdain was struck dumb (well, almost).

Crunchy, one of these days I am going to take the LIRR from Penn Station to one of your recommended Flushing restaurants.

If I could only find the time.


Thin

I love eating calf's liver - though I don't put relish on it...

If you have an educated palate and a trust fund, you would definitely enjoy eating at Restaurant Bocuse. Lacking both of these, you would be wasting your time, and should just go eat in a "bouchon" in Lyon - which isn't a bad thing, at all. If you dress up a little, it wouldn't hurt, but you don't have to get too serious about it.

You should take a look at the menu, first, so you'll know what you'll be getting into - or what will be getting into you:
www.bocuse.fr/carte-restaurant.aspx

As you will note, pig's bladder only enters the picture once - the only other thing that some people might find offensive are the prices. But you are paying for a major spectacle, as well as some fine food, and since not many restaurants can or will go to the trouble to prepare dishes in this grand, old-fashioned manner, you should go there while they still do.

bon appetit...

Thin, that would be a great pleasure for me--to accompany you to one of the Flushing places.


Signed, a fan

Thanks, all. Very educational, indeed.

We know it is more expensive of a meal than we've ever dreamed of, but it's a splurge and really more for the experience. We don't even know if it's open the day we want to go! But if so, we thought there might be something to sitting down at a 3 star Michelin restaurant in one of the greatest culinary cities on Earth. And if not, we are more than happy with a streetside sandwich. I mainly wanted to gauge whether it was reasonable to expect to get there without a car and 3-piece tux/ballroom dress, since we will have been traveling prior to.

We are pretty adventurous when it comes to food experiences, but I should probably throw out there... I'm a vegetarian! I will eat seafood occasionally. Do you know if the restaurant is open to special dietary requests, or is this generally frowned upon?

I will check out Bourdain's Parts Unknown in Lyon - I like the show, but shudder every time he slanders us vegetarians! Except in India, where apparently he loved eating veg...

I'm not clear on why you don't think you can use a taxi? That's what you will need.

Don't go to Bocuse's restaurant in order to make up your own menu or to eat vegetarian because nothing on the menu (except some starters or dessert) is vegetarian. I'm sure they could help you read the menu. They do serve various kinds of seafood, but that's it, there is no vegetarian main dish. They have fillet of sole and lobster, for example, and some other types of fish or seafood.

You can read the menus and see.

But Christina, you have not been to this restaurant. With advance notice, I would imagine that they would rise to the challenge of putting together a vegetarian menu. The OP can hardly be the first vegetarian to dine there. I've dined at quite a few well regarded restaurants in the US and in France with a good friend in the wine business, sadly no longer with us. Each and every time, the restaurant was more than happy to accommodate her requirements for vegetarian dining. As a courtesy, she would call in advance and tell them that she was a vegetarian.

In my experience there are often many specials that are not listed on online menus, and many restaurants do not change the online listing daily. I would take the online menu as a general guide, but not assume that those are the exact dishes that would be on offer on the particular night.

I agree with ekscrunchy. We were in Paris last fall with a vegan. Both Verjus and Spring made meals for him and he enjoyed both dinners.

Although it is possible, even likely, Bocuse would prepare a vegetarian meal and it might be excellent, I have a hard time seeing the point of going to a restaurant that earned its 3 michelin stars precisely because of its meat cooking and encourages meat consumption all over the world with meat competitions. Even if you are not a vegetarian for ethical reasons, having your once-in-a-lifetime Michelin star experience with a chef for whom meat is THE major focus of his ambitions and skills strikes me as unlikely to get you a meal geared to your palate. I can understand accompanying friends who have their hearts set on going. But if you are the main person to be pleased here, why not go to a great chef some other time with a broader repertoire?

This vegetarian, a native of Lyon, was not pleased by the vegetarian meal he pre-ordered there:

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUse...hone_Alpe.html