Aux Lyonnais, 32 rue Saint-Marc, Paris 2
Aux Lyonnais, in the block just east of the historic Opéra Comique, opened its doors in 1890 — originally as a coal depot, but apparently(?) there was also a café there. Through the years, the coal supply was replaced by wood and then in 1914 with wine. It’s not clear to me when it became uniquely a bistrot, or to use the Lyonnais term because this is the food of Lyon, a bouchon. But certainly after the second world war, it was the leading source of Lyonnais cuisine in Paris. In 2002, Alain Ducasse took it over, and it has been going strong since then, providing a somewhat lighter version of Lyonnais cuisine for contemporary times, although still looking very much as it must have in the past.
Recently, Victoria Boller has taken on the role of cheffe and Bathilde Tautou has taken over as sommelière. Madame Boller was born in Lyon and grew up near there in the Beaujolais. She was a student at the hotel school in Thonon-les-Bains, on the edge of Lake Geneva. She worked as a sous-cheffe under Virginie Basselot at the famed Chantecler restaurant in the Hôtel Negresco in Nice, then a host of other famous chefs at various locations before landing at Aux Lyonnais last year.
We arrived for an early lunch on a frosty January Saturday.
This being Saturday, there was no menu that is offered at lunch during the week. The carte, chock full of classic Lyonnais specialties:
While we were still studying the carte and the wine list, we were served small portions of the Lyon classic cervelle de canut, made from white cheese, herbs, shallots, pepper, salt, olive oil, and vinegar:
And that was soon followed by servings of grattons lyonnais, here made of pork cooked in fat:
Both were delicious introductions to the meal.
The wine list has plenty of expensive red and white Burgundies and a few Bordeaux, but if you stick to the traditional Lyonnais libations of Beaujolais and Mâconnais (from the vineyards to the north) and Côtes-du-Rhône (from the vineyards to the south), you can do very well without spending such huge amounts. We chose a Côtes-du-Rhône from Domaine Jamet, without dispute the finest producer of Côte-Rôtie (about a twenty-minute drive south of Lyon). This wine comes from Syrah vines planted just outside the Côte-Rôtie appellation:
It is in fact better than the large majority of much more expensive Côte-Rôtie. (Jamet’s Côte-Rôtie is on the list, too, for those interested.) The wine was somewhat closed and tannic at first but filled out and developed well throughout the meal, showing classic violet aromas and flavors.
The plates (as in what the portions are served on) are playful and recall the earlier times of the restaurant:
We began by sharing a portion of quenelle de brochet (pike quenelle):
The dish was rich, but not overly so, with a soft texture and good depth of flavor. It did not leave one stuffed or feeling that it was too heavy.
Next, we each took the blanquette de veau:
It was substantial yet light with very good flavor to each of the elements.
We then split a Mont d’Or. This was one of the portions:
We didn’t take a dessert, but for mignardise, we each received generous slices of tarte aux pralines roses, yet another Lyonnais specialty:
Despite the fact that we took only half portions each of the first course and the cheese course and no dessert, with the additional servings not ordered, we wound up being full and also satisfied with the quality of each dish.
The bill:
Alain Ducasse has done a service with his efforts to save traditional Paris bistrots. The best by far was Rech in the Maison de l’Amérique Latine, which, alas, is no more; it was simply one of the finest seafood restaurants in Paris and in an extraordinary setting. Of the others, Benoit is very good and I’ve not tried Allard. And finally, Aux Lyonnais, which gives one very good, traditional Lyonnais food in a slightly lighter fashion fitting with modern preferences, with good wines and a charming setting.
Aux Lyonnais
32 rue Saint-Marcel, 75002 Paris
Weds-Sat lunch and dinner, Sunday lunch (traditional Lyon mâchon)
Tél: 01 42 96 65 04
Métro: Richelieu-Drouot, Opéra, Bourse, Quatre Septembre