LYON
Naming the world capital of
gastronomy is a challenging task. Do you go by Michelin stars?
If so, Tokyo takes the title. Do you focus on the sheer diversity of international cuisines available? If so New York City or London both have a strong case. Or, do you instead look to the heartland of arguably the world’s most celebrated cuisine, in the very country that’s best known for its food? If we’re talking culinary heritage, then
Lyon has few rivals. This elegant city, not far from the Alps, sits on the confluence of the Rhône and Saône rivers, at the heart of one of France’s most bounteous regions. In 1935, the food critic and writer Curnonsky, the so-called ‘Prince of Gastronomes’, declared it the world’s capital of gastronomy. Fast-forward to the 21st century, and today’s Lyon is reputed to have 4,000 restaurants, of which 19 are Michelin- starred; there are countless patisseries, boulangeries, charcuteries, fromageries and a food hall — Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse — in which you could gorge yourself for days. But now there’s something else besides
— the Cité Internationale de la Gastronomie (CIG), a digital wonderland of a visitor centre that celebrates the foodie credentials of this
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corner of France, while also exploring broader culinary themes. Opened in October 2019, the CIG occupies
around a quarter of the historic Hôtel-Dieu, a palatial edifice on the banks of the Rhône that served as Lyon’s main hospital from the Middle Ages until 2010; even today, one in three Lyonnais were born there. As such, it’s one of the city’s most iconic buildings, where peaceful courtyards and cloisters bear plaques with the names of four centuries’ worth of financial donors. Inside, however, following a €20 million (£16.6 million) renovation, it’s now also home to new bars, restaurants and a smart InterContinental hotel. The Lyon CIG is the first of four planned
across France, the others due to open in Dijon, Paris and Tours over the next five years. I’m shown around by its director Florent Bonnetain, who works for MagmaCultura, the company also behind Bordeaux’s jaw-dropping Cité du Vin, which opened in 2015. As we step into the central area, Florent gestures up at the building’s domed ceiling, from which a circular chandelier of giant spoons
Above: streets of Lyon; Bresse chicken cooked in a bladder ‘à la Mère Fillioux’ at L’Auberge du Pont de Collonges
Right: the view across the Saône river to the city’s old quarter
Previous page: ceiling decor at Cité Internationale de la Gastronomie
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