LYON ESSENTIALS
GETTING THERE Eurostar offers a direct train from London St Pancras to Lyon. Alternatively, Flybe, EasyJet and British Airways serve Lyon from various airports across the UK.
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menu. “The aim is to make it accessible. We have a restaurant that’s not hugely expensive, but we know that not everyone can afford it,” says Tabata. “At the Traboule, our menu will cost around €18 (£15). You can make a good [two- or three-course] meal with good produce for this price, it just takes creativity.” Elsewhere in the city, another communal
project is already proving a success. La Commune opened in March 2018 and is based on the ‘food court’ style of dining, like Eataly, which has outposts worldwide, or London’s Mercato Metropolitano. Where it differs is that La Commune aims to give Lyon’s burgeoning restaurateurs a start in the trade. It’s set in a former carpentry workshop not far from the university, and chefs each have their own stand —and with it a chance to test their restaurant’s concept before going it alone in the wider city. There are 16 different stands in total, plus a bar and an area for gigs and exhibitions. When I visit on a Friday night, the place
is buzzing; young people are crammed around the refectory tables eating everything from organic pasta to Ukrainian ravioli and
Brazilian feijoada stew. Over a drink, I chat to Louise Rogelet, a 26-year-old pastry chef whose stand, Zoi, is the first step towards her dream of running a vegan patisserie. “It’s a really intense programme,” she says.
“You get about a year to test out your concept, and La Commune gives you the management, legal and business support you need.” With French patisseries so reliant on cream and butter, her vegan version is a challenging concept, but La Commune has given Louise and her team of three a chance to experiment and improve her gateaux. “To start with I had four different patisseries a day, but now we have 12 or 13. Our customers know that we’re learning, so we ask them for feedback.” The whole project is still in its infancy, and
it’s too soon to say which of La Commune’s budding restaurateurs will make their establishments a success. But what’s clear from the busy tables is that the ‘gastronomic meal of the French’ is in no danger of losing its UNESCO status any time soon. And that Lyon, one of the world’s true gastronomic centres, has much more to offer than its heritage.
Above: dining at La Commune
WHERE TO STAY InterContinental is based in the Hôtel- Dieu. Its 144 rooms look out over the Rhône or towards the Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière, while its cathedral-like bar is set in the building’s central dome. Room-only doubles from around £213.
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HOW TO DO IT Kirker offers a three-night break with flights, transfers and accommodation at the four-star Grand Hôtel des Terreaux, from £638. kirker
holidays.co.uk Entry to the Cité Internationale de la Gastronomie costs around £10, or £20 for a tasting card, which includes three tasting plates in the top-floor dining rooms.
Lyonnaise specialities
COUSSIN DE LYON This green ‘cushion’ is Lyon’s calling card. Its patented recipe takes four days to make, but the green, sugared marzipan layer with a chocolate ganache centre is worth it. Try chocolatier Voisin, whose main shop is next to the Musée des Beaux- Arts.
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SALADE LYONNAISE A salad that’s unusual in that it works all year round. A base of curly endive, mesclun or dandelion leaf is topped with chunky, salty lardons, crispy croutons and a poached egg. Try it at one of the city’s many traditional bouchon restaurants.
QUENELLES DE BROCHET This dish combines pike and crayfish bred in the lakes of La Dombes. Quenelles are a kind of dumpling, made with carp paste then either poached or steamed and served with Nantua sauce, made from crayfish, white wine, brandy and creme fraiche.
CERVELLE DE CANUT Translated as ‘silk worker’s brain’, this is a nod to the city’s history of silk-making and trading; but unlike many bouchon favourites, it’s vegetarian. Spoon fromage blanc mixed with finely chopped herbs (chives, parsley, tarragon) and shallots on to bread croutons as an aperitif.
TÊTE DE VEAU It pays to learn some French anatomical terms before eating in a bouchon restaurant, for their speciality is offal. Calf’s head is a staple – thankfully deboned and rolled. There’ll be a layer of fat, some tongue and brain, served with a sauce gribiche. Bon appétit!
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