BBC Good Food - 04.2020

eat like a local

APRIL 2020 bbcgoodfood.com 135

Lyon
Long considered a gastronomic hotspot thanks
to legendary chef Paul Bocuse, its atmospheric
‘bouchon’ bistros and Michelin stars, this
elegant city at the edge of the Alps is now
home to a bold new culinary destination,
Cité Internationale de la Gastronomie
(citegastronomielyon.fr). Opened last October,
this is a state-of-the-art cultural centre that
celebrates all things food. Inside, you’ll find
dozens of exciting, interactive exhibits and
a tasting kitchen, all of which employ inventive
ways to tell the story of Lyon, French gastronomy
and food culture around the world.
Set on the banks of the Rhône, close to where it
converges with the Saône just south of central Lyon,
the Cité is set in a wing of the Grand Hôtel-Dieu, a
former hospital. Once the gateway to the city, it’s
a palatial edifice that features cloisters, courtyards
and bell towers, and is home to restaurants, shops,
a food hall and a 144-room hotel. The heritage of the
hospital, closed since 2010, is celebrated in many of
the exhibits dedicated to the link between food and
health. Indeed, in the museum’s central atrium where
your visit starts, the altar from the former hospital
chapel sits under a giant pharmacist’s spoon sculpture
that hangs from the soaring dome.
The galleries span out from here, each representing
a dierent element of food culture. The children’s
Miam! Miam! gastro playroom includes bold,
colourful, interactive exhibits, such as a cartoon cow
on a giant milk carton that teaches kids about dairy
products. In the Bon Appetit gallery, you can learn
more about Lyon’s culinary history, including how
chef Paul Bocuse introduced the world to classic
French cuisine – you can even stand over the stove
he cooked on for 25 years, a big red-and-gold range.
Other charming, tactile exhibits show how the
Michelin guide was born and teach about the
generations of female cooks – the mères de Lyon (or
‘mothers of Lyon’) – that put the city on the culinary
map. The chance to sate your appetite comes on the
top floor, where a team of chefs create tasting plates
based around an ingredient or regional cuisine.

How to do it

The InterContinental Hôtel-Dieu has doubles from

£295 a night. ihg.com

While the city is home to around 4,000 restaurants,

Lyon’s latest dining concept is the Food Traboule

(foodtraboule.com) – a food hall set in a historic space

in Vieux Lyon, where the cobbled streets feel a bit like

Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley. ‘Traboules’ are a hidden

network of corridors and passageways that weave

between the streets of the old town, and were created

for the silk industry in the 18th century to protect the

fabrics from the elements. Founded by chefs Tabata

and Ludovic Mey, the Food Traboule opened in

Januar y of this year and sees the cit y ’s top chefs oer

sample menus from their successful restaurants. Try

the ultimate in gourmet fast food with a lobster roll at

Lobs (£15, facebook.com/ lobslyon), classic Lyonnaise

quenelles – a kind of fish dumpling – with lobster sauce

at La Meunière (£8, lameuniere.fr), or a Neapolitan

pizza at Chez Ludo (£6). Its creators’ passion for food

makes it more than an upmarket food hall – and what

could better sum up the new generation of chefs

working in France’s culinary capital? Carolyn Boyd

Learn about

Lyonnaise food at

Cité Internationale

de la Gastronomie

X

X

Vieux

Lyon’s

cobbled

streets

feel a bit

like Diagon

Alley

Explore the

cobbled

streets

of Lyon

The must-try

lobster roll

from Lobs

Grab a coee

and a pastry at

Food Traboule

X

X

Delicious tasting

plates at Cité