Lyon: Rue Le Bec

The immense Le Confluent project in Lyon, centered around the old railyards on the tip of the Presqu’île (peninsula) in central Lyon, at the confluence of the Rhône and the Saône rivers, is the largest urban redevelopment project in Europe at the moment, and with the opening of Rue Le Bec, this emerging area now has a worthy place to both eat and shop. Occupying an old warehouse, this sprawling, animated emporium run by two-star chef Nicolas Le Bec houses a restaurant, bakery, wine shop, butcher shop and florist. Opened in September, it’s already a local hit, and it offers a great opportunity to take a gander at the city’s emerging new neighborhood and have a good, affordable meal at the same time. Le Bec proposes a fresh approach on the French brasserie for the 21st century, with an appealing, inventive roster of varied and well-prepared comfort food. I loved my sauté of local cep mushrooms, although it was hard to resist other starters including duck-filled nems (Vietnamese deep-fried spring rolls) with dipping sauce and Chinese ravioli stuffed with foie gras and Gillardeau oysters — and the pizza at the table next to mine looked good, too. Since Lyon famously enjoys offal, calves’ feet with céleri rémoulade, boudin noir, and tête de veau (calf’s head) are on the menu, along with steamed fresh cod with spinach and swordfish steak in a beurre noisette with capers, but I happily settled for the Limousin lamb with white beans. For dessert, there are excellent classics including crème caramel, baba au rhum and poire Belle Hélène, a poached pear in chocolate sauce with slivered almonds and whipped cream.

43 quai Rambaud, Lyon, 04.78.92.87.87. €30 per person without wine

Originally published in the December 2009 issue of France Today

Alexander Lobrano’s book Hungry for Paris is published by Random House. Find Hungry for Paris and more in our bookstore.

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