Lyon: Palégrié

With a perfect location on the city’s Presqu’Ile, the “peninsula” between the Rhône and the Saône rivers in the center of Lyon, this cozy, good-value modern bistrot was a hit from the moment it opened early this year. Young chef Guillaume Monjuré trained with Olivier Roellinger in Brittany—which explains why he’s such an accomplished fish cook—and with Jean-Pierre Vigato at Apicius in Paris, before hanging out his own shingle. The name, Palégrié, is a play on the pronunciation of the street address here, and the fixed-price lunch and dinner menus change daily according to what Monjuré finds in local markets. I liked his precisely prepared and deliciously inventive modern French bistrot cooking so much that I ate here twice on my last trip to Lyon. Favorite dishes: wasabi-spiked broccoli puree; breaded squid with caper sauce; fresh cod fillet with cockles, lettuce, and radishes in curry-leaf bouillon; and a great chocolate soufflé.

8 rue Palais-Grillet, Lyon, 04.78.92.94.84. website

Lunch menus €18.50 (two courses), €22.50 (three courses); à la carte €40

Prices are per person without wine.

Originally published in the May 2012 issue of France Today; updated in November 2012

Alexander Lobrano’s book Hungry for Paris is published by Random House. www.hungryforparis.com Find Hungry for Paris and more in the France Today Bookstore.