lackbook D E PA R T U R
lackbook D E PA R T U R E S at - m o r e I N T E R N AT More on Mama Shelter’s hip hotels online S e e I O N A L . C O M Traveller’s notebook Lyon’s modern Roar The gastronomic heart of France has found its groove with a host of bustling new restaurants, hotels, art spaces and boutiques, says Lanie Goodman Author and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry once wrote: “It is important not merely to foresee the future, but to bring it about.” The modern-day denizens of his hometown, France’s third largest city, are doing just that, helping to shed Lyon’s antiquated reputation for silk-making and rich-meetsrustic cuisine with a new, pared down 21st century verve. Herewith, the smart guide. staying put Set in the heart of the city, Mama Shelter (mamashelter.com) is the city’s latest buzzy hangout, with an effervescent lounge bar and restaurant packed with cocktailswilling young professionals. The 156 Starck-designed rough luxe rooms playfully mix high tech and deep comfort, with thick duvets, graffiti scribbles and a giant multipurpose iMac screen. Meanwhile, atop a calm cobblestone slope in medieval Vieux Lyon, Le Gourguillon ( $ legourguillon.fr), an elegant eight-room hideaway, offers spacious contemporary-style wood and stone suites, rows FROM TOP and LEFT: Francis Amiand, Markus Kirchgessner/laif, Loic BENOIT, Blaise Adilon, © Le Gourguillon, © Le Centre by George, Jean-Daniel SUDRES/LAIF, Francis Amiand, © La Sucrière 38 departures-international.com
lackbook clockwise FROM TOP Left: © le centre by georges, Anje Jager (Illustration), Maurice ROUGEMONT/gaMMA/laif, Markus Kirchgessner/laif Crimson-hued cool at Georges Blanc’s new Le Centre By Georges with private entrances, copious in-room breakfasts, jacuzzis, and unbeatable panoramas from the garden terraces. restaurant check Carnivores can rejoice now that celebrated Lyonnais chef Georges Blanc has opened his cosy, scarlet-walled bistro, Le Centre by Georges (georgesblanc.com), which features barbecued Black Angus Picanha and tender Chateaubriand steaks alongside divine caramel salted butter éclairs for dessert. At the tip of the peninsula of the trendy industrial Confluence district is Les Salins (les-salins.fr), a sprawling modern brasserie with a wine bar, bakery and huge openplan kitchen, serving up everything from risotto to pike dumplings with lobster sauce. A crash course in local vintages can be had at the lively Brazier Wine Bar (lamerebrazier.fr), next door to Mathieu Viannay’s Michelin-starred restaurant, where guests nibble on homemade pork pâté and foie gras as they sample a dizzying array of grands crus. ART BEAT Opened last year on the former docks of the Saône, La Sucrière (lasucriere-lyon. com) is a 1930s sugar warehouse turned wildly successful cavernous space for cutting-edge art shows and events. And no one should leave Lyon without a peek at the stunning Musée d’Art Contemporain de Lyon (mac-lyon.com), designed by Renzo Piano. SHOP TALK Set in a charming narrow passageway, the Village des Créateurs (villagedescreateurs.com) is a treasure trove of one-off creations by young designers, with a sophisticated selection of jewellery, multibrand streetwear and hip baby clothes. exPErt advice THE ESSENTIAL WEEKEND BY DANIEL BOULUD With restaurants including Daniel, Bar Boulud and Maison Boulud speckled across the globe – from New York to Beijing, by way of Miami, London and Singapore, among other hot spots – the Lyonnaise chef has never forgotten his home. He shared a few of his favourite haunts with Departures . Whenever I’m in Lyon for the weekend, I go to La Mère Brazier (lamerebrazier. fr), headed by the wonderful chef Mathieu Viannay. They serve a fabulous pâté en croûte with foie gras, cut in thick slices from a big terrine. For the main dish, I love their poularde en vessie (a fattened chicken cooked in a pig’s bladder), and for dessert, I have a mille feuille pastry. My Saturday morning ritual is a visit to Les Halles, ( $ halledelyon.free.fr), Lyon’s great covered food market, where most of the vendors are in their third generation there. The best cheese is at Fromagerie Richard Renée et Renée ( $ +33 4 78 62 30 78); for charcuterie, I like Sibilia ( $ charcuterie-sibilia.com), and for fish, Pupier ( $ +33 4 78 62 37 26). Afterwards, I always stop at one of the market’s oyster bars for an aperitif. Artisanally produced cheese from Fromagerie Richard Renée et Renée Sunday lunch is always a grandiose four-hour meal at Paul Bocuse’s Auberge du Pont de Collonges (bocuse.fr). For an aperitif, I order a communard, a Paul Bocuse’s legendary truffle soup mix of Beaujolais and Cassis which I first had there at age 15. I begin with the truffle soup VGE – a dish created for the French President in 1975 – followed by the red mullet dressed in crusty potato scales, which was the inspiration for my paupiette of sea bass that I created 25 years ago, along with a Mâcon- Milly-Lamartine from Dominique Lafon. Then comes the truffled Bresse chicken cooked in pig’s bladder paired with a Clusel-Roch Côte Rôtie, followed, of course, by cheese. For dessert, I love the île flottante, a recipe of Paul Bocuse’s grandmother! Contact platinum card service for bookings departures-international.com 39
