Lunch at a Lyonnais Bouchon (Le Garet)

and the two Pierres

Is it easy to make new French friends? No.

My French is improving, but not enough to have long, complex conversation over lunch (as the French love to do). At the same time many people in Lyon have grown up here and have had the same friends since they were young.

It makes for a social barrier that goes beyond language. But also makes it so rewarding when you cross over.

Enter our new friend Pierre. Our new friend Pierre is actually an old friend of our good friend from college (hi Dre!). Pierre spent time in Virginia in high school, which is where he met Dre. And Pierre speaks perfect English, is super into food, and is born and raised in Lyon. Making him a wonderful new friend and an amazing guide to the food of our adopted city. And he’s been so graciously doing just that!

lunch with Pierre at La Garet

The Story of Le Garet

Last week, Pierre invited us to lunch at Le Garet, one of Lyon’s most famous, storied bouchons. He’s an amateur chef, but competed (and placed) in a cooking competition in Paris against a ton of professional chefs. And that’s how “our” Pierre, met the other Pierre - Pierre Viéville, who also competed in the competition and is the head chef at Le Garet.

Pierre #2 is one of a younger generation of Lyon chefs helping to carry forward and bring fresh energy into the tradition of the bouchon. And Pierre Viéville recently returned from Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York where he studied under Dan Barber, the American chef known for his work on farm-to-table cooking and sustainable farming. Seasonality and local ingredients are thriving in the menu at Le Garet alongside the traditional bouchon dishes.

tributes to the history of Le Garet

Perhaps the coolest thing about Le Garet, besides the fantastic food, is the fact that resistance leader Jean Moulin regularly ate here during World War II. A plaque inside commemorates the place where he always sat, right near the door so he could keep an eye out for his contacts. Lyon played a critical role in the French Resistance, and Jean Moulin spent significant time in the city coordinating resistance efforts before his capture by the Nazis.

From a cozy table in Le Garet, it isn’t hard to imagine the conversations that might have taken place here eighty years ago.

Bouchon 101

I knew nothing about bouchons or bouchon culture before arriving in Lyon, but you don’t have to be here long to become mildly obsessed with their place in French food culture and history

A bouchon is a traditional Lyonnais restaurant. They were created to feed the silk workers of Lyon in the 19th century, and they served hearty, affordable meals to help sustain these workers. Bouchons were small, family-run, and served less expensive cuts of meat (so less steak, more tripe). Often these hearty meals were eaten in the morning either by workers who had spent all night at the looms or by those who were just starting their day.

Many of the bouchons in Lyon look and feel frozen in time. And the core elements of the menus are the same.

first course at Le Garet

Key Dishes on a Bouchon Menu

Prepping to go to a bouchon? Here’s what you can expect.

• Salade Lyonnaise: greens, bacon lardons, poached egg

• Quenelles de brochet: pike dumplings in a creamy sauce, often served with rice (I’m obsessed with this dish)

• Rosette: cured pork sausage, thinly sliced (also makes a great sandwich, though you wouldn’t find that at a Bouchon)

• *Andouillette: a course pork sausage in a casing, usually made with intestines

• Cervelle de canut: herby cheese spread (with a texture a bit like ricotta) to eat with bread (note: if you translate this literally it means “brains of the silk worker”, but it’s just cheese; I think the name comes from the look or texture)

• Saint-Marcellin cheese: from just outside of Lyon, this cheese is a beloved after-dinner treat here

quenelles at Le Garet (my favorite)

There are often different types of potatoes served on the side - roasted, baked in a casserole as Gratin dauphinois, or fried in thin rounds. Most bouchons also serve other classic French dishes and seasonal specialties.

*I have to be honest and alert you to the fact that andouillette is an acquired taste. It has a very distinct, earthy smell and flavor, and even some French people will tell you it’s not their favorite, but we always keep an open mind and try it (you never know, as I always tell kids when I teach cooking classes!).

andouillette at Le Garet

The Pot of Wine

One other charming and uniquely Lyonnais experience is ordering a pot of wine.

Pot in French is pronounced “poe”.

If you want something more than a glass and less than a bottle when you’re in Lyon, you always ask for a pot. A pot lyonnais is specific bottle with a very heavy base that holds 46 centiliters of wine. (A standard bottle of wine is 75 centiliters.)

The pot dates back to the silk workers time as well when the bosses of the factories gave every worker a bottle of wine a day. The workers wanted 50 centiliters, but the bosses negotiated them down to 46 centiliters. And the traditional size of bottle has remained and is pervasive throughout Lyon today.

A pot gives you about three slightly generous glasses of wine, so a perfect amount to share with friends over lunch.

(If you’re having wine with lunch, which of course you are, because this is France.)

Talk to Your Neighbors

Besides the food, the most noteworthy thing about eating in a bouchon is that people are close. Sometimes your neighbors have to move their table so you can squeeze in. And inevitably, after everyone is happily making a dent in their pot, people start to talk. They comment on what you ordered, they chat with the chef, they make jokes across the room.

Even today, at Le Garet, we were surrounded by regulars who knew the servers, joked with the kitchen staff, and greeted each other warmly.

The bouchon is woven into the identity of this city in a way that’s hard to overstate. And eating at one will give you a taste of local culture and history that no other experience in Lyon can compete with.