No gastronomic trip to Lyon, France is complete without a visit to the legendary Paul Bocuse restaurant, which holds one of the longest records for three Michelin stars in France. Honoured with the much coveted Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (Best Craftsman of France) award in 1965, Chef Paul Bocuse, who passed away early last year, was a much well-respected figure for his stellar contributions to French gastronomy.
Residing in the scenic area of Collonges-au-Mont-d’Or, the journey from Lyon city centre to the restaurant already sets the mood, with a meandering route alongside the Rhone river offering idyllic views from lush greenery, historic buildings to canoes on the water.
Arriving at the restaurant, a doorman stood waiting and led my dining companion and I to a whimsical, colourful building, almost like a circus and nothing like a Michelin 3-star Meilleurs Ouvriers de France restaurant I had imagined. As we walked into the restaurant, we were greeted by a bevy of service crew, each of them smartly dressed, welcoming and polite.
Excited by a window looking into the kitchen, I asked if I could take a photo of the kitchen and we were immediately led inside to be introduced to the two Executive Chefs on duty. It was a nice exchange with the chefs as I told them about my current stint at Le Cordon Bleu Paris while they shared compliments for Singapore.
Next, we were ushered to the beautiful Salon Marie Bocuse room upstairs. More smartly dressed service crew including the sommelier appeared, taking turns to serve bread and butter, and take orders for wine and water. As I thumbed through the menu of traditional French dishes, I was sold to the signature Paul Bocuse set menu which featured the best dish in each category with a particular French dish that had left a very strong impression.
Starting with the amuse boche of young carrot with grapefruit and beetroot meringue, the lunch moved quickly to the first course of watercress custard with ostrecia caviar and oyster leaf.
The black truffle soup, created for the French President in 1975, was presented next. It was sublime. Unveiling the puff pastry cover, I discovered a dark consommé with foie gras and Périgord black truffles. The elixir was flavourful and remained hot throughout as I savoured it slowly. No wonder my teaching chef at Le Cordon Bleu Paris spoke so highly about this dish.
In a change of flavours from earthy to umami, I found myself feasting upon the lobster gratin with Newburg sauce next. It was rich and savoury, and I cleaned out every last bit of the sauce from my dish. A serving of Beaujolais red wine and black cassis sorbet to cleanse the palate and I waited in anticipation for the highlight of the meal: Bresse chicken cooked in a bladder ‘à la Mere Fillioux’.
The first time I learnt about this dish was in a masterchef class at the Epicurean Market organised by Marina Bay Sands Singapore. A culinary event teeming with masterchefs, Chef Daniel Boulud – who owns the likes of Daniel, DB Bistro and several other restaurants and bars across New York, London and Singapore – personally demonstrated how to cook this traditional French dish.
Taking a chicken from Brest (or Bresse), France – a prized poultry and considered the best in the country, Chef Daniel stuffed the chicken cavity with foie gras and slid copious slices of black truffle under its skin before enveloping the entire chicken in a pig’s bladder and basting it with hot water till it is cooked. As I marvelled at the cooking techniques behind the dish, Chef Daniel sent out a team of service crew carrying trays filled with the divine chicken served atop a bed of rice. “French chicken rice,” I remember thinking to myself as I devoured the tender chicken.
Just at that moment, a service cart was pushed towards our table. A ballooned bladder took centrestage next to servings of vegetables, rice and creamy sauce with morel mushrooms. Moving quickly, a service crew slit the bladder, revealing an entire chicken hidden within and deftly carved out the chicken legs as well as the chicken oysters – two small tender pieces of meat located on the chicken back – just like how we were taught at Le Cordon Bleu Paris. Working together, another service crew plated the chicken leg with the sides and sauce before promptly serving the dish. I was blown away by their impressive tableside service.
While the chicken here wasn’t stuffed with foie gras nor slid with that many slices of truffles, it was nonetheless still flavourful and came with an awesome sauce. Although the chicken breasts were set aside for our second serving, we were so full from the chicken legs that we had to request for them to go.
Up next, the cheese course. It wasn’t just any cheese course but an entire spread of French cheeses for selection. Between my favourite choices and the service crew’s additional recommendations, we came up with six different varieties of cheese for my tasting. Such an indulgence.
Just as we finished our cheese course, another round of bustling began. The service crew had surrounded our table with an arsenal of desserts from crème brûlée, cakes, tarts to baba rum, sorberts and fruits – all for our selection. I greedily picked several random desserts and watched in wonder as the service crew plated them together for me.
As a special treat, our service crew arranged a visit to the kitchen for us after hearing that I was studying at Le Cordon Bleu Paris. I was completely in awe of their copper pots – dream cookware that I would love to add to my own kitchen. I also took the opportunity to “inspect” different parts of the kitchen including the poultry storage fridge where each bird is carefully labelled and the chef’s table – literally where the executive chefs sit together and brainstorm or discuss menus.
We left Paul Bocuse some five hours after arrival. The superbly executed menu, meticulous presentation and impeccable tableside service was everything I expected from the legendary restaurant and so much more. I had arrived in anticipation and left in complete awe. This will be one culinary experience I will relive for a very long time.
The Rogue Wanderluster 