A couple of months ago, we spent about a week in the Lyon area and a bit farther south for work, and today, I am still digesting the meal we had down there.

One of our clients wanted to take us out to dinner, which always confuses me a little about our client relationships here in Europe. Aren’t WE supposed to be taking THEM out to dinner? Not complaining! We have the best clients – ever. Anyway, he picks us up at our hotel in downtown Lyon (they are NOT in the Old Town like they advertise) and off we go at bullet speed until we reach the tiny town, Collonges au Mont d’or, which is a couple of miles north outside of Lyon along the Saone River. We enter the parking lot and I gaze up at the brightly painted (pink, red, orange, yellow, green) building that looks vaguely familiar to me.

“I’ve seen this place before on TV.”

Then I see the larger than life painting of Paul Bocuse on the side of the building looking out from a painted balcony window, a veritable study on narcissistic exterior restaurant design (little did I know, that was just the tip of the iceberg.)

“Paul Bocuse! L’Auberge du Pont de Collonges!” (and I thought, doh! I didn’t bring my camera to take food photos for my blog, forgetting temporarily that it was a business meeting.) Paul Bocuse’s restaurant in Collonges au mont d’or was included in Restaurant Magazine’s Top 50 Best Restaurants in the World for 2007.

We’d recently watched a documentary about the life of Paul Bocuse on ARTE, and it became immediately crystal clear that the life of this Michelin starred chef, is a far cry from that of the ordinary French lifestyle – well, from the lives of mostly anyone anywhere.

“Did you know he has THREE wives??!”

Back to the restaurant.

We were brought into a salon for hors d’oeuvres (foie gras or smoked salmon on tiny square inch toasts) and drinks, and later escorted to our table.

Once seated, one could not miss the name, “Paul Bocuse” etched on…EVERYTHING. The napkin holders, the plates, the butter dish, the wine cooler, the walls. Paul Bocuse this. Paul Bocuse that. I get it. You are NOT to forget where you are. Period. I think his name is now indelibly tattooed on my eyeballs.

How was the food? The food was… pretty tasty. I don’t have photos of any of the dishes. Sorry. Needless to say we had little complaints (except the lobster cassolette was a slightly over salted. I’m sorry but is WAS.) from the aperitifs to the desserts (the house ice cream was great). Worth mentioning is the sea bass with lobster mousse baked in a puff pastry shell, which was excellent, as was the cheese cart supplied by La Fromagerie La Mère Richard. You must sample their famous Saint Marcellin cheese, which is to-die-for (to find cheeses from La Mère Richard, go to Les Halles market in downtown Lyon). The Bresse chicken cooked in a bladder with morille mushrooms wasn’t too shabby either. They bring the whole thing out and pop the bladder in front of you. Do you think it would not taste as good if it were NOT cooked in a pig’s bladder?

During our meal we thought we saw Paul Bocuse on the other side of the restaurant. The waiting staff, which by the way, is no short of extraordinary (some of the guys are pretty cute too), confirmed that he comes to the restaurant every day to eat and to make an appearance. Then, I saw this ginormous chef-apron-and-toque-clad man approach our table.

We all say in unison, “Good evening” to this culinary icon.

He just stood there and stared with a half smile. Then disappeared.

Squinting and in unison again, “Why didn’t he say anything?!”

“Were we supposed to say ‘Oui, chef!’ or something??!”

The other strange thing was that in our section of the restaurant, there were other tables but he only came to our table. Very odd, indeed.

Maybe….maybe it wasn’t really Paul Bocuse!! You know, the restaurant borrowed wax Paul Bocuse from Madame Tussauds and he rolled away on tracks…

Paul Bocuse Restaurant – L’Auberge du Pont de Collonges
40 Quai de la Plage
69660 Collonges au Mont d’Or France
Tél. : (33) 04 72 42 90 90
Website: Paul Bocuse

Note: The waiters gave me a menu to take home with me and if you want Paul Bocuse to sign it, you can ask him while he’s in the restaurant. Also, I went back to the restaurant on our way out of town to take some quick photos. I know. I’m such a nerd.