Dinner at l’Est, a Paul Bocuse Restaurant

We have found we rarely eat dinner in restaurants; we have lunches instead.  There are several reasons for this, but the two biggest are that we generally prefer not to eat dinner as late as the French, and we would rather not go to bed feeling stuffed.  So the two of us going out to dinner is a big thing, and we decided to splurge for dinner at one of Paul Bocuse’s restaurants.

Paul Bocuse was born in Collonges-au-Mont-d’Or, a small village just north of Lyon on the Saône river, and is considered to be Lyonnaise.  He got his first star in the Michelin Guide in 1958, his second in 1960, and his third in 1965.  In 1975 he was decorated with the Legion of Honor by Valéry Gistard d’Estaing, president of the Republic of France.  The guy definitely has some creds.  He also has five restaurants in Lyon; four of which are named for the compass points designating their locations: le Nord, le Sud, l’Est, and l’Oest.  We ate at l'Est.

Gare des Brotteaux as it looks today.

Another shot of the Gare des Brotteaux - this one showing l'Est with the umbrellas on the left.

L’Est is located in the lovely, old Gare de Brotteaux , a former rail way station.  We’ve walked by it many times, stopped and read the posted menus, and agreed that it would be nice to eat there sometime.  So when we were thinking about where we should have dinner after the AVF cruise on the Saône, we thought we’d try L’Est.  But, it was early (only a little after 7PM) and we had no reservations – so what were our chances of getting a table?  As it turned out, they open at 7:15 for dinner, and had an open table for us. 

And, here's l'Est!

Showing interior and exterior seating - we ate inside.

We celebrated with flutes of champagne and started perusing the menus.  We decided to each have a plat (main dish) and dessert – with a nice Givry from Bourgoyne (a Michel Sarrazin et Fils - this family of vigneons has been producing wine since 1671).  David had “Filet de Bœuf avec Sauce au Poivre,” and Anna had “Poulet Rôti à la Broche. ”  Both were excellent, in fact, David’s steak was probably the best cut of beef we’ve had since we arrived in France.  Our desserts were great, too.  David had fresh strawberries and raspberries with whipped cream, and Anna had clafoutis des cerises (a sort of cross between a tart and a cake or flan made with cherries).  All of this was followed by cups of French coffee.  By the time we left, a little after nine, the restaurant was packed.

We ended our dinner experience with a 10 minute walk to our apartment on a pleasant summer night.  Life is really rough here, but we feel an obligation to do our part to support the French economy and encourage entrepreneurs like Paul Bocuse.