Paris they say, is the capital of lights, fashion and perhaps more importantly for me, gastronomy. And yet, Paris, despite what many American tourists may think, is not always the best place for eating at any street restaurant.   

Sure, if you go to  Barthelemy or Androuet you’ll get the best cheeses, if you go to Jean-Luc Poujauran, you’ll get the best baguette (for a while it was only sold on the Internet), and if you go the beautiful and historic Debauve & Gallais, you’ll get the best chocolate. But still, I maintain, eating in any bistro, restaurant or café can often turn out to be disappointing.   

I’m not going to give you an extensive guide to eating well in Paris, just an avant-goût to one of the best bistros in city: simple, unpretentious and delicious.

The name, “Aux Lyonnais”, is not so Parisian, as it refers to France’s second largest city famed for its traditional cuisine, but the address -- 32 Rue St-Marc in the 2nd arrondissement near the Bourse --  definitely is.

“Aux Lyonnais” has kept its bright red wood façade with its  "Maison Lyonnaise" sign, and cultivates the atmosphere of the traditional Lyonnais bistros or «bouchons" as they call them in Lyon.  There are around 20 officially certified bouchons in France, and “Aux Lyonnais” is one of them, known for its warm atmosphere, a personal relationship with the owner, and its traditional cuisine (think sausages, duck pâté, roast pork …)

Once you step in, it’s hard not to notice all the historic details packed here. On the sideboard for example, is an old piston-type coffee machine that huffs and puffs steam. Behind the zinc and tin clad wooden counter a few wine bottles sit in a wine rack waiting to be opened. Wood paneling and floral patterned moldings, typical of the Nineteenth century "Art Pompier" decorate the walls, along with  "metro" style tiles and copper frying pans.

Though celebrated French Chef Alain Ducasse, who also owns the Louis XV in Monaco and the Spoon restaurant in Paris, is now the owner, “Aux Lyonnais” was founded at the turn of the 18th century by  “The Mothers”  or “Les Mères” – former cooks to Lyon’s aristocracy who decided to open their own restaurant and create traditional dishes, mixing bourgeois and peasant dishes of the region.
La “mère Brigousse” for example, was very well known for her “tétons de Vénus” (literally Venus’ tit) a dish in the shape of a women’s breast, that young men had to order for their bachelor party (yes … it already existed.)

All is prepared and served as you were at home, or at grandmas. Generous pieces of meat, pots of pâté, and frying pans brought straight from the kitchen filled with fresh goodies such as perch, pike, crayfish and frogs from la Dombes, free-range poultry, beef, cheeses from Isère, charcuterie, wines from South Macon to North of the Rhone... are just a few of the regional produce lovingly prepared by those legendary " Mothers " and by the top chefs who have succeeded the historic founders.

While the restaurant pays homage to the traditional cuisine of a particular region in France, it also wants to stay with its time.

"Without challenging the traditional taste combinations, we want to update the regional lyonnaise cuisine so that more people can come to know and enjoy it" explains Frédéric Thévenet, the kitchen director. For instance, the "Sabodet, " a cooked sausage based on the meat from a pig’s head is gently poached in a savory broth, then finely sliced and heaped with fine slivers of potato perfumed with a light gribiche sauce.  This is quite a variation from the original recipe where the pig's brain is cut into thick slices and hidden in a strongly flavored salad. Same goes for the free-range chicken, rather than having a thick sauce accompanying it, it's roasted to perfection and garnished with mushrooms, tomatoes and onions to keep it moist and impart flavor, before de-glazing the pan with vinegar and serving it in its own cooking juices.

Gérard Margeon, the chef sommelier of the Alain Ducasse Group, and Kevin Quinsenac, the chef sommelier at "Aux Lyonnais" devised the contents of the bistro’s cellar. They regularly shop around, composing their list from Lyon to Dijon, via Bugey, the North of the Rhone Valley, with occasional forays into the Bordeaux region for a few essentials wines. "I wanted to celebrate the best of the French regional wines along the vertical axis of Bourgogne-Lyonnais-Vallée du Rhône and its vineyards ; all of which are recognized for their long-standing expertise," explains Gerard Margeon. An excellent example is Cerdon, a very rare effervescent rosé wine produced using an ancestral method

For me, "Aux Lyonnais" illustrates or rather counter illustrates the Lebanese proverb "too much is the brother of too little.” Is quality synonymous with fuss? Does it always need to be too much? Too much service, too much décor, too much attitude? Is it about what’s in the plate or what’s around?

Not too much and not too little, that is the secret of a good cuisine. In that sense, “Aux Lyonnais”  is a good cuisine: a balance of quality, service, décor, ingredients, tastes … and innovation.

Aux Lyonnais - Open Tuesday through Friday for lunch and Tuesday through Saturday for dinner. The set menu is around 30 euros and  a la carte menu is around 40 euros.

32, rue St Marc 75002 Paris - +33 1 42 96 65 04.

www.auxlyonnais.com