Lyon chows down on sausage and wine

Lyon is home to around 30 bouchons, whose name is thought to derive from an Old French word, 'bousche,' a round bunch of pine branches that restaurant owners would hang from their doors to mark them out.

Lyon: It’s just after 10 am at Yann Lalle’s tiny restaurant in Lyon, but his temple of French dining isn’t serving coffee and croissants — patrons are being treated to poached sausage and glasses of red wine.

Deprived of a dinner crowd, he and other Lyon restaurants are trying to revive the traditional “machon,” a boozy breakfast featuring the classic hearty dishes that put Lyon on the global culinary map.

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Andouillette sausage and mashed potato canapes, walnut and endive salad, ham and parsley pate, and creamy herbed cheese are washed down with bottles from the famed vineyards surrounding the city.

Some of the city’s beloved “bouchons,” bistros where foodies cram into low-ceilinged dining rooms steeped in tradition, have been dishing up machons for decades.”It lets you forget the Covid situation, have a good time, raise a glass and eat — it’s a little earlier than usual, but it goes down perfectly,” said Benoit Quiblier, a tripe producer enjoying the midmorning feast at Lalle’s restaurant, Le Poelon d’Or.

The French Covid curfew was “like a cold shower,” said Lalle, adding that he now fears another lockdown is looming as hospitals again warn they are filling up fast.Like other restaurant owners, he has been hammered by a dearth of wary clients despite investing in plexiglass barriers to place between tables.

Lyon is home to around 30 bouchons, whose name is thought to derive from an Old French word, ‘bousche,’ a round bunch of pine branches that restaurant owners would hang from their doors to mark them out.