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Les Terrasses de Lyon, the restaurant of the luxury four star hotel Villa Florentine of Lyon, serves delicious regional cuisine rendered with a modern flair. You have your choice of eating in the old vaulted, traditional dining room, or stepping through an archway, sitting in a more modern setting with glass walls that look over the red roof tops of the old city much like La Chevre d’Or in Provence looks out over the shimmering coastline of the Cote d’Azure. In warm weather, meals are also served outside on the terrace.
This twin contrast typifies the food as well, some of which is traditional in style and some very modern. Since we were there in 2004, the check who was responsible for our meal has been replaced by chef Davy Tissot (Meilleur Ouvrier de France 2004) who before coming to Villa Flornetine worked in the kitchens of Paul Bocouse and Chez Bruno in Provence. The menu, that you can access on their web site, looks very good with a mixure of robust regional fair done with a modern flare as well as dishes that are filled with ingrediencts for the sea a long way off but fresh what with the fast, refigerated trucks from Provence and the Channel. Our photos are of the original dishes, but the look is much the same even if the tastes look vastly improved.
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Turbot with fava beans and roast fennel.
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The new covered terrace dining room with glass walls giving a view out over the old city, the new city and all the way to lower Alps on a clear day.
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The traditional dining room with its vaulted ceiling.
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“Presse de Legumes” in a jelly of coriander .
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There is al fixed price menu at 107 Euros as well as the a la carte menu.
The second part of the duck arrived served in a deep dish with the leg resting on a gratin of celery surrounded by a sauce “Périgueux” which I can only think must be a reduction of the juices with black truffles. We were never able to pin that down especially since it too was so thick it had to be scrapped off the bottom of the plate. But other than the consistency of the two sauces, the duck was a great success.
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The first serving of the breast of the "Caneton de Challans" (duck) resting on a mousseline of petits pois
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Dessert of vanilla ice cream and butterscotch sorbet on a disk of sponge cake with a hat of a wafer of caramelized pineapple.
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“Suprême de pigeon rosé” served on a bed of tube pasta filled with a purée of truffles.
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The second serving, the leg of the "Caneton de Challans" (duck) resting on a gratin of celery
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We left our wine choice (we like to sample the local wines of the regions) in the hands of the very capable sommelier who knew what we had ordered and picked a 2001 Crozes-Hermitage by Domaine des Remizières. This wine is less acidic than it’s cousins just north in Burgundy. It matched all the dishes we ordered. We can thoroughly recommend it as well as the discretion of the sommelier.
The desserts back in 2004 were dissappointing. From what we can see, they probably are not much of an improvement today, but that is just an educated guess..
The hotel can be a bit difficult to find the first time. (For directions, click here).
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