Paul Bocuse’s Restaurant Loses 3-Star Status After 55 Years
L’Auberge du Pont de Collonges, the restaurant of the late top chef Paul Bocuse, has lost its three stars after more than half a century. On Thursday evening, it was announced that the restaurant near Lyon now has only two stars.
Michelin officially confirmed this after reports about it were leaked to the press. Bocuse – who died on January 20, 2018, at the age of 91 – received his third star in 1965 and managed to retain it for a record number of years. But that has now come to an end. “The restaurant is still excellent, but after several visits by our inspectors in 2019, it appears that it is no longer at a three-star level,” said a spokesperson.
Nouvelle cuisine: ‘big plate, little food’
Bocuse was the personification of nouvelle cuisine: the eclectic cooking style known primarily for being light and small (read: too little for very many people). Bocuse himself once said about it: “It was indeed a little too little food on a much too large plate” and “People would also say ‘nothing on the plate, a lot on the bill’ or ‘the bigger the plate, the smaller the dishes'”.
Signature dishes
Anyway, if you look past the portions, the cooking style is characterized by the use of fresh ingredients, regional dishes as inspiration and unusual flavor combinations. Poulet en vessie, for example: Bresse chicken poached in a pig’s bladder with black truffle demi-deuil (under the skin), white wine and foie gras. Or the famous soupe aux truffes: a beef consommé en croûte with black truffle and foie gras.
Why one star fewer?
The menu at his restaurant did not change much over the years. According to French media, Bocuse’s status and the goodwill of the creators of the Michelin Guide were responsible for the restaurant repeatedly retaining its three stars, the maximum.
But unfortunately, that has now come to an end. This also means that there is no longer a three-star restaurant in Lyon.
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