Some grandmothers bestow loved ones with the secrets to their carefully honed home-cooked fare. Moi? I inherited an insatiable hankering for Findus Crispy Pancakes, Taytos and Rich Tea biscuits slathered with butter. Sadly, I’ve yet to discover a restaurant specialising in the nostalgic delicacies of my childhood, but luckily, countless chefs have built careers around theirs. Frenchman Claude Bosi is the latest, except he’s doing it the other way round, adding to his heap of Michelin-starred establishments with a relaxed bouchon dedicated to his Lyonnaise grand-mère, Josephine.
And alright, I’ll admit it’s more appealing than a loosely named pancake. We enter through red velvet drapes into a room humming with friends and lovers sharing secrets across candle-lit tables. Romance, it turns out, isn’t dead (unless you don’t like complimentary pork and duck fat scratchings, in which case: you don’t deserve it anyway). They’re out of the Insta-famous rabbit in mustard sauce, which is almost as disappointing as the sommelier who makes a comment about my friend’s weight.
Nevertheless, the oeufs meurette made up of tacky-yolked, onsen-style poached eggs in a deep, glossy red wine sauce, have us scraping the bottom of the dish while we watch our twice-baked Saint-Félicien souffle slowly deflate. Mercifully, the tangy, lightly browned cheese pouffe is still a silken delight, though we find the generous slab of fromage de tête (pig’s head terrine) a touch over-seasoned, which turns out to be a theme. While the Lyonnaise style vol-au-vent — a golden tower overflowing with chicken and mushrooms — is a stairway to heaven, the trotter croquette and tater tot-like pommes duchesse are too salty for me, the wingebag who often claims that the world is chronically under seasoned.
Refined lemon jam, curd and Italian meringue jar inside a rustic, thick-bottomed pastry case, but a feather-light meringue with a crunch of praline floating in custard is, undoubtedly, heavenly. Overall? Josephine is charming, esoteric and a tad unpredictable. Just like my nana.
