I’m in Lyon – the foodie capital of France – heading out to dinner. Oh boy! I’m going to stay close to the hotel tonight and go over to the “restaurant row” area that we had seen earlier. I’ll have dinner at whatever place catches my eye – perhaps at one of “les bouchons de Lyon.”
After my visit to the Center for the History of the Resistance and Deportation, I took it easy the rest of the afternoon. When dinnertime rolled around, I made the short walk to restaurant row. For at least two blocks in this area, every business on both sides of the street is a restaurant. Amazing. Most of them are small places that have a “mom and pop” look to them. Each one has a menu board out front where the day’s specials are written in chalk.
Les Bouchons
Restaurants like these in Lyon are called “bouchons.” The story goes that back in the day, when Lyon was jam-packed with workers in the silk industry, lots of little restaurants popped up to feed them. To let people know that the business was a place to get something to eat, they’d put a sign out front with something on it that looked like a bundle of straw.
The word for a bundle of straw back then was “bouchon,” (pronounced “boo-shonh”), so these little restaurants eventually became known as ‘bouchons.” That’s the story, anyway. I’ve never seen anything where that explains why a bundle of straw would represent a restaurant, though. I could see a cow or a pig, but a bundle of straw? Don’t know.
I waited until 8:00 PM to head out, since people here don’t start eating until then. Most restaurants don’t even open for dinner until 8:00. It’s only a couple of blocks to the area that’s packed with restaurants. I walked down the main street. It was still early. Not very many people were eating yet.
This was going to be hard because there were too many choices. I walked around for quite a while, looking for something that would tell me “this is the place!” There must be thirty or forty restaurants to choose from.
I made my second or third pass by one place that had been catching my eye. Then I took a closer look at the chalkboard with today’s specials. One of the specials was “Tartine aux Sardines.” Fresh sardines! I knew I had found the place for me.
Tartine aux Sardines
I love the kind of sardines they have over here. They’re nothing like the squishy little things that are smashed all together in the little tins that we have at home. Sardines here are more like miniature trout, but with a stronger taste. And since sardines were on the chalkboard, that must mean that they just arrived from somewhere not too far away.
A “tartine” is any kind of dish that’s served on a big slice of bread. Could be just about anything. They take a big slice of fresh bread, put some stuff on it, put some seasoning on it, maybe put some cheese on it, and then put it under the broiler for a couple of minutes. Presto – you have a tartine.
I went inside to find whoever was in charge to let him or her know that I wanted to have some dinner, and that I wanted to sit outside. The place was really busy – busier that most of the other places nearby. That was a good sign.
Inside it was like a big party. The place was full of people who appeared to be having a good time. American music was playing in the background. Old stuff like the Beach Boys and Fats Domino. Seems like almost all of the French like American music. It sounded pretty good to me, too.
The host showed me to a table outside, where it was more peaceful that it had been inside. This would be a perfect spot to have something good to eat and to people-watch. Now, let’s see what a “Tartine aux Sardines” looks like!
To be continued…
