Why no Mathieu Viannay dinner?

Mathieu Viannay and the two star  Mere Brazier in Lyon

Mathieu Viannay is I now know a chef with the hands of an angel. No I haven’t been to one of his three restaurants in Lyon, the most famous being the Mere Brazier, an historic restaurant which he saved last year – and so successfully that it was awarded two stars within six months.

Last night I  had a taste of his cooking at a promotion for  FranceGuide Prestige magazine at the Windsor Arms.  Viannay and our own JP Challet produced a tasting menu, mostly bites, that showed Viannay makes food as light as it is rich. his pate en croute floated off the plate. Fluffy black pudding came with a little potato on top. Pickerel topped with pigs ear in red wine sauce. Exquisite tiny chocolate tarts with meltaway pastry. French cheese, roquefort, st. Felicien, a pungent goat cheese had obviously not suffered the over-cooling demanded by the ontario health department.

I riffed through reports of Viannay’s cooking in Lyon…at the traditional Mere Brazier he makes  Foie gras–stuffed artichoke hearts, poached Bresse chicken with black truffles comes in two parts – the breast in a cream sauce and the thighs grilled and garnished with an herb salad,  pate en croute of Bresse chick and foie gras with black cherry jam, the Bresse chicken and lobster with a lobster sauce…pan-fried strawberries in orange butter with ewe’s milk sorbet, lemon confit, warmhoney madeleines… yes, yes, the madeleines were served last night and they were so good…

Slowly enjoying a Viannay madeleine with coffee this morning i thought – why if Viannay is here, isn’t he cooking a couple of dinners?

The last time we had visiting star chefs was years ago. The wonderful Laurent and Patrick Ithuriague , basques from Pau, came to The Fifth and they were a real pick me up – they had such a different ‘tude to cooking.   I’m sure Viannay’s dinners would have been sold out and they would have been great promotion for visiting Lyon, France’s gastronomic heart.