La Mère Cottivet — Restaurant in Lyon

Amazing people exist all over the world, and when you find them magic happens.

It is our first day in Lyon, France. I have been worried about this stop on our trip. I speak very little French and I am intimidated by how I have heard they view Americans.

Then I met Geoff. We were wondering along a side street trying to find a place to eat. We could not read the menus so we had our phones out using Google translator to find something good.

Geoff came up behind us and said in English that it's hard to pick a spot with so many good places to eat. He invited us to check out where he worked.

We entered La Mere Cottivet a cute little café and he sat us at a small table. We started with a cheese and charcuterie board. We then went with his suggestions on two entrees, the Pike Quenelle with Lobster Sauce and a traditional Andouilette Sausage in a Mustard Sauce. Both were amazing, but of the two, the Pike dish just melted in your mouth on every bite (use as much of the Lobster Sauce as you can, It's perfect).

During lunch Geoff came over to our table and started talking about wines. This led to a 90 minute discussion and tasting of wines from all over the region. The experience was surreal and exceptionally generous. We learned about French grapes the differences between growing regions and even tasted some wine from his neighbor's vineyard (clearly a professional, the wine was perfect)

We finished our meal with espresso. I like to have mine with Ameretto. That led Jeff to introduce us to about nine different French digestives. Again, who expects this on a first visit.

I cannot express thank you strongly enough to him for making us feel welcome in his country. Go to La Mere Cottivet for the great food, but also to support an amazing family-owned business. It turns out Geoff and his wife own the restaurant. He says she is the rockstar who runs it. He was just there helping out. Merci...

Walked in on a Saturday for lunch with no reservation. Ordered the Lyonnaise salad and dish of the day, which was beef in a shallot sauce.

First, the salad is pretty much the ideal Lyonnaise salad. Warm pork belly bacon that enough overly salty and just the right amount for the greens. The croutons are warmly toasted and have again the right amount of crunch and warmth to balance out the light dressing. Finally, the poached egg is perfect with enough warmth to slightly wilt the greens but not too much to make it a soggy mess. They also had some gnocchi which was a nice touch.

The dish of the day was beef like a hangar steak that is so soft but not too chewy in a shallot reduction. The center may be more red and closer to rare than medium rare, which was fine. The sauce is one you want to dip the cuts of beef in and you will probably still sop it up with bread at the end.

This place is sandwiched between two larger restaurants and not a lot of seating inside. Two waiters were hustling in and out covering all the tables as well they can. They were more friendly than other service I've had in Lyon. Finally, pretty good bang for the buck at €26.

I definitely will go back to try their other...

As we strolled through the old town, we were searching for a great place to have lunch when we stumbled upon this amazing restaurant. The menu looked enticing, so we decided to give it a try—and we were so glad we did! From the exceptional service to the high-quality food, warm atmosphere, and spotless surroundings, everything exceeded our expectations. Our server was incredibly kind, making every effort to communicate in English, which made our experience even more enjoyable. We will definitely be returning and highly recommend this restaurant—you won’t be...