Maison Lameloise has been recognised as one of the essential food destinations in France for more than 90 years and they are still going strong. Three generations of the Lameloise family have helmed the kitchen since 1921, but today you will find Éric Pras as the Chef de Cuisine.
The restaurant is located in an old building north of Lyon in Burgundy’s Chagny. The former coach house inn was turned into a hotel called Hôtel du Commerce, but the venue changed name in 1960 after a renovation, to its present name – Maison Lameloise. There have been three successive generations of Lameloise, Pierre, Jean, and Jacques, who have run the business and done the cooking, but today this French landmark is managed by Frédéric Lamy and Éric Pras.
Chef de Cuisine Éric Pras is as French as he possibly can be and he has been trained by some of the country’s most prominent chefs, like Michel Troisgros, Bernard Loiseau, Pierre Gagnaire, Antoine Westermann and Christian Chauveau. However most important inspirations and mentors for Chef Pras have been Régis Marcon and his masterpiece of a restaurant at Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid and of course also Jacques Lameloise before he retired in 2009. Éric Pras has been Chef de Cuisine at Maison Lameloise since 2008 and the restaurant still is one of the best restaurants in the world when it comes to traditional haute cuisine.
There are five classic dining rooms to choose from when you are having your meal at Maison Lameloise. You will be repeatedly reminded of the restaurant’s history by simply looking around in the dining rooms. The service is impeccable, but a bit stiff and impersonal, and you should be prepared for a substantial bill. The wine list is impressive, but the mark-ups for many of the wines are just too high. A bottle of Romanée-Conti Grand Cru, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti from 2005 for €10,000 is significantly more expansive than at other top restaurants in the region.
Maison Lameloise is a classic French gourmet temple which has been around for almost 100 years now and hopefully will it be here for an additional 100 years.
Written by Andy
