My first impression: this restaurant is beautiful. With its gleaming zinc bar, tiled floors, and checkered tablecloths, Aux Lyonnais is decorated like the French bistro of my dreams. If I were a tourist, as 80% of the clients appeared to be, I would enter and say “finally… this is the place.”

That first flush faded fast. Three minutes after being seated, a waitress arrived to take our order. We asked for more time and a second woman returned two minutes later. We sent her away but had only a minute of peace before the original waitress reappeared in order to “help us” by explaining a few of the dishes. “It’s not that I don’t understand the dishes,” I told her in French, “it’s that I haven’t had time to read the menu.”

Our entrées arrived within minutes of ordering. The waitress brought our glasses of white wine, ordered to accompany those starters, just as we were finishing the last bites. They sat untouched on our table as we moved on to red wine for the second course.

Grumbling about service is risky business. It can make the writer look clueless (she doesn’t understand the local customs) and/or peevish (she complains at every restaurant). I’m taking that risk because the service wasn’t simply bad, it was… American. Being rushed through a meal by a server who wants to turn the table is not an experience I expect to have in Paris. Then again, Aux Lyonnais isn’t a particularly Parisian place. It’s part of a global empire that includes restaurants in more than 15 countries, not to mention culinary schools, cookbooks, and cookware.

There was a moment, while I was tasting my quenelle de brochet and smiling at a couple kissing in the corner, when Aux Lyonnais felt terribly French. But then the waitress returned to ask about dessert while I still had a mouthful of fish.

Wikipedia says that “the emphasis in a bouchon is not on haute cuisine, but rather, a convivial atmosphere and a personal relationship with the owner.” If that’s true, then Aux Lyonnais, with its apathetic service and absentee owner, is a spectacularly failed bouchon. The food was delicious, but I felt like a sucker.

> Read other trusted reviews for Aux Lyonnais at Paris by Mouth

Under chic red awnings in a vine-covered courtyard, the polished clients of the hotel and restaurant (plus a few unruly hangers-on like me) assembled to shake hands with the favored producers of Ducasse and chef Christophe Moret. We were also there, make no mistake, for the free samples.

With a camera in one hand (the other clutching a glass of white Burgundy) I moved among the stands nibbling wild strawberries and foie gras. I was also noting (with my fourth hand) the names of these culinary dealers to the throne. After the jump, I’ll tell you who they are and where you can find their products in Paris.

How to Shop Like Ducasse (and score some three-star ingredients for yourself)

Ducasse’s Butter Dealer: La Fromagerie Beillevaire (Pascal Beillevaire)
Find it in Paris at: La Fromagerie Beillevaire – 77 rue Saint-Antoine, 75004 (and 8 other locations)

Ducasse’s Salt Dealer: Le Mulon de Pen Bron (Philippe & Florence Constant)
Find it in Paris at Epicerie Beau et Bon – 81 rue Lecourbe, 75015

Ducasse’s Fish Dealer: Produits Noirmoutrins & Vendéens (Joël & Gautier Brunet)
Find it in Paris by ordering online. They offer next-day delivery to any Paris address.

Ducasse’s Olive Oil Dealer: La Tête dans les Olives (Cédric Cassanova)
Find it in Paris at La Tête dans les Olives - 2 rue Sainte Marthe, 75010
Note: Cédric runs a spectacularly fun table d’hôte at lunch and dinner (see reviews here, here, here & here) and will organize group olive oil tastings by request.

Ducasse’s Berry Dealer: La Finca fraises des bois (Jean-Claude & Rolande Most)
Find it in Paris at La Grande Epicerie – 38 Rue de Sèvres, 75007
Note: these were taken from the Marché Ducasse and consumed, along with a bottle of Lassaigne Champagne rosé, at the lovely Bacchus et Ariane. Life sometimes is very sweet.

Additional link:

• Touring the Market with Alain Ducasse – Wendy Lyn’s look behind the scenes of this annual market