The modern riverside redevelopment at the meeting of Saone and Rhone, with the contemporary museum and a slow-growing food scene around Cours Charlemagne.
Prairial in Lyon's 2e is Gaetan Gentil's one-star room cooking a vegetable-forward tasting menu rooted in foraged herbs and small Rhone producers.
Signature: Vegetable tasting menu, Wild herbs
Order: The vegetable tasting; the paired non-alcoholic juices are worth the supplement.
Tip: Book the four-course lunch for the price-point entry; closed Sunday-Tuesday.
L'Etabli in Lyon's 2e is the Ainay neighbourhood bistro running a tight set-lunch carte that fills the room with local office workers from 12:30.
Signature: Set lunch, Bistro plates
Order: The 22 EUR set lunch with daily plat and dessert.
Tip: Book 24 hours ahead for lunch; dinner is the harder seating.
Jaja Bistro in Lyon's 2e is the Rue Laurencin natural-wine bistro with a daily blackboard of small plates and a tightly-edited French growers' list.
Signature: Wine-bar plates, Daily blackboard
Order: The pate en croute from the blackboard, plus a glass of Loire chenin.
Tip: Closed Sunday-Monday; the back room is the quieter seating.
Arsene on Rue Vaubecour in Lyon's 2e runs a working neighbourhood bistro with a 19 EUR weekday set lunch and a slow-changing evening carte.
Signature: Daily plats, Bistro classics
Order: The daily plat from the blackboard, plus a half-pichet of Cote-Rotie.
Tip: Closed Sunday-Monday; book ahead for the evening.
Cafe-Comptoir Abel in Lyon's 2e is the 1928 bouchon on Rue Guynemer where the wood-panelled dining room and Label Bouchons Lyonnais menu survive unchanged.
Signature: Salade lyonnaise, Tablier de sapeur
Order: Salade lyonnaise with a poached egg, then the chicken vinaigrette.
Tip: Closed Sunday; cash and card. The pichet of cotes-du-rhone is the order.
Brasserie Georges in Lyon's 2e on Cours de Verdun is the 1836 brasserie that has served choucroute and the sole meuniere lunch grid for almost two centuries.
Signature: Choucroute, Sole meuniere
Order: The choucroute royale and a half-litre of the house lager.
Tip: Open daily until 23:00; the dining hall takes walk-ins after 21:00.
L'Etabli in Lyon's 2e Ainay quarter is the working bistro on Rue des Remparts d'Ainay with a 22 EUR set lunch that fills the dining room from 12:30 daily.
Signature: Daily set lunch, Bistro plates
Order: The blackboard plat with the daily produce; finish with the chocolate fondant.
Tip: Lunch books two days ahead; dinner is the harder seating.
Fujiyama 55 in Lyon's 2e is the city's most-booked ramen counter, with a tonkotsu broth simmered 14 hours and queues that form most weeknights from 19:00.
Signature: Tonkotsu ramen, Gyoza
Order: The tonkotsu ramen with extra chashu; gyoza for the table.
Tip: No reservations; arrive at 18:45 to beat the queue.