Victoria Boller, the new head chef at Aux Lyonnais, reveals her vision for the Parisian bouchon

Aux Lyonnais welcomes its new chef.... lyonnaise! Victoria Boller, born in the capital of gastronomy, has just been appointed head chef at this Paris-based bouchon, taken over by Alain Ducasse in 2002. Who is Victoria Boller? And what will be her guiding principle for Aux Lyonnais? Gault&Millau spoke to her to find out.

A modern vision of Lyonnais cuisine

Victoria Boller fell into the cooking world as a child. Born in Lyon and raised in the Beaujolais region, the young woman grew up in the heart of the vineyards, in a family where the taste for good things and the pleasure of eating were at the center of discussions. Her godmother, who ran a bed and breakfast in Lancié, even made her realize that cooking was really her passion and that she should turn it into a profession. After attending the Lycée Hôtelier, Victoria Boller trained at some of the region's top establishments, including Le Neuvième Art in Lyon and the Régis & Jacques Marcon restaurant in Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid. Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid, before continuing at Le Grand Véfour alongside Guy Martin in Paris, then Virginie Basselot at Le Chanteclerc in Nice, where the young woman was closest to nature. "There, I regularly went for walks in the hinterland to pick herbs or meet producers. I'd already done this as a child, going mushroom-picking at weekends with my parents. It's still something very important to me, even if I don't have as much time as I used to", admits Victoria Boller.

Back in Paris as a consultant, the chef used to come regularly on Sundays to lunch at Aux Lyonnais, a restaurant not far from her home, where she already enjoyed a cuisine that was"both good and simple, with a fine wine list". A precursor for Victoria Boller, appointed a few months later at Aux Lyonnais, with a simple brief from Alain Ducasse: to have a modern vision of traditional Lyonnais cuisine. To achieve this, the chef "works a lot on taste, to make it as pronounced and straightforward as possible". "We also play with alliances to bring freshness to these dishes, which are often very rich, even if they are very good. For example, the quenelle is more easily digestible, and the nantua sauce is replaced by a lobsterine that's almost like a full-bodied broth, combined with tarragon and vinegar for more lightness."

But beware: modernizing doesn't mean losing gourmandise or volume! "My training in great gastronomic houses simply helps me to bring my vision, which I think corresponds to what customers expect today." To discover Victoria Boller's menu, visit Aux Lyonnais, rue Saint-Marc in Paris's 2ᵉ arrondissement, Wednesday to Sunday.