La Quintessence

La Quintessence is a gourmet restaurant in a 16th‑century former Jesuit refectory on Rue du Bât d’Argent in Lyon’s 1st arrondissement. The team offers a modern, emotive approach to French cuisine, prioritizing seasonal, high‑quality ingredients at peak maturity. Plates are constructed around sapid sauces, short stocks and concentrated jus that provide structure and clarity. The kitchen reinterprets Lyonnais bourgeois classics and traditional maternal cooking with freshness, restraint and contemporary technique. The dining room occupies the refectory, with thick stone walls, a high vaulted ceiling, original alcoves, wooden parquet and splashes of colour. Those features create an intimate, warm setting that highlights the building’s heritage and encourages conviviality and sharing. Cuisine is modern French, pairing classical inspiration with contemporary technique, seasonal sourcing and an insistence on pure, straightforward flavours. Menus include a lunch option, a vegetarian menu, a four‑course Discovery menu and a seven‑course Tasting menu. Anthony Baud, Maître Restaurateur and Lyon native, trained with notable local chefs and pastry masters, worked at Fermes de Marie and Victoria Hall, owned an earlier brasserie and has led La Quintessence since 2016; he was named Young Chef (Chef espoir) of the Year 2019 at the 12th Trophées de la Gastronomie et des Vins and is a member of Les Toques Blanches Lyonnaises and the Collège Culinaire de France. Specialties include a low‑temperature egg with peas and truffle; ris de veau with truffle, reduced jus and truffled pommes dauphines; langoustines; extensive use of truffle in signature dishes; seasonal creations and high‑level desserts.