“It is time for me to permanently store my apron”: this emblematic restaurant in Lyon will close on February 28

It is a monument of Lyon gastronomy which soon closes its doors. While Philippe Etchebest pulled the curtain of his restaurant Bordeaux Maison Nouvelle, here is another establishment will close. Open for 45 years, the Cazenove, located in the 6th arrondissement of the Light city, will serve its last dishes on February 28, 2025, according to our colleagues from Progress.

Indeed, Pierre Orsi, his chef, retires. Aged 85, this cuisine monument deserved a little rest. Originally, the Cazenove was a small bar for customers who reserved a table at Pierre Orsi, at Chateaubriand, located at Place Kléber. But now the years have passed and this address has become a place welcoming great celebrities, especially political, like François Mitterrand, who was often accompanied by Charles Hernu, the mayor of Villeurbanne. “I saw three generations, grandparents, children, grandchildren!”he exclaimed to our colleagues from progress. Trained at Paul Bocuse, Pierre Orsi started in the kitchen in Paris and then settled in the United States. With his experience, he returned to France and settled in Lyon. In 1979, he resumed the Châteaubriant – which he has just sold – and married his wife, named Geneviève.

Then, it is around Cazenove to become an institution. But for this renowned leader, it is time to turn a page: “After seventy years of cooking, it is time for me to permanently store my apron”he confides in Progress. But out of the question for this kitchen professional, who inspired more than one, to have regrets: “If it had to be done again, I would start the same professional career again. I loved contact with my customers, the noise of the pans in the kitchens, the sauces and the bubbles that simmer and all these odors that mingle and s’ intermingle “. It’s time for Pierre Orsi to leave his apron. There are still a few days left for gastronomy lovers to taste Cazenove’s dishes.