Fromagerie La Mère Richard

The story begins in 1965, when Renée Richard, known as « la Mère Richard », opens her cheese stall at the Halles des Cordeliers, on the Lyon peninsula. Her reputation soon spread far beyond the neighbourhood: it was Paul Bocuse himself who, in the 1970s, took to greeting his favourite cheesemonger with an affectionate « la Mère Richard ». The nickname stuck, to the point of becoming the name of the house.

The genius of the house rests on an idea both simple and, for its time, revolutionary. While saint-marcellin was then eaten dry, almost like a keeping cheese, Renée Richard chose to age it until it turned soft and creamy, ready to be enjoyed with a spoon on good bread. She also conceived the idea of wrapping it in paper bearing her name, cut to the very size of the cheese: a gesture that became a signature.

Established at Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse since 1971, the house is today passed down from mother to daughter, carried on by Renée Richard, heir to both the name and the savoir-faire. Lyon's great chefs, beginning with Paul Bocuse, have made this stall one of the market's most emblematic addresses.

Beyond its famous saint-marcellin and saint-félicien, la Mère Richard showcases the very best of the terroirs of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes: farmhouse saint-nectaire and salers, reblochon, beaufort, rigotte de Condrieu, picodon. A demanding selection, aged with patience, that makes this house a true institution of Lyon gastronomy.