On July 17, the Michelin Guide France added fifteen new addresses to its selection. Only one of them puts Mexico and the Ain region on the same plate: Agave, in Bourg-en-Bresse, just picked up a Bib Gourmand.
Behind the stove are Fernanda Del Cid Escobar-Pillon and Raphaël Pillon, a couple who both trained as pastry chefs. After a stretch living in Mexico, they settled at 27 Rue Victor Basch, in the heart of Bourg-en-Bresse, Raphaël’s home region.
The menu: scallops with macha salsa, beef pastrami sharpened with salsa verde, veal shank carried by a heavy mole sauce. None of it sounds particularly sensible on paper, in a town better known for its AOP chicken than its chili peppers, and yet the Michelin inspector was convinced.
The Bib Gourmand has existed since 1997. It doesn’t reward technical fireworks the way stars do. It rewards a full meal done right, under a price ceiling that varies by country. In France, that means good value without cutting corners on flavor.
Agave is open Tuesday through Saturday; reservations are recommended. It’s the kind of address that will never make a glossy travel magazine, which is exactly why it’s worth the detour: in an ordinary mid-sized town in the Ain, two pastry chefs decided not to choose between their two countries.