French chef Georges Blanc, pictured here in 2015 in Vonnas (Ain).

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GUTNER / SIPA

This is the end of the adventure between Georges Blanc and Lyon.

The 77-year-old chef, based in Ain, announces the upcoming sale of his two Lyon brasseries in order to "refocus in the field of starred gastronomy".

“I decided to leave the urban area of ​​Lyon.

My vocation is not to increase the number of breweries where it is difficult to express an emotional sensitivity, ”explains the three-star chef from Vonnas in an interview with Le

Progrès

on Sunday 

.

A group of 350 employees

Georges Blanc explains that he seized an opportunity, after having received takeover offers from two separate buyers.

With 350 employees, "the Georges Blanc group is a big machine that is doing very well," said the chief, who says he has not made his decision under the effect of the health crisis.

Besides Vonnas' flagship, his group includes half a dozen restaurants and three hotels in his birthplace of the Ain.

In Lyon, his company owns the Splendid (around 20 employees) and the Center (around 15) brasseries.

The latter had been baptized thus in the form of snub to its historic rival Paul Bocuse and its Lyon brasseries (North, South, West and East).

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