Josephine Bouchon

Claude Bosi’s charming bouchon - a French restaurant that serves traditional Lyonnaise cuisine – is the Michelin-starred chefs most casual restaurant to date. In contrast to his portfolio of fine dining restaurants (Brooklands, Bibendum yada yada), Josephine is a rustic French bistro on Fulham Road, named after his grandmother and inspired by the food she used to cook for him.

The cosy dining room is filled with dinky bistro tables dressed in starched white tablecloths, while wonderfully kitsch finishing touches include retro candelabra lighting and burgundy leather banquets. Expect to rub elbows with fellow diners. Tables are positioned barely a few centimeters apart so that once you’re seated, it’s much simpler to stay put, or risk clambering out and knocking over your neighbour’s wine glass in the process – up to you.

Claude doesn’t shy away from serving dishes that are so rarely seen on London menus - veal sweetbreads with morel mushroom sauce and soft-boiled egg in jelly – but if anyone can prove that scary-sounding dishes can also be supremely delicious, it’s Claude. Before all of that, our waiter plonks a moreish bowl of pork scratchings, crusty baguette and heavily salted butter on our table, which we proceed to nibble on alongside a starter of thinly-sliced terrine, vinegary cornichons and French mustard. So far, so brilliant. Beef Bourguignon, cooked to melting, fatty perfection, is the special of the day, and incredible value at just £15.50 (this comes with a heaped bowl of new potatoes, by the way).

Some dishes on the a la carte will set you back a pretty penny, but there are plenty of ways round this, such as the ‘menu de canut’ which starts at £24.50 for two courses. We finished with a cloud-like ‘floating island’ of meringue served in a glossy moat of vanilla-specked custard, dusted with rose praline.

There are countless more brilliant things to say about this nostalgic ode to Bosi’s hometown, a particular favourite being the fact it serves wine ‘by the metre’, so you only pay for what you drink. It is, without a doubt, one of London’s finest French restaurants. Go, fall in love. We certainly have.

Josephine is a French restaurant in Chelsea run by Claude and Lucy Bosi, focusing on traditional dishes from Claude’s hometown of Lyon. Perched on the corner of Fulham Road and Callow Street, Josephine has much in common with Bosi’s 2023 opening Socca - a French bistro collaboration with Samyukta Nair in Mayfair.

Josephine is a celebration of Bosi’s upbringing in Lyon, his parents' bistro there, and nostalgia for the region. Naturally, guests can expect a traditional Lyonnaise menu, serving up food and dishes influenced by his formative years in a province considered by many to be the capital of French cuisine.

At the heart of Bosi’s success is his approach to food: source the finest produce and prepare it to the best of your ability. His name has been synonymous with fine dining in London for many years, but Josephine is a much more relaxed restaurant, styled in a very traditional way, from the heavy entrance curtain right down to the white tablecloths, candles and bistro-style low curtains on the windows.

Dishes like French onion soup, frogs legs in garlic butter, beef fillet with peppercorn sauce, and sole with brown butter all arrive on classic white porcelain dishes. There are also large sharing dishes for the table, like rabbit with mustard and tarragon sauce, and a rotisserie chicken with salad and potatoes. Josephine also offers a good value plat du jours every week day, with dishes including steak hache with mashed potatoes, blanquette de veux with pilaf rice, and mussels in a creamy sauce with French fries.

On the drinks front, you can expect a thoughtfully-curated French wine list as well as plenty of chartreuse.