More Than Mustard
Written by Bridget Williams
It all started in November 2010 when UNESCO added the "Gastronomic meal of the French" to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list. This designation recognizes how pairing the right recipes with the right wines strengthens social ties. Three years later, France chose four cities—Dijon, Paris, Tours, and Lyon—to establish a Cities of Gastronomy network, with each city asserting a specific theme. As Dijon is the capital of Burgundy and its terroirs are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list, Dijon's International City of Gastronomy (citedelagastronomie-dijon.fr/.) has an emphasis on French wine.
A decade in the making, the City officially opened to the public on May 6 of this year. Over half of the structures that comprise the 16-acre development are repurposed and restored buildings that date as far back as the 12th century, including several with Burgundian polychrome roof tiles arranged in geometric patterns that signified the region's opulence to visitors arriving from distant lands.
More than a tourist destination, the site is a fully functioning eco-friendly neighborhood with market-rate and affordable housing integrated within its shops, exhibition halls, demonstration kitchens, schools, restaurants, cinema, and wine cellars. Curio by Hilton SainteAnne Dijon is still under construction and scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2023 as a four-star hotel with 125 rooms and suites.
United by an underlying bee and honeycomb theme, the heart of the site is a gourmet village with 12 different "pop-up" style shops that were certainly a buzz during our opening weekend visit. French purveyors of everything from cheese to china showcased their wares. The butcher proudly boasted that he only spoke French and only butchered French meat in the boucherie. The various entities within the City work collaboratively to source the finest produce and products and minimize food waste.
We made a beeline for the three-floor Cave de la Cité wine cellar, housing 3,000 reference wines and offering tastings of 250 by the glass. Oenophiles will want to make a reservation to access the Grand Cru cellar, which holds some of the world's most prestigious Burgundy wines. Our jaws dropped when we discovered that you could taste Romanée-Conti, one of the world's most expensive wines, by the glass!
While professionals will benefit from a branch of the internationally recognized Ferrandi cooking school and a wine school operated by the Bureau Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bourgogne, home gourmands are also amply accommodated. They can get inspiration from an outpost of Paris' Librairie Gourmande gourmet bookstore and partake in regularly scheduled classes and demonstrations covering everything from making mustard to chocolate workshops for children.
Dijon was an established epicenter for epicurean delights long before the UNESCO designation. One of our foodie favorites is the Les Halles market. This 19th-century covered market became a national monument in 1975 and is open four mornings a week, with Saturday drawing the biggest crowds. Opting to rent a fabulous historic apartment with quirky contemporary interiors a stone's throw from the Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy during our last visit allowed us to shop the market and create a meal à la française (visit srloc.reservationenligne.net/listing/63 for rental information).
If you'd rather leave the cooking to someone else, I'd recommend the Michelin-starred Loiseau des Ducs (bernardloiseau.com/en/loiseaudesducs.html); L'Epicerie & Cie for homey French cuisine in a charming setting (estaurant-lepicerie. fr/index-uk.php); the indulgent eight-course tasting menu at Michelin-starred William Frachot (chapeau-rouge.fr/en/ restaurant-dijon-centre); and hyper-local eating at Cibo (cibo. restaurant/en/home/). Boasting one of the most complex craft cocktail menus I've seen, Monsier Moutarde is a lively spot to kick off or cap off an evening (monsieurmoutarde.com).