What a pleasure it is always to set foot in our beautiful Burgundy capital: Dijon. The city is beautiful. And, it is not its superb Museum of Fine Arts that would contradict this assertion! Gourmet, the city of Côte d’Or is certainly. These are not the leaders of his immediate past, MM. COLIN, BREUIL, THIBERT, BILLOUX, DERBORD, and those of today, MM. FRACHOT, KIMURA, UCHIMURA, ZUDDAS or even BURDIN who claim the opposite!
DIJON : A majestic market hall, very close to the small FAUCHON charcuterie – no Parisian homonym! – deserves to be pushed open. Just for her magnificent jelly pig ears! Nearby, the Café de l’industrie, just to toast to the Côte de Nuits, Beaune or elsewhere! In short, gluttony runs through the veins of this city, where only river or river is missing!
And here is our capital, promoted since May 6 to the rank of new “Gastropole”. All the more reason to discover this brand new International City of Gastronomy and Wine on its seven hectares, in place of the Hôtel-Dieu.
The rosy tram drops us off right in front. It’s noon, a good time for such a discovery, isn’t it? The space is bright and still smells new! As for the paved maze, it does not lack a certain elegance.
The soul and the patina of the whole will come over time…
Around us, pretty stands that are often well stocked present themselves to our eyes: the “Billot” for the butcher’s and charcuterie, the gourmet bookstore, a fishmonger, a market for vegetables, the mustard carousel which offers in particular to discover that of Orléans (honey and chardonnay mixed). A little further on, a showcase with impeccable “Le Creuset” casserole dishes, queens of simmered cooking! But will Dijonnais and Dijonnaises come to do their shopping there?
Everything is very pretty, still lacking soul and patina. They will surely come with time. However, we can’t help but think of a somewhat “boho-ized” enclave, also reminiscent of the ephemeral POKEA experience in the southern Sénonaise commercial area, in 2016.
Very expensive slice of pie!
To cool off – damn it, we’re in Burgundy! – the terrace of the cellar is rather welcoming: the Haute Côtes de Nuits from a winegrower is reasonably priced (22 euros), unlike the slice of pâté en croute ordered as an accompaniment which is billed at 9 euros and corresponds to a price of 70 €/kg, or double that of a real artisan-butcher (30 euros being the price at the artisans of the “Little pigs”, located in Saint-Clément). At this price, we would have liked a small paper towel, just to wipe off! Except that there were no hand towels.
The stomach cries out for hunger while the restaurants leave you hungry…
Noon 45: it’s time for lunch! The restaurant “La Table des Climats” is next door. Exterior menu item displayed, but let’s enter. The ace ! The impeccable butler explains to us that he is sorry that the restaurant is totally privatized that day. It is true that previously, we saw entering a cohort of gentlemen of a certain age, wearing for the most part the ribbon or the rosette of the Legion of Honor on the lapel of their jackets! Too bad for us, poor customers, just wanting to have lunch and pay!
Time passes, but another establishment “Le Comptoir de la Cité” is just at the entrance of the said city. It presents an enticing slate. The start of the season is as follows: green asparagus, smoked trout and mustard sabayon, which would be perfect. There are still places available. In short, all is well for our little quartet. Except that the peremptory room hostess informs us that she cannot welcome us. I ask him the reason, remained unanswered!
A good place for lunch, outside the city!
We were hungry. And, the city did not understand it! By taking the tram again, and getting off at the “Godrans” stop, I tell myself that in France, at 1:40 p.m., it’s a waste of time for lunch. Except that “Chez Léon”, a Lyonnais stopper, colorful, which welcomed us with pleasure (20 rue de Godrans – 03 80 50 01 07).
Friendly service, simple and good cuisine including a delicious calf’s head, and good flambéed “Suzette” crêpes for dessert. On the wine list, impeccably written in a notebook, we unearth a little nugget that your servant warmly recommends: a Burgundy Pinot noir from the Philippe and Hélène LIVERA estate, winegrowers in Gevrey-Chambertin, with intense concentration.
It is now time to find Dijon station and get on the TER Bourgogne. For a few more months, you can enjoy the suspended comfort of the old (1975) Corail wagons, towed by a locomotive. In a while, this rolling stock, symbol of a time when SNCF rhymed with comfort, will be scrapped and replaced by “modernist” “Regiolis” trains, with latent discomfort.
Gauthier PAJONA
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