Discovering the International City of Gastronomy and Wine in Dijon

A huge modern rust-colored building, located 15 minutes walk from the superb Place des Ducs de Bourgogne, in Dijon. Here we are at the heart of the International City of Gastronomy and Wine, in the company of Zoé Blumenfeld-Chiodo, responsible for promoting the city’s heritage.

This project was born following the registration in 2010 of the gastronomic meal of the French in the intangible cultural heritage of Unesco. Alongside Tours, Lyon and Paris-Rungis, Dijon is therefore part of the network of Cities of Gastronomy which aims to celebrate the French way of life.

Here, we forage in a gourmet bookshop, there, in restaurants and food shops. The city also houses a Burgundy wine school. “So there, we have just entered the permanent exhibition, “The little theater of eating well and drinking well”. It explains what the gastronomic meal of the French is. For example, three place settings are set up, to evoke the evolution of table manners between the 18th and 20th centuries. With here a barbecue with friends, a Christmas meal, a wedding, and a large banquet.

Then we take a seat on the benches of a small theater where puppets parade behind animated prints “who come to tell the genesis of the gastronomic meal of the French from the Middle Ages to the new cuisine.”

In another room, we explore each of our senses, thanks to interactive game terminals. “We found a way to cultivate ourselves while having fun”, confides a visitor after having tested the game of spices that must be associated with the right dishes.

In the temporary exhibition, “It’s not cake”we discover the secrets of French pastry.

The International City of Gastronomy and Wine in Dijon