Dijon (Bourgogne), France
I am one lucky lady to have stayed in Dijon once with friends in December 2021 and again on my own in April 2022. Honestly, old world wine has always been my preferred red wine profile. They generally tend to have a lighter body, lower alcohol, higher acidity, and less fruity flavor. Specifically, I’ve always gravitated towards Bordeaux wine while my bestie, Justin, has always favored Burgundy wine. I think he had internally been excited to potentially transform that #1 spot in my heart to match his. Needless to say, our entire group loves wine in general so we were ECSTATIC to visit Dijon and also celebrate our friend Joel’s birthday. This trip was so much fun that I visited again just a few months later.
The best way to get to Dijon is by train. Dijon in the winter is especially beautiful with all of the holiday lights. The first time I was here, I stayed at a beautiful Airbnb in Dijon’s city center. See photos below of our genuine delight and excitement seeing the lit up town for the first time:
So, full disclosure, we actually had a different reservation at Restaurant de La Porte Guillaume. We did stop by and try a few dishes, but it was not the vibe we wanted. It was an incredibly quiet, somewhat cold, old-school place. The few dishes were fine, but it was hard to have a good time in that environment. We wanted a more light-hearted, fun, casual vibe so we closed out and began to wander around the area instead.
A little while later, we arrived at Pre Aux Clercs (TripAdvisor). Now THIS was exactly the vibe we were looking for! The restaurant seemed lively and casual. We took one look at the posted menu and immediately requested a table. We began our meal with a lovely bottle of wine and the restaurant provided next-level sesame sticks to which we continued to ask for refills and continued to devour. TOP NOTCH SESAME STICKS. Since we did have a meal earlier, we limited our order, which was incredibly hard to do! We finally decided on:
Classique Oeuf en Meurette, sauce au Pinot Noir et Garniture Bourguignonne
Tartare de Boeuf Charolais (France) ~200g, Pétales de Patate Douce aux Epices Cajun et Mesclun
Andouillette de la maison Bobosse, à la Moutarde en grains Fallot
Moelleux au Chocolat, et Coeur Praliné à la Noix, Vanille de Tahiti
Sorbets Artisanales: Fraise, Framboise
The menu wasn’t incredibly long, and I still wanted to order everything. With what we did order though, I loved every single one! The Oeuf en Meurette is essentially soft-boiled eggs in a luscious and velvety red wine sauce. I had never heard of this dish before, and I learned it is specific to the Burgundy region. This dish is nearly as popular as the escargots! The beef tartare came out next and it was incredibly fresh, no fillers! The perfect amount of tang and salt. Lastly, the sausage from Charcuterie Bobosse, located 2 hours south of Burgundy, not far from Lyon. This sausage was roasted and covered with grainy mustard and HAVE MERCY. I basically drank this sauce. I’ve never had anything like it! It was all mustard and not overly creamy, just heaven!!! We left this restaurant on such a high, I plan to come eat here every time I am in Dijon!
We stayed up into the wee hours of the night and as a result, woke up late for our tour and incredibly hungover. Generally, we are NEVER late, and yet there we were tripping over each other in our Airbnb trying to gather ourselves and beg Authentica Tours to wait for us. Luckily, we were shown mercy on Joel’s birthday and were able to still participate. I absolutely love this company so much that I did their tour twice. They offer half and full day tours and accommodate different group sizes! The second time I participated in their wine tour, I let them know the wineries I had visited previously. They made sure that I experienced places that were different from my first time, and I really appreciated that. Each tour guide I had was incredibly involved, knowledgeable and welcoming. I took so many notes because I was so inspired! I highly recommend the full-day tour so that you get a few hours in Beaune! Beaune is an absolutely beautiful hidden gem of a town. Côte de Beaune ranks among the best wine areas in Burgundy. There are many regions like Beaune that are lesser known and aren’t regulated yet in France. Every time I visit, I make sure to ship myself a case back home!
After the wine tour, we took a long nap and finally came back to life! It was time for Joel’s birthday dinner and we were so excited. When we first arrived to Dijon, we actually had not finalized a reservation for Joel’s birthday yet. That first night, we were walking to a wine bar and discovered it was closed. Next door to it was Parapluie, where I saw chef Chern Hwei Gan setting up tables. Most restaurants in Dijon require reservations, so I walked up to him asking if we could have a table to just enjoy some drinks before his first reservation came in, and he kindly allowed us a table even though they weren’t even open yet! He was so engaging and asked about all the restaurants we planned to eat at during our stay. It was during this conversation where he convinced us his restaurant was a better choice for Joel’s birthday. Joel has a dairy allergy, and Chern Hwei Gan was up for the challenge. He said the entire meal will be prix fix and a surprise - all we need to know is that it will be dairy free. DONE.
Fast forward to our actual reservation, we kicked off the meal with a bottle of Crémant de Bourgogne. Absolutely delicious. In fact, all of our wine choices that night were spot on. Parapluie’s wine list was incredibly impressive, every wine we tried was from a different part of Burgundy. The evening was already starting off on such a high note - and I will confirm now, the evening stayed on a high. Every dish that came out of his kitchen was unique, whimsical and delicious. From the presentation to the flavor, everything I had was completely mouth-watering and the best part was the fact that I didn’t know what was coming next. It was so exciting just to see the staff in their element, exuding their passions so intentionally. Chern Hwei Gan is the real deal. He was not bullshitting us when he said he would take care of us. Similar to his food, he is incredibly genuine, unique and shines without being pretentious. I genuinely made a friend, and I actually came back to eat at his other restaurant, Azerole when I returned to Dijon a few months later.
I kept in touch with Chern, and let him know in advance when I was returning to Dijon. By this time, he had just opened his 3rd restaurant, Azerole (IG/Trip Advisor). He ensured I had a reservation upon my arrival, and even though the restaurant was insanely busy with just 2 people working the front of house, he made sure to carve out time to catch up with me.