An Exciting New Food and Drink Experience Is Opening in Dijon - AFAR

"This sprawling 16-acre redevelopment of Dijon’s former medieval hospital is a decade-in-the-making, €250 million epicurean hub that aims to celebrate the region’s gastronomic and wine heritage while creating a new eco-neighborhood with parkland and mixed residential units (including social housing). Anchored by a striking contemporary entrance pavilion called the “Canon de lumière,” the site brings together top names — Eric Pras overseeing the restaurants, the Epicure Group curating a 3,000-bottle cellar, and Ferrandi Paris operating an on-site culinary campus with English-taught intensive programs — alongside a three-level wine space offering some 250 wines by the glass and hands-on tastings and workshops from L’Ecole des Vins de Bourgogne. Museum pavilions (including a beautifully restored Grand Chapel and the Chapelle Sainte-Croix de Jerusalem), permanent exhibitions on wine culture and the French gastronomic meal, a show kitchen with rotating exhibits (opening with an in-depth pâtisserie show), and a marketplace with artisan tastings, boutiques, a mustard bar, and the Librairie Gourmande create a one-stop destination for food lovers. The project emphasized heritage conservation and archaeology — displaying important finds in a multimedia “1204” exhibition, preserving centuries-old trees, and restoring historic architectural features uncovered during renovation — and is expected to draw around one million visitors a year while boosting Dijon’s cultural and tourist profile." - Mary Winston Nicklin