Small Town France - Dijon

I am beginning to get the picture. Quaint mid-evil streets. Squares lined with cafés, floral shops, and brasseries. Cobble-stone studded lanes. Large cathedrals – sometimes two, or three.

French countryside towns are beginning to look the same. Barely standing out with one or two local monuments. If you’ve seen one. Then. You’ve sort-of, seen them all. On the surface that is.

Beneath the superficial crust, a mountain of matchless importance sits. Waiting to be unearthed. Manifested only by your stomach.

The French’s love affair with food and wine gives foundation to the entire country. Ingredients, grapes, and cheese of locality differentiates town from town. City from city. Region from region.

The menu may look like that from Any-Town, France (Europe). But, the dishes do not. Snails in Burgundy. Lavender in Provence. Swiss jam in Geneva. Mussels in Brussels. The nuances are beginning to make sense to me.

The same is true for the wine list. Côte d'Or is never found in Normandy. Beer only in Belgium. And it would be uncommon to find the abundant rosé selection of Provence anywhere else.

As a lover-of-food this is enough to visit every small town in Western Europe. It goes beyond the dinner plate though. Museums. Parks. Day-tours. Employment. Flags. All stem from the special ingredient, or plate, or wine, or cheese that is created within the boundaries.

Interested in trying the local-fare of Dijon, I hunted out a restaurant. One that would respect the traditional dishes but, with a modern approach. Le Chabrot did just that.

Escargots, Chicken cordon bleu, and boeuf bourguignon.

All the traditional ingredients of escargot – snails, parsley, garlic, and butter – made their way to the dish. But in a deep-fried ravioli. Chicken cordon blue made with local Époisses cheese – a departure from the traditional gruyere. And the beef stew was served over tagliatelle. Leaving out the ancient potato and carrot accompaniments.

Everything was beyond good. The components of the escargots were simple when tasted alone. Constructed as a complete bite the flavor exploded. Buttery garlic enhanced the mossy-ness of the escargots. Completed with a fun crunch of the ravioli.

Époisses happens to be one of my favorite cheeses. Paired with house-cured ham. This cordon bleu was far beyond anything your mama made.

Finally, the boeuf bourguignon – a dish I’ve made at school. Of the three plates sampled this was probably the most true to tradition. The beef was nicely infused with red burgundy wine. Slightly flavored with bacon. The only departure was the bed of pasta it rested on. While a tasty item, not as innovative as I was hoping.

Somewhere in my visit to Dijon I made my way to a few churches, a museum in an old convent about burgundy life, and managed to do some shopping. My souvenir was, of course, Dijon mustard!