The idea of the International City of Gastronomy and Wine was born in November 2010, when the French gastronomic meal officially became an intangible heritage of humanity.
UNESCO legally recognizes the quality and value of the traditional cuisine, the art of choosing the right dishes and the right accompaniments that make up a « French-style » meal.
The capital of Burgundy then becomes the driving force in the promotion of vine and wine.
The International City at a glance
The International City of Gastronomy and Wine will cover 6.5 hectares, namely 70,000m2. It will be composed of renovated buildings from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. It will define a living district to receive tourists, wine lovers, culture lovers and inhabitants.
The International City will organize screenings, discovery workshops, conferences and many other activities with the aim of introducing the gastronomic culture and wines of France and Burgundy to the most interested.
The complex will constitute of a 4-star hotel (Curio by Hilton, with 125 rooms), a cultural and training space of 1750m2, a boutique, a demonstration workshop, a multiplex cinema and art house cinema (13 screens in total) and a 3.5 hectare eco-district.
An immersive and interactive adventure
More than a million visitors are expected each year to visit the exhibitions, participate in the events, and lounge in the cafés and restaurants.
City visitors will enjoy an immersive discovery experience in this global space. An authentic adventure, in which they will be the main actors. This place offers the opportunity to discover the history of the french gastronomic meal and the meaning of the Burgundy vineyard climats.
The culinary amateurs will have to realize a virtual recipe in a given time, in facing the challenges that chefs are confronted in their daily life.
The activities will be adapted to the public, foreigners, tourists, families, children, etc. The objective is to stage real situations in order to pull away the typical academic approach.
The main exhibitions of the International City***.
Not a museum nor an amusement park, the role of the city is to approach the subject of French gastronomy in a multicultural way. In other words by combining a historical, educational and interactive approach.
The aim of this project is to stage gastronomy and oenology, as well as their transformations. The meal is a convivial moment that gather different cultures, different people, different generations from multiple sectors.
4 exhibitions have already been decided and scheduled. The first exhibition will be a permanent one, « On the table ». Its objective is to introduce visitors to a French gastronomic meal from a sociological, anthropological and historical point of view.
The second will be « In the Kitchen ». It is a sensory exhibition created with the sensory analysis laboratory of the center for taste and food sciences (csgA) in Dijon.
The third exhibition will be « In Burgundy », it will focus specifically on the wines of Burgundy and the climates of the Burgundy vineyard listed as World Heritage by UNESCO.
As for the last exhibition « Patisserie », it will be entirely dedicated to the specificities of French gastronomy and its know-how recognized around the world.
The Wine and Gastronomy City is a long term cultural project, aiming at introducing visitors to French gastronomy.
