Côte-d'Or. In Dijon, the City of Gastronomy is gaining momentum and is joining the municipal election campaign.

Has the Dijon City of Gastronomy and Wine, inaugurated three years ago by the former mayor and current Minister of Regional Planning François Rebsamen , bitten off more than it could chew? "We don't have delusions of grandeur. One million visitors is a perfectly achievable goal," assured the socialist, while inaugurating the International City of Gastronomy and Wine (CIGV) on May 6, 2022.

A true temple of good food, this collection of museums, shops and restaurants prides itself on being an ambassador of the "French meal", as listed as a World Heritage Site in 2010. In the wake of this recognition, former socialist president François Hollande launched the creation of four Cités.

“A very compromised project”

None of them found their audience: Lyon closed in 2020, before reopening in a reduced form and then, finally, being reserved for private events; Tours transformed into a "cultural and scientific center"; and Paris-Rungis, planned for 2024, was postponed again to 2027.

Dijon promised to do better, despite fears of indigestion raised by the scale of the project, costing €250 million and 90% of which is privately financed. But in 2024, only 830,000 visitors will have passed through the gates of the Cité, a figure that also includes passersby who simply pass through the site to reach their nearby homes, without buying or visiting. "The Cité is a very compromised project," declares LR Emmanuel Bichot. "We were told: it would take three years. We're there and it's still not taking off. It's going downhill," assures the city councilor.

The town hall clears itself

On April ^1st , the gourmet restaurant, a bistro and the Cellar, the winemaking spearhead of the Cité with more than 3,000 wine references, were placed in receivership, unable to meet their rent payments. "We voluntarily requested this procedure to renegotiate our rents which are absolutely unsustainable because they are based on projections three times higher than expected," explains Julien Bernard , president of Epicure, the company that oversees the entities concerned.

"But our establishments are profitable, and turnover has increased by 15% since the beginning of the year" (January to the end of April) compared to the same period last year. "We believe in the Cité concept. The proof: we're investing €500,000," notably for the installation of a new chef in order to aim for a Michelin star, the manager emphasizes.

Epicure's troubles come on top of the liquidation of the luxury hotel, whose work was almost complete. "We are not responsible for the private part," responds Socialist mayor Nathalie Koenders . The public parts (the museum and the architecture center), "are doing very well, with some 120,000 visitors in 2024," assures the mayor, who nevertheless announces a series of recovery measures, including the upcoming free admission of the permanent exhibitions.

In the heart of the municipal campaign

At the Gastronomic Village, which brings together the CIGV's boutiques and bistros, patience is being urged. "Rome wasn't built in a day," reminds Richard Viemont, the Village's general manager. After much trial and error and a change of management—Richard Viemont is the fourth in three years—the offering, initially comprised of high-quality, and therefore high-priced, delicatessens, has been "reoriented toward affordable table service." "And it's responding well," he assures, claiming a "14% jump in turnover last year" and "financial equilibrium achieved by 2024."

But for opposition councilor Emmanuel Bichot, already campaigning for the next municipal elections against the socialist mayor, we must go further. "We must start from scratch and redefine the CIGV in a more modest way," he says, stigmatizing a "catch-all concept, with a cinema, shops, social housing..." "We must put gastronomy back into the City, and not the City into gastronomy."