We are leaving for Burgundy in a few weeks. Any recommendations on best restaurant experiences or just favorites in the Beaune and Burgundy area?

Also, do any of these restaurants require a jacket, tie etc. Or can you wear jeans and a nice shirt?

We were thinking of trying a Michelin star restaurant and wondered about the dress codes there too. Thanks.

No jackets required - but I would not wear jeans either (although we saw several scrufty diners wearing them).

Top 3 restaurants

Stephane Derbord in Dijon – one of the top 5 meals of all time in France (we dine out about 40 times per year in France)
Michelin 1 star

First round of Amuse Bouches
Bite sized squares of Croque Monsieurs
Carp mousse with black & white sesame seeds
Parmesan chip and a bite sized tomato “truffle” with a semi-liquid center
Second round of Amuse Bouches
Sushi (California roll) with cockle, with Asian spices & bean sprouts
Potato puree
Leek Mousse with green beans
55E menu
-Smoked sandre – thin rolls stuffed with finely julienned vegetables served with tart greens (incl dandelion greens) topped with paper thin lengthwise sliced carrots. The plate was edged with a piping of honey mustard and crumbled hazelnuts
-Perch with a wild mushrooms and green beans served in a deep plate with a “soup de poisons” reduction sauce
-cheese chariot
-Poached , pealed pear with a red wine sauce in pain epice with sage ice cream – all very refreshing

65E menu
-Sauteed scallops, each served on a cucumber “coin” with a topping of lemon cream & caviar, with julienned apples & dandelion greens
-Sandre on a bed of spinach with a butter sauce accompanied by a small tomato stuffed with diced cepes on a squash “coin”
-Filet of Cerf, served with berries & a dark berry reduced sauce with green beans & wild mushrooms with a ‘grain” of some sort
-Cheese chariot
-pre-dessert refresher
-Chocolate fondant – top & bottom layers of dark chocolate “sandwiching” lighter chocolate mousse with dark chocolate wafers & vanilla ice cream
-Post-dessert refresher


Hostellerie du Vieux Moulin in Bouilland, just north of Beaune
Also a hotel
www.le-moulin-de-bouilland.com
Michelin 1 star

Amuse Bouches
Skewered rolled duck breast slice, with mustard dollop
Homard tartare “confit”
Arugula sorbet with whipped cream top layer & balsamic drizzle (in a glass cylinder)
39E menu
-Seared tuna with fennel sorbet and a side of pickeled vegetables
-Supreme de Pintade thinly sliced in a “spiral” presentation on a bed of herbed crushed potatoes, with vegetables in a side casserole
-Excellent cheese chariot
-Seasonal fresh fruit with pepper-flecked yoghurt ice cream

65E menu
-Daurade with vegetables a la Pistou
-Rougets with a confit of fennel and a bouillabaisse reduction with macadamia nuts
-Pigeon with polenta and zucchini “packet” stuffed with caviar d’aubergine and a rich reduction sauce
-Cheese chariot
-Poached plum with amaretto cream and puff pastry triangles

-Post dessert if Marc de Bourgogne ice and assorted sweets


Charlemagne in Pernand-Vergelesses just north of Beaune
Slight Asian twist
Michelin 1 star

37E menu
Six amuse bouches which arrived on a Plexiglas “cube” with holes & shelves to present the various items
California rolls with a “crisp”, held in place by a teeny wooden clothes pin
Fish mousse on a cracker
Parmesan pastry palmier
Pickled fish filling wrapped in a won ton wrapper on a skewer
Marble sized savory (no idea what it was)
Small piece of spiced pork on a bone
Second Amuse Bouche course
Glass of creamy smoked fish puree (to drink)
A herb-crusted langoustine
-Bread presentation – 3 different breads stacked on a skewer, with a wooden base into which a recess had been routed to hold a corked vial with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, which were to be shaken before pouring onto your bread plate as a dipping sauce
-Tuna ceveche served at the bottom of a glass with a smoked tomato cream, slivered green onions, and a dot of washabi cream
-Cabillaud a la vapeur with a vanilla/olive oil drizzle, layered with wild mushrooms, served with a pork bun with a crustacean filling, on a bed of cucumber-wrapped ratatouille. This was not your grandmother’s cabillaud recipe
-Strawberry/red berry gazpacho – heavenly creamy/frothy served in a slanted glass with a brochette of halved strawberries and strawberry marshmallow cubes

45E menu
Same Amuse Bouche courses
-California rolls with snails and langoustines speckled with black and white sesame seeds
-Lisettes (small mackerel) served atop a bone marrow tube filled with spinach & julienned carrots tossed in Asian spices
-Porc cotolet (cutlet/loin) served with artichoke mousse, drizzled with peanut butter with a cluster of small wild mushrooms in tempura
-Pyramid of chocolate with other sweets

Other restaurants – all were excellent
Le Jardin des Remparts in Beaune. We dined here several years ago, and it was one of our top 5 of all time then. It didn’t “wow” us as much this visit. Michelin 1 star.

La Rotisserie du Chambertin in Gevrey Chambertin. It has an upstairs Bistro, and a downstairs restaurant in a wine cave, with animated winemaking scenes as you descend into the cave. We dined downstairs.

Le Montrachet on Puilly Montrachet. It was “complet” the first few times we tried to reserve. Obviously very popular. My St Pierre was overcooked. Lovely setting.

Relais de la Diligence in Meursault. Excellent value. It was the “sleeper” of the group

Les Gourmets in Marsannay la Cote. Michelin 1 star. Very nice

One day we took an overnight trip to Troyes, and dined there. On another occasion, we met some friends at a Michelin 1 star restaurant in Macon – which is not in Burgundy. We also spent 2 weeks in Beaujolais

We “checked out’ about 10 other restaurants in Burgundy (including 1 stars) and the menus did not seem interesting enough to make us choose them over the ones we selected. There’s a lot of Charollais beef on menus in this region. I have not experienced any beef in France that’s as good as the beef we have in the US, or beef I’ve tasted in Italy (one exception may be Aubrec beef). Bresse chicken is also a very popular item on menus. I’ve tried this several times in other areas of France & thought it wasn’t really that much better than a good farm-raised chicken.

Stu Dudley

Thanks so much Stu. So not even Michelin star restaurants require a jacket or tie?
Is that true in Paris as well?

Hi; You can't get a much better response than Stu's. Here is a web site for all around information on Burgundy. www.burgundyeye.com/ As for Paris restaurants. you would have to review the dress code in their requirements. iris1745/dick

We dine in France about 30-40 times per year, and I never even take a jacket with me when I head overseas.

If I was going to dine at a Michelin 5 "Knife & Fork" place (which I don't), I would wear a jacket.

At the Michelin 1 star places where we dined in Burgundy, there were more jeans than jackets.

Stu Dudley

I'd also recommend the Hostellerie du Vieux Moulin, but skip the jeans. However, Burgundy can be chilly this time of the year, and a jacket could be useful. Bouilland is set deep in the heart of the "Swiss Burgundy," which should give you an idea of the climate.

People were dressed better at the Host. de Vieux Moulin than they were at the other restaurants where we dined in Burgundy & Beaujolais. We saw several men in jackets, but they were not in the majority - but more jackets than jeans (may have been zero jeans).

Stu Dudley

Thanks for all your help. Any reccos on restaurants and bistros in Paris?