Valpolicella region, Italy - Gluttonous Travels (The wine trails - 2nd stop)

Top notch beef at Locanda Costa Degli Ulivi

From Venice, our road tour kicked off (via an Autogrill or two) as we drove about 1 ¼  hours to the Valpolicella region of Italy for a sip of some big boy Amarone on its home turf.

Our first taste of a great Amarone was a few years ago at a terrific little restaurant called 18-28 in Milan, recommended by a local Italian colleague (and now by me - great food). The cork was popped. The wine was poured. We swirled, we sniffed, we sipped. We looked each other in the eye. Then we clutched our glasses like mother cats guarding their young and ordered a full bottle. And then another.

Villa Monteleone - looking out onto the vines

This wine hails from the Valpolicella region, north of Verona and east of Lake Garda. Drive by row after row of leafy vines and hilltops dotted with soaring church towers and sleepy villages. The perfect base for your explorations is winery and B&B, Villa Monteleone, in the heart of the region. Owned by Lucia Raimondi, the villa is a traditional 17^th century building overlooking the vineyards of Monteleone and Gargagnago. The villa has its own small, family run vineyard producing about 35,000 bottles a year (its first vintage was in 1989), and right across the road is the regional commercial giant, Masi, where you can taste some big hitting Amarones that will cost you hundreds of pounds to sample in London.

The vineyards just outside Villa Monteleone

But firstly, where to eat:

The big ' juicy lamb chops at L.C.D Ulivi

Our homely meal at Locanda Costa degli Ulivi (www.costadeliulivi.com) could have set an example to a Michelin star restaurant or two. A ginormous platter of pumpkin risotto and a steaming bowl of handmade coccinelle pasta shells with local sausage, olives and tomato were fabulous, but even better were the mains – 4 perfectly pink and plump lamb cutlets, and generous thick slithers of delicious grilled beef. Serving sizes are large, great value and absolutely top quality. This is a place where they start with great produce and then cook it simply but perfectly to bring out its best but take nothing away from it. The room had zero atmosphere on the night of our visit (completely out of tourist season), but the food and wines (at about €4 for a decent Amarone or €2 for a Valpolicella) had us smitten. Our amazing feast cost about €40 per head for 3 courses, sides and highly enjoyable wines. Food wise, TPG rates it up there in best ever meal category. A total surprise package.

Hand made pasta with sausage, olives & tomatoes at L.D.C. Ulivi

It was far better than our slightly more expensive dinner the next night at Dalla Rosa Alda (www.dallaroasalda.it) which gets rave reviews online, but apart from the lovely wines and a bit more buzz in the cave like room, our meal was only “so so”. Still, to be able to match 3 local wines (including a gorgeous Amarone) to each course for only €15 is quite something. There’s lots of horse meat on the menu – a local specialty – but TPG routinely cries in Phar Lap and Sea Biscuit so I thought better of trying it. Lamb and beef were good, but not up there with those at Ulivi. The slab of yellow olive oil cake (another regional speciality) was a little dry although the wobbly pannacotta brought flaming to the table, was lovely. About €50 per head.

Lasagne with radicchio & mushroom at Bottega de Corgnan

Better yet was our lunch at tiny, out of the way (seriously off the tourist trail) Bottega de Corgnan (www.bottegaitaliana.net), a super fun, casual hang out of the locals where you can feast on platters of local salamis and cheeses, bowls of pasta using only seasonal ingredients (or a radiccio and mushroom lasagne in my case), polenta, rabbit, steak, or lamb over a good selection of wines at very reasonable prices (about €10 per course and wines from €2). Opposite is the more upmarket restaurant, Grotto Corgnan, where you can linger over a longer, fancier meal which the locals also rave about.

Meat & 3 Veg at Bottega de Corgnan

On the road from Venice to Monteleone, we also stopped off in the beautiful walled town of Soave (I can’t resist a sign post bearing the name of a good drop), where we shared a magnificent lunch of cured meats, local cheeses and grilled vegetables with some local Soave wines (ranging from €1-€4!) for around €15 per head at the fabulous Enoteca Del Soave. Delightfully simple.

Food on the road at Enoteca del Soave

Quaffing:

We did a tasting of Villa Monteleone’s own gorgeous wines with friendly cellar master, Raffael. If you don’t want a quick lesson, look away now.

The tasting room at Villa Monteleone

The main wines of the region are:

•  Valpolicella Classico - the light, easy table wines of the region.
•  Ripasso (or Valpolicella Classico Superiores) - can be a thing of beauty, made when the partially dried grape skins left over from the fermentation of Amarone or Recioto (dessert wines) are added back to the Valpolicella, adding complexity and depth.
• Amarone - bigger, full bodied wines made from late harvested, very sweet, ripe grapes which are then dried out for several months. The wines are then aged in barrels for several years (3 in the case of Villa Monteleone’s own lovely version).
•  Recioto – sweet wines. Villa Monteleone’s Recioto is glorious – of only light to medium sweetness (unlike some of the more cordial-like wines we tasted).

Raffael in the grape drying room

If you are lucky enough to come across Villa Monteleone wines in your country (they export 90% of their wines), I highly recommend them – some of the most enjoyable of our trip, and at excellent prices (from €10 for the Valpolicella Classico to around €30 for the Amarone). All the grapes at Villa Monteleone are picked by hand, to create wines faithful to the tradition of the region.  Our tasting included a private tour of the vines, the small cellar and the grapes being dried for the Amarones. Thirst inspiring stuff. I believe they may also be able to put on a rustic lunch for you.

Where to stay - more details on Villa Monteleone:

Our room was one of only 3 at the villa, and was traditional (except for the added bonus of a sauna - gold!), spacious and comfortable, with views out over the vines. Guests are provided with a lovely breakfast each morning of coffee, juice, pastries, freshly baked bread, jams, granola, cereals, yoghurt, fruit and local hams and cheeses. (Although save some room for lunch - they don’t hold back on portion sizes ‘round these parts). There’s WiFi in the main lounge area and lots of books to nerd up on the local viniculture. You’ll also be provided with maps and lots of tips on where to eat and drink from Lucia and her friendly and helpful right hand woman, Sara. This place is all friendliness and charm - we loved it. 

Our room at Villa Monteleone - with separate spa/sauna room  bathroom

There are tonnes of places to eat or taste wine within easy access – some only a few minutes away (and some restaurants will transport you to and fro so that you can indulge in the wines thoroughly).

While in the area you can also lunch in Verona (30 minutes drive) or by the shores on the stunning Lake Garda (20 minutes away), where we took a stroll and coffee. The outdoor opera season at the famous Arena in Verona is in July and August, but November is also a beautiful time to visit for crisp sunny days and the magical Autumnal colours.

The high vines at Villa Monteleone

Travel details:

We flew to Venice where we stayed a couple of nights, and then drove for about 1.25 hours from there. Alternatively, you could fly to Verona which is only about 30 minutes away from Villa Monteleone.

Greedy Diva was a guest of Villa Monteleone – I wholeheartedly recommend it as a place to stay or at least get in touch with Lucia to taste the wines - at via Monteleone 12, 37015 – Gargagnago, VR (Tel: 045 770 4974) info@villamonteleone.com  www.villamonteleone.com. Rooms are €90 and €95 per night, including breakfast.

Venice, Italy - Gluttonous Travels (The wine trails - 1st stop)

The rather nice view from our hotel room
at the Hilton Molino Stucky

Goodbye London, Helloooo Venice.

To mark the end of life in London and the start of life in Melbourne, we decided to take a road trip through the wine trails from Venice to Bordeaux. First stop – Venice.

Venice makes you feel like you are floating on a fairy tale island of grandiose palaces and colourful, dilapidated villas, as the tourists float by in gondolas and the espresso machines whirl in the alleyways. It may be heaving with tourists, but something about being surrounded by so much calming water, where even taking a taxi involves an Angelina Jolie style cruise past domed cathedrals, brings an instant feeling of serene other worldliness.

It's all part of the fun, getting lost wandering among the bright blue canals

Venice was going to provide the freshest seafood of our trip before the trek inland to the wineries – think plump, salty little clams with spaghetti in a white wine sauce, grilled razor clams in olive oil, branzino, huge plates of delicate fritto misto, and big, sweet fleshy prawns.  Jet black squid ink pasta and calamari stewed in a tomato sauce with creamy polenta were other favourites. Eat sugary whipped cream sandwiched between meringue, rich chocolate salami, life giving coffee gelato, seafood bruschetta and thin pizza slices the size of your head.

A quick plate of pasta with fresh seafood at Fantasia

Londoners might go looking for cool little bacaro bars a la Polpo, but while there are exceptions, mostly the real deal cichetti bars look like old man pubs with blinking pinball machines and a few ham paninis on the counter top. Polpo is probably more Brooklyn than Venice. For wines, you have the choice of all the local Valpolicellas, Ripassos and Amarones the beautiful Veneto region has to offer.

Steamed lobster at the Aromi restaurant

Risotto with botargo, candied lime and crushed hazelnuts at the Aromi Restaurant

A couple of restaurants we would have liked to have tried were closed for both days of our trip, being a Monday and then a public holiday. Try Corte Sconta and check out the recommendations of An American in London and Mark Bittman. However, the best meal of our trip was at the Aromi restaurant at the Hilton Molino Stucky where we stayed.

The hotel has several restaurants – the Aromi restaurant has the option for a meal on the terrace, with panoramic views over the Guidecca canal, over summer. The fare combines simple, seasonal ingredients in creative Venetian dishes.

Cheese dumplings with crab, sea asparagus and summery black truffle

We tried the degustation menu (€95) - steamed lobster served with vegetables cooked in salt; cottage cheese gnocchi style dumplings with crab, sea asparagus and black truffle (TPG substituted this for the squid ink risotto which was gorgeous); creamy risotto sectioned into thirds with each of botargo, candied lime and crushed hazelnuts; a platter of fresh scampi, monkfish, prawns, sea bream and eel; sweet, caramelised polenta with milk ice-cream and a white and dark chocolate stick;  caramelised polenta with milk ice cream white chocolate pure and dark chocolate stick. On the a la carte menu, pastas are around €25 and mains are about €35, so it's at the pricier end of the spectrum as you would expect at a luxury hotel.

Our excellent waiter matched the first few courses with an Livio Felluga Sauvignon Blanc – I don’t normally go for Sauv Blancs at all, but boring old Cloudy Bay this was not. A Lamo Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz/Merlot gave us a sublime taste of the very reason we were here to explore the wines of the Veneto. We finished with a lovely Recioto over dolce. Although the room was quiet on a Monday night, I recommend the restaurant for elegant and delicious creative takes on traditional fare and excellent service.

For us, it was an easy toddle back to our room at the Hilton Molino Stucky, created from the restoration of 13 buildings that constituted a 19^th century flour mill. It’s gigantic (we got lost on our way to our room a few times!) and some towers feel like being inside a castle. Situated on Guidecca Island, the view across the canal when you pull back the curtains in the morning is one of the hotel’s main draw cards. Check out the view from our hotel room in the headline shot above.

You can then take a free shuttle ferry across to San Marco in under 15 minutes. The trade off for the fabulous views is the inconvenience of having to time your comings and goings with the ferries, which leave for San Marco every hour or for Zattere every half hour, but it has to be said that travelling by boat in Venice feels rather glamorous so it’s hard to begrudge it. The last ferry returns to the hotel after midnight.

The Hilton Molino Stucky - a former flour mill
(This photo was provided by the hotel)

Each room has a king sized bed (or 2 singles), satellite TV, high speed wireless (not free) and elegant, sumptuous bathrooms and fittings.

The view from the Skyline rooftop bar and the rooftop pool (yes I’m collecting them) across the canal towards San Marco Square is also fabulous – the perfect spot for an Aperol spritz at sundown (Venice is its birthplace afterall). There’s also a gym, spa, Turkish bath, jacuzzi and sauna.

Guidecca consists of 8 gondola shaped interconnected islets, and is a quiet escape from the tourist hordes. It houses many grand historical villas, avant-garde lofts and warehouses that now host art exhibitions and other cultural activities. Probably not worth a special trip if you’re staying in the throng, but a lovely place to stroll around, and worth a stop at Harry’s Dolce just a few minutes along the canal from the hotel.

Here are some more snap shots of Venice for inspiration:

This is what the late night taxi home looks like in Venice...

A Venetian petrol station

Another grand canal

Peak hour

From Venice, we head towards the vineyards outside Verona for some serious guzzling. Stay tuned.




Greedy Diva was a guest of Hilton Molino Stucky. Rates vary and you can get some great deals - the standard rates at this time of year are around €169 per double which is great value for this quality in Venice - and with those views.

The Mornington Peninsula, Australia - Gluttonous Travels

Gluten free margherita at T'gallant

The Mornington Peninsula is stretch of coastline just over an hour's drive from Melbourne. Not only beloved of surfies and those with fond childhood beach holiday memories, it also has plenty to interest wine lovers with a penchant for chardonnay and pinot grapes. Increasingly, it's upping the ante on the food stakes too. You'll find lively farmers markets, beach front, brunchy cafes, high end modern cuisine and old fashioned fish 'n chip shops galore. And, when you've just bought a new car, it's the perfect place to go for a cruise through the rolling hills and pine trees, where you'll feel like you're in a Mercedes commercial (minus the Mercedes in my case).

One of my favourite towns is Red Hill, snuggled among the hinterland. There are some lovely cafes, artisan cheese makers and bakeries in the town itself. And on the fringes, some stunning wineries.

View over the vines at T'gallant

We took a day trip and arrived just in time for a laid back Sunday lunch at nearby T'Gallant. With live acoustic music, gorgeous views and crunchy thin based pizzas coming at a slick pace from the woodfired oven, it's easy to see why the big communal wooden tables are packed to the rafters. The food is simple but good, and there's plenty of wines by the glass. (Pizza also comes gluten free.) Afterwards, don't miss the free tasting at the cellar door.

The Australian Spuntino - the big shed at T'gallant

Ten Minutes By Tractor is one of my all time favourite wineries, and so their cellar door was our next stop. Right next to its upmarket (and highly regarded) restaurant, pay $10 (redeemable on purchase of a bottle) to try the full range of their delicious wines - the Pinot Gris every bit as good as their better known Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs.

Horse riding tour of the wineries - the back yard at Green Olive cafe

Next, we stopped at Green Olive cafe, farm shop, olive grove and vineyard for a restorative, well made flat white, elbowing the local kids out of the way for a sneaky bounce on the trampoline overlooking the vines. They run coffee making and cooking courses here too, which might be worth checking out.

If it's summer, you'll need a swim. There's a long stretch of coastline to explore. I love Dromana beach with its silky white sand, clear light blue water and fading beach boxes. These are the kind of beaches you dream of in Europe, but they're totally low key  - not a Prada beach bag in sight.

Greedy Diva super tip - best to drive home at 3pm or after dinner on a Sunday to avoid the bumper to bumper traffic on the road back to Melbourne. I learned the hard way.

Yarra Valley - Greedy Diva's Gluttonous Travels

Lunch by the vines at Oakridge Estate

One of my favourite parts of living back in Melbourne, is being able to take off in the car on a sunny day to be surrounded by some of the world's most beautiful wineries within the hour. Drive east about 60 minutes from the centre of Melbourne, pass Legoland, and you'll find yourself among endless vineyards, rolling green hills and grazing cows in Victoria's beautiful Yarra Valley. For a bit of non gluttonous culture, you can even stop off at the Heide Museum of Modern Art on the way.

As in Burgundy, the order of the day in these parts are the chardonnay and pinot noir grapes. There are endless places to sit tasting wines immersed in the stunning vistas, while nibbling fresh local produce,  cheeses, charcuterie platters, wood fired pizzas or some terrific fine dining.

Duck leg at Oakridge Estate

Some of my favourite local wineries include De Bortoli, Giant Steps/Innocent Bystander and Domaine Chandon. But there are tonnes more scattered around the Valley, and all an easy and scenic drive from each other.

We started our recent day trip at the farmer's market at Yering Station - held on the first Sunday of every month. Stock up on gorgeous Jam Lady jams (I like pear, vanilla & ginger), olive oil, honey, tomato and coconut harissa, and, of courses, cheeses aplenty. 

Indoor section of the farmers' market at Yering Station

It's thirsty work. So do yourself a favour and head to the tasting room (all free) where some of the Valley's loveliest wines will be poured for you with a smile. Stock up the boot and head off to lunch.

The restaurant at Yering Station is hard to beat, with great food and magnificent views to match. However, after some more tastings of wine and a punchy pear cider at Punt Road (and some more boxes for the boot), we headed to Oakridge Estate to try out the chardonnay that has been winning awards all over the place. Yes, it's good. 

The Yarra Valley Dairy

We stayed on for lunch outside by the vines - to start, silky pink Yarra Valley venison carpaccio, Bloody Mary sorbet, cucumber jelly and cornichons for me and King George whiting fillet, with a zingy fennel and citrus summer slaw for TPG.  To follow, the Gippsland spring lamb rack with medjool dates, quinoa, preserved lemon, Hoddles Creek hazelnuts and harissa yoghurt was a little overcooked and slightly disappointing given it read like heaven on a plate, but TPG's twice cooked duck leg with white beans, cacciatore sausage, peperonata and red currants was the bees knees. A really lovely (if not earth shattering) long lunch with fabulous wines -  2 courses are $50 or 3 courses are $60.

The cafe and store at the Yarra Valley Dairy

For me, no trip to the Yarra Valley is complete without a stop at the Yarra Valley Dairy. The strong stench of cow dung wafting through the air is the sign that you're heading in the right direction. But put it out of your mind as you head in the door and taste a delicious range of cheeses - we've been gorging all week on Persian feta, goats cheese in ash and creamy cow's cheeses marinated in oil. There's also wine tastings and a cafe for coffee and cake before you make your way home again to stock up the cupboards.

Rioja Tapas Fantasticas 2011, Southwark

I'm not really one for camping or festivals. I like a good solid roof over my head, and I like to be able to stand up and switch on the lights within my accommodation. The thought of trudging off to the shrubbery with a shovel send shudders down my spine. I do have wellies, but I bought them from Marc Jacobs so I'm not sure they count (not bad for £12 and where else can you find wellies in a last minute panic in Soho?). As for feasting off paper plates and cups, that's all well and good so long as the sun is shining and I'm not paying so much that its costing me an opportunity to eat wagyu beef laced with gold leaf and truffle at The Fat Duck*.

So I'm not often seen at food festivals. However, the sun was shining, and I still haven't booked that trip to Madrid I've been hankering for. So, it was that TPG and I ventured to the foot of Tower Bridge on Saturday for the FREE event, Rioja Tapas Fantasticas.

While taking in the views over the Thames and the Tower of London, we tasted white, rose and red riojas from a large number of wine makers (such as Marques de la Concordia, Marques del Atrio and Vina Salceda), while feasting on thick tortilla rolls (from restaurant Barcelona), a hearty rabbit paella with spinach and asparagus (from Number 22 Restaurant and Casa Catering) and creamy Iberico hams (carved to thin, melt in the mouth perfection by Tozino - a company with experience carving for the likes of Ferran Adria and the Spanish Royal Family).

Taste from the tapas stalls of some of London's Spanish restaurants, such as Barrica, Camino and Paellaria (serving huge pans of inky arroz negra) or try Picota Cheeries which are exclusively grown in the Spain's Jerte Valley and only available from mid June to end of July each year. Fellow blogger and the woman behind Catalan Cooking classes, Rachel McCormack, is also there with her Rachel's Bunuelos stand.

Entry is FREE, and you only pay £3 to purchase a tasting glass and 4 tokens to exchange each for a small (ok, teensy) sample of 4 wines of your choice. (Call me what you will, but the samples could be bigger.) After that, you pay £1 per sample, or you can buy by the glass at good prices - I had a lovely (and big glass of) spicy, vanilla-y Reserva for £3.50. Our food was mostly priced between £3.50 - £6. There are also wine workshops, cooking demonstrations (eg from Jose Pizarro) and Spanish bands.

Tapas Fantastica runs over one weekend in summer each year (look out for it in 2012) and is a low key, hassle free way to have a taste of Spain in London. And it won't cost you the tasting menu at Le Gavroche.

Thanks to Phipps PR for the press pass.

*  Ok, so I'm not sure The Fat Duck does this dish, but you get my drift.

Burgundy - Greedy Diva's Gluttonous Travels

When I told my French boss I was going to "Burgundy" over Easter, she stared at me blankly. Even worse (for both career and my French expertise) that when I adopted my best French accent to explain I meant "Bourgogne", she looked even more baffled. Then, I spelled it out - at which point she exclaimed "Oh, Bourgogne!". It sounded to me like exactly what I had just said, but apparently not. Fortunately, in Burgundy, if you know how to hold out your glass for more wine, you'll get along just famously, no matter how bad your French pronunciation.

TPG and I recently spent a week in Burgundy, including 2 luxurious nights at the Abbaye de le Bussiere (see earlier post). My memories of Burgundy will always be inextricably etched to the wine, the food and the beautiful green scenery. It's a stunning place to visit, and so easy - take the train from London via Paris to Dijon, hire a car, and you can mooch around the well sign posted winery trails with little or no planning, being guided by signs for towns you'll recognise from your favourite wine bottles - think "Meursault", "Ladoix" and "Beaune". It's a wine lover's paradise.

Burgundy is one of France's biggest and most famous wine producing regions. My favourite wines are Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs - which means you've hit the jackpot if you happen to share the same predilection and find yourself in Burgundy. The wine region includes not only the fabulous Cote-dO'r wines, but also those of Beaujolais, Chablis, Cote Chalonnaise and Macon.

Food wise, beef bourguignon, coq au vin (the famous Bresse chickens are locals here), steak (Charolais beef), foie gras and magnificent cheeses (such as the Epoisses made by local monks) feature heavily on the menus. This is not a place to diet. Burgundy is a place to indulge in multiple course meals for lunch and dinner, and it would be a mortal sin not to have the old cheese trolley rolled out on both occassions. You might be craving lettuce leaves after a few days, but you'll struggle to find a cafe or somewhere for a light salad outside of the main cities like Beaune or Dijon - and don't even think about eating lunch outside of the 12-2pm time slot in the tiny villages.

Steak tartare in Dijon

There are many fantastic options for wine tasting, including cellars and caves offering degustations scattered all over the villages and wine trails. We visited many. My absolute favourite was a tasting at Maison Louis Jadot in Beaune where we were lucky enough to meet up with The London Foodie and Dr G to be guided through a wonderful 3 hour tasting by passionate General Manager, Dominique Mounier. Dominique walked us through what can often seem like a complex classification system of burgundy wines, before we hit Louis Jadot's cellars to taste many magnificent wines - including some straight from the barrel (a first for me). Louis Jadot takes grapes from vineyards all around Burgundy and its wines range from the inexpensive and easy drinking to the complex and fabulous. In fact, if you want to learn about the wine region, the wine notes on Louis Jadot's website are a good place to start.

Tasting from the barrels at Louis Jadot

Another favourite was a wine tasting accompanied by food at La Table d'Olivier Leflaive in Puligny-Montrachet. For 40 Euros, you will taste from 13 different red and white wines from around the region - including from St Aubin, Rully, Chassagne-Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet, Meursalt, Volnay and Pommard. For a 10 Euro supplement (which is well worthwhile), you'll also be given some fantastic grand crus. Wines are "matched" (although I use the term loosely) to a basic, rustic meal. The food is not the highlight - the wine holds that mantle, but after some cheesey gruyeres (a staple in the region), we were given a tuna and vegetable terrine with smoked salmon, baked chicken in a tarragon sauce, a selection of local cheeses and chocolate mousse, all of which was perfectly nice (but not a patch on some of the gastronomic highlights you'll find in Beaune).

La Table d'Olivier Leflave

In Burgundy, you can find wonderful, fine dining or hearty, rustic fare. Lunch at Loiseau des Vignes, the Michelin star restaurant of Bernard Loiseau in Beaune, was a highlight. We sat by the window overlooking the elegant tables in the pretty garden as sun streamed in through the window. Service was unstuffy and friendly, the wine extraordinary (it's hard to go wrong) and the food was fabulous. For 30 Euros, our "market lunch" menu included cheesy gruyeres, salmon delicately poached and served in a creamy froth, followed by rich, juicy lamb braised with tomato and rosemary. Three local cheeses were then served before an insanely good dessert - chocolate mousse with meringue, chocolate sauce and little chocolate balls. It was one of the best desserts of all time.

Another high end favourites was Le Pre aux Clercs in Dijon. The 50 Euro set 4 course dinner menu at this fabulous Michelin Star restaurant is great value. The food is refined and delicious, service is excellent and the sommelier gave us terrific wine suggestions.

Terrine of asparagus and vegetables

Pike dumpling in crayfish soup

Saddle of stuffed rabbit, carrots, caramalised turnips, mashed potato

Fillet of sea bream with sauce of foie gras, oyster and egg

The gorgeous Fabrice Gillott chocolate shop is another one to look out for in Dijon. Think  sesame caramel chocolate bars, cassis macarons and hazelnut spreads. The range is exquisite - we sampled lots just for you (21, rue du Bourg, Dijon).

Even without the wonderful food and wine options, Burgundy is a beautiful place to visit. The fact that you can completely indulge your inner gourmand while you're there is a just the icing on the cake.

Mercurey

We travelled to Dijon (via Paris) on the Eurostar - and spent a day frolicking about Paris on the way home. Fares are approximately £180 return.  While in Burgundy, we stayed for part of our trip the beautiful Abbaye de la Bussiere which I reviewed earlier.