Meet Some of the French Chefs Who Will Be at the Festival

Along with the New Orleans chefs who were introduced in last week's blog posting, a number of chefs from the Burgundy region will participate at the 4-14 Festival this year. Daniel Ginsberg's experience as the director of Cuisine Centrale de Dijon, which prepares 7,000 meals a day for Dijon's fifty-four school canteens, will be much appreciated at the 4-14 Festival, as festival organizer Alex Miles plans to prepare an amazing 20,000 dishes this year!

Stéphane Derbord, who operates the gastronomic Restaurant Stéphane Derbord in Dijon, will participate.

David Zuddas, whose restaurant DZ'envies lies next door to the Halles where the festival takes place, will serve up innovate dishes that associate the flavors of Maghreb and Japan with French culinary techniques.

And highly acclaimed gourmet chef William Frachot of the Hostellerie du Chapeau Rouge will contribute his culinary talents to the event.

This is only a partial list of the chefs who will be participating this year. For a complete list, follow this link.

See you at the festival!

Meet Some of the Louisiana Chefs Who Will Be at the Festival

Alex Miles recently flew to New Orleans to hold a press conference and to meet some of the chefs who will be serving up delicious food at the 4-14 Festival in Dijon. Pictured, from left to right, are Hosie Bourgeois, who combines classic French techniques with a love for Louisiana cuisine at the Beau Chêne Country Club in Mandeville; Alfred Singleton of Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse, serving prime beef, local seafood and innovative Creole dishes in New Orleans; Alex Miles, organizer of the 4-14 Festival; Donald Link of the Herbsaint and Cochon restaurants in New Orleans—in 2007 Chef Link was named Best Chef:South by the James Beard Foundation; unidentified member of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum; unidentified person from Herbsaint restaurant; and Dooky Chase IV, grandson of Leah Chase, the Queen of Creole Cooking at the Dooky Chase restaurant in New Orleans.

See you at the festival!

Where to Stay in Dijon

Since my last post, in which I gave information about how to get to Dijon by train, I've been told, "Thanks for this info, Tom, but now I need to know where to stay, once I get to the city."

I'm glad you asked! Dijon has 78 hotels and 7 bed and breakfasts within the greater metropolitan area, so there are lots of places to stay that should suit every budget. More information about accommodations can be found on the Dijon tourist office Web site: http://www.visitdijon.com.

Better still, the folks at the 4-14 Festival have arranged a special discount rate for you at three hotels. They are the Hôtel Ibis, the Hôtel Mercure, and the Hôtel La Cloche. Prices are set at 75€, 130€, and 160€ per night for a room for two persons. For further information, contact Aurore Schaferlee at the following e-mail address: aurore [dot] schaferlee [at] gmail [dot] com.

See you at the festival!

How to Get to Dijon

Since I first published the announcement of the 4-14 Festival, a number of readers have contacted me to say, "Wow! Sounds like a great food and music festival is shaping up in Dijon for the weekend of the 9th, 10th, and 11th of July! There's only one thing, Tom: how do I get there?"

The answer is "Take the train!"

There are two trains that run from Paris to Dijon, one is faster, the other is slower, but more scenic.

The faster train is called the TGV (train à grande vitesse) and runs several times a day between the cities. It takes just under two hours to get to Dijon.

The slower train is called the TER (transport express régional). It runs less frequently, and takes about three hours.

The TGV leaves from the Gare de Lyon, and the TER from the nearby Gare de Bercy.

Prices and hours may be consulted on the French railway Web site (in French only) at the following link: http://www.voyages-sncf.com/.

See you at the festival!