Cité de la gastronomie Dijon: its food village shuts for good
Le Village de la Cité, the Krief group company behind the complex's shops and restaurant, ended its activity on 7 October. Local media put the jobs affected at 44.
The Cité de la gastronomie Dijon lost its main commercial tenant on Wednesday 7 October, when Le Village de la Cité, operator of the complex's food shops and restaurant, said it was ending its activity and closing its outlets after four years.
In a statement relayed by regional media, the company said the Village “ends its activity today” within the Cité internationale de la gastronomie et du vin and would make way for “a different and entirely rethought programme”. It gave no timetable.
Le Village de la Cité belongs to the Krief group, the developer that invested in the site when it opened, according to public broadcaster ICI. The Dijon commercial court placed the company in receivership on 25 August, a decision made public on 31 August.
Four years after opening, a €250 million food complex has to find new operators for its shops.
What closes at the Cité de la gastronomie Dijon
Seven outlets were covered by the proceedings, according to France 3: Le Manège à Moutardes, La Gloriette, La Planche, the restaurant Meurette & Persillé, La Cuisine expérientielle, and the fishmonger L'Écaille and butcher Le Billot, both already shut. Local outlet Dijon Actualités put the number of employees at 44.
The Village is not the first tenant of the Cité de la gastronomie Dijon to go. On 10 April the court liquidated three venues run by the Epicure group: La Table des Climats, La Cave de la Cité and Le Comptoir de la Cité. The bar Bamagotchi was liquidated on 30 September, ICI reported.
The Pathé cinema and the City of Dijon's cultural spaces remain open, the Village's statement said.
A €250 million site still short of its target
The Cité opened in May 2022 after works costing €250 million, France 3 reported. The target of one million visitors a year has never been reached. In 2023 the then mayor, François Rebsamen, cited 850,000 visitors, a figure drawn from entrance cameras that counted every passer-by.
Pierre Guez, a consultant brought in by the Krief group in March, told ICI that “the first edition of the Cité de la gastronomie is stopping” but that there would be “an act two, in a few months, or within a year”. According to ICI, the Krief group would hand over in that second phase, and the Côte-d'Or chamber of commerce and industry has been leading work for several weeks to relaunch the project. The City of Dijon declined to comment when France 3 asked in August.
The closure comes as France's 2026 grape harvest hits its lowest in decades and MPs weigh changes to French meal vouchers. The Cité de la gastronomie Dijon keeps its exhibitions and its cinema; who will sell food there is the open question.
