Dijon - Back to Église Notre-Dame de Dijon and Dinner at Chez Leon

Remember that I made wish when rubbing the "Owl of Dijon"? Well, it wasn't an outlandish wish....nothing like world peace and goodwill to men....not even monetary wealth. I made a humble little ask....for dinner of course! You see, one of my objectives for our time in Burgundy, was to try the regional specialties, especially items that the Missus had never been particularly fond of. I had a place named Chez Leon in mind, but had not been able to get thru and make reservations. My thought was to drop by during lunch service and make reservations then. But, by the time we arrived, they were closed.

Bummer.....but then, I think "The Owl" came through. A young lady walked out to update the chalkboard....and guess what? We had reservations. The Missus thinks "the owl" thing is just silliness. Me, well, I dunno.......

We got back to the hotel, checked into our room, and took a short nap. We awoke refreshed and the Missus just wanted to get going. Our reservations were for 7pm (when they open) and we still had some time to kill. so we decided to explore Dijon a bit more.

The was in the process of setting when we arrived in front of the Église Notre-Dame.

We found that the doors were wide open, welcoming us to enter.

The one item to see here is the Statue of Notre-Dame de Bon-Espoir (Our Lady of Good Hope). It is thought that this wooden statue dates back to the Eleventh or Twelfth Century.

There are several miracles attributed to this statue. You an read about them on the French Wikipedia site for Église Notre-Dame de Dijon.

Walking around during the evening seems to add an air of mystery.......like something is going to happen around every corner.

The architecture sure adds to the atmosphere.

As do the citizens....both the two legged and four legged ones.

We arrived at Chez Leon right as the doors open. The two women working here were really friendly and nice. The atmosphere, simple and welcoming.

It was a good thing we made reservations; the place filled up rather quickly, and folks without reservations were turned away.....even some rather unhappy locals who seemed like friends of the owner! The menu is simple....and only available in French.

The Missus selected the wine and dessert and left the rest to me.

I had always wanted to try Oeufs en Meurette; a classic Burgundian preparation of poached eggs in a red wine sauce. It looks kind of messy, but man, this was good.

You know the Missus loves Her eggs, right? This was very nice; a little tanginess from the Pinot Noir sauce, nice richness, great with bread.

The Missus had never been a fan of escargot. And in fact, didn't want me to order it. But since this is one of the specialties of Burgundy...well, we had to try it right? Oh, and this converted the Missus into an escargot lover.

Though the Missus ended up ordering escargot at almost every meal in Burgundy; I thought, in terms of the snails, this was the best. They were plump, mild in flavor, and pretty tender. For the Missus, I found that it was the garlicky parsley butter that makes the dish for Her.

The Missus ordered the Souris d'Agneau; lamb shanks. This one with a very nice risotto and a wonderful jus, with just enough rosemary.

The lamb was wonderfully gamey and fork tender....as in, not falling to pieces, but tender enough to cut with a fork.

Of course I got the boeuf bourguignon. After all....we were in Burgundy!

The sauce was a nice beefy-wine sauce with hints of onions. The beef was very tender and bursting with beefy flavors....nothing fancy mind you; but good, solid, comfort food.

The Missus enjoyed the dessert; especially that sorbet.

The service was friendly, the atmosphere relaxed and unpretentious, the food solid, the prices quite reasonable.......what's not to like?

Plus, we were in Burgundy, feasting on Escargot and Boeuf Bourguignon.

This was a nice way of getting ourselves familiarized with the flavors and food of Burgundy.

Chez Leon
20 rue des Godrans
21000, Dijon, France

And we just knew we'd be having a great time!

Thanks for reading!

Comments

[nhbilly]

What about ratatouille? ;-)
Looks like a lot of good eating.

[Soo]

Lucky! The owl has power. Lamb and the beef look great!

[Kirk]

Hi Billy - When we get to Nice, we'll definitely have ratatouille! That's where the dish originated.

That's what I believe Soo! All credit to the Owl!

[kat]

glad you were able to dine there (with or without the owl)

[Kirk]

I like to think the "Owl" helped out Kat! This was a nice meal.

[Ed (from Yuma)]

Nice looking meal, the sort that Tina and I would love. And that thousand year old virgin and child is really old school. Never seen anything quite like it before.

[SomTommy]

Good looking meal.....spooky looking wood carving.

[Junichi]

Looks good! Making me hungry at work.

[Kirk]

That wooden statue was pretty impressive....though kind of creepy at night Ed. The food was good, solid, regional food.

It was ST.

It was a nice first meal in Burgundy Junichi.