in Nancy, gastronomic villages are a recipe

The restaurateurs of Nancy immediately took advantage of the gastronomic villages to take advantage of a Saint-Nicolas effect. After Place Vaudémont, Le Village sous la porte and La Guinguette du Père Fouettard now offer friendly catering and benefit from a winter terrace advantageous for business.

If Nancy has long boasted of being the city with the highest number of restaurants per inhabitant, it seems to have made up for the end-of-year celebrations. Each of the eight villages offers something to eat or drink and three have now made it their specialty. It was the one on Place Vaudémont that inaugurated the ball in 2016 and today it boasts the official name of “Gourmet Village”. Truffles, oysters, foie gras, champagne, the menus are colorful: far from churros or sausages and fries, the chalets on this square are in fact festive extensions of the terraces of the surrounding restaurants (Chez Cerise or Le Vaudémont).

With a Quebec accent

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Building on these successes, other neighborhoods have taken up the idea of ​​enlivening their open spaces during the holidays. This has been the case since last year under the appropriate name of Porte Saint-Nicolas, a stone’s throw from the Place des Vosges. Four chalets under beautiful red and gold garlands offer a convivial space sheltered by the door which forms a cocoon. “We wanted something simple and warm, explains Cyril Iung, owner of Tabarnak, a Quebec restaurant on rue Mon Désert, with a strong identity. From a simple aperitif to a meal, there is something for all tastes. Poutine, maple syrup products for him, seafood for his neighbor, and French toast for the third chalet – it’s a partnership of three establishments. “We are in a suburb where not much happened during the holidays, explains Mickaël Letang, owner of the restaurant Le Chardon and the bar Les Vedettes just opposite. We wanted to react by buying our chalets. With an investment of €5,000 each, they hope to recoup the costs this year. “We are also benefiting from the help of the town hall, which plays the game well by coming to decorate the place, with a beautiful festive decoration in this splendid historical setting which is the Saint-Nicolas gate. The device allowed various recruitments for the entire duration of the holidays.

Fouettard also gets involved

Preparations are well advanced in the new village. New this year, the Guinguette du Père Fouettard opens its chalets on Friday 2 December, place des Bourgets near the Porte de la Craffe, at the end of the Grande Rue. Also in this case it is the nearby restaurateurs – Barami and Bel Instant – who take over the reins of the village. In four chalets made available by the trade association of the Ville Vieille, they offer in particular a winter menu, around the munster. “We know that there is demand in this corner of the city, explains Basile Aubrun, boss of Bel Instant. We want to attract people with a musical and festive program, to show that the recent pedestrianization of the Grande Rue is a real plus! »