Discover the Burgundy gastronomy, within the Najeti Hotel de la Poste & the Moutarde Fallot in Beaune
8 min read
In the center of Beaune and just 500 meters from the famous Hospices de Beaune, the Najeti Hotel de la Poste is a place of rest and for all visitors wishing to learn more about the history of this part of Burgundy and so s to impregnate one’s culture.
Settled in a former post house, a very common facility where horses were kept ready for the riders (and later for horse-drawn carriages), in order to facilitate the mail transmission.
In France, those relay stations were created by the King Louis XI at the disposal of his population and more especially his riders. At the origin, the routes only lead to the location of military operations and were only provisionally provided. Then the network extended to act as correspondence routes to the King.
Those relays were led by postmen plus innkeepers, when Louis XII opened those lodges, to propose accommodations for travelers, from the XVIth Century. Therefore, many current establishments still find their origin from those post houses, by the way like this Najeti Hotel de la Poste.
Overwhelmed by the railroad post transmission, whose network widely expanded during the Second Empire and subsequently, whose speed was much relevant…
Thus, those post houses, outperformed by locomotives, became more rare, until their official withdrawal in 1873. For instance, you may admire one of those old carriages, exposed at the back of the hotel’s garden, along those vintage pictures above of the building when it was younger and welcoming other kind of tourists…
By the way, and to pursue this traveling tradition, the Najeti Hotel de la Poste welcomes many automobile clubs’ members having a stop in Beaune. Moreover, the direction associates or organizes many other events, like concerts and private sales. Stay tuned within the newsletter!
Indeed, we may think that this former coaching station became, at the end of the seventeenth century, an elegant inn. Then, the foundations of the previous Auberge de l’Arbre d’Or (Golden Tree Inn), turned into this Najeti Hotel de la Poste, with its stylized Directoire decoration. Nowadays, the only remain is a gilded iron sign, exposed in the collections of the Beaune Museum of Fine Arts.
The new version of this hotel, recently renamed Najeti Hotel de la Poste proposes 36 rooms including 4 suites, in order to rest in a soothing atmosphere whether you are on a business trip, a tourist trip or a seminar in Beaune. Each room has all the necessary equipment, required to spend a comfortable stay, with some vintage charm.
For example, a certain Art-Deco ornamentation is visible from the white facade, the entrance and mostly, the hotel bar, open every day. Indeed, its wooden sculpted elements would you take back in time in those cozy lounges, bordered with period details. Clad with a splendid woodwork and preserved decoration, testifying to a certain bygone era whose charm continues to operate, also in the pool anteroom.
An outdated atmosphere perfectly adapted to enjoy a serene moment with friends, possibly accompanied by regional wines. Those bar elements come from the wide hotel’s cellar but there are also other prestigious alcohols available. You could discover some nice surprises like the sparkling aligoté wine and rather confidential Ali Boit Boit, developed by Agnès Paquet. A real surprise for aperitive !
Ideal to chat with your friends or neighbors, and eventually take part in listening to a pianist passage.
To extend your evening, let yourself be tempted by the traditional cuisine of the restaurant Le Relais. In a refined decor, spacious and sifted with white, this property offers a typical Burgundian menu, developed by a team of gastronomy enthusiasts, who strive to make it evolve every 3 months.
Thus, in order to perpetuate the quality tradition of the place, initiated by the restaurant of the former Hotel Najeti de La Poste, a Michelin star managed by Marc Chevillot from 1991 to 2005.
Following the menu or the waiter recommendations, you would update the classics of the Burgundian cuisine.
Starting with the original Burgundy snails cooked with garlic, the oeufs en Meurette, poached eggs and drowned in a red Pinot Noir wine juice… The main course may change but it would stay local, like the traditional Boeuf Bourguignon or this crayfish risotto. Ending, with a sweet suggestion, the poire au vin (pear in red wine), for local dessert. Each part of your diner would be a good opportunity to admire those delicate settled plates and to marry them with a wine masterpiece from the hotel cellar. You would surely be satisfied to give to one of those many quality references a chance to fulfill your contentment as a wine amateur. We advise you anyway to ask for the smart advice of the waiter, with good œnology skills, for the choice of the more suitable wines to your personality.
When the weather is fine, you may also enjoy your meal on the terrace in the calm of the inner courtyard, with some grapevine’s leaves lightly touching your table…
Le Relais restaurant is open everyday, only for diner, from 7pm until 9pm, within a highly advised prior booking. Please notice the weekly closing on Tuesday and Wednesday from December 1st to February 28th and on Tuesday from March 1st to November 30th. Lunch is also possible but upon prior reservation and for a minimum of 10 guests.
Otherwise, in the same hall or also in the terrace, it’s the place for breakfast or brunch, as you desire to call it the way you want… A continental buffet, with all the classics you would need to fulfill your morning desire and take up your next daily challenge!
Why not requesting it as well your breakfast in your room? The room service would be glad to ensure a successful romantic morning, with some hotel delights. Just simply make the demand at the front desk, the eve of this benefit.
About the rooms, those were recently renovated with a vintage style, and are spacious with enough surface to have a private aperitif, for example in one of the clubs available. You may have some amazing decorative surprises, like those small sculptures in your antique dresser or even in the choice of the various themed bedspreads, curtains and other interior textiles (photo credits: Najeti).
Indeed, each room has its own spirit, ask the reception for further advice, depending on your mood! Some have a view on the inner garden and the others on the former Beaune ramparts, surrounded by the Bouzaise river, giving a certain charm to this historical part of the city.
Najeti Hotel de la Poste / Adress : 5 Boulevard Clemenceau, 21200 Beaune (France) / Phone : 00 33 (0)9 70 38 48 24
A few steps away from the Najeti Hotel de la Poste, you may complete a first discovery you may have got an initiation in Dijon with the interactive mustard store (link to this previous article)… This time, you would pursue your knowledge of this local speciality with the real factory!
Adorned by a Napoleonic facade of 1840, the oldest Burgundy authentic mustard factory, the Moutarderie Fallot still stands in the same original place… Nowadays, the Desarmenien family runs the affair that started in the middle of the 19th Century (photo credits : Alex Plato).
A raw material 100% from Burgundy, thanks to mustard seeds grouped by the Cooperative, which returns to the front of the stage in the 60s. In order to promote its traditional know-how to international visitors, willing to discover the tasty world of mustard, That’s why the Moutarderie Fallot has opened a museum space with two initiation paths proposed. This, in addition to two workshops (Beaune and Dijon) were also born with a tasting bar totally dedicated to the various mustard flavors developed by the manufacture.
The Moutarderie Fallot, the first French museum dedicated to mustard, invites you to discover this legendary condiment, thanks to a real initiatory journey. A playful and interactive circuit in a timeless and olfactory atmosphere like no other, the Parcours Découvertes takes the visitor through the centuries to remind him of the gestures and traditions related to mustard and its history.
The ancient tools and materials are staged and enhanced by a harmonious play of lights and sounds, thus plunging the visitor into the surprising world of mustard to reveal a large part of the secrets of manufacture. All senses awakened, everyone can learn new and exciting pleasures ranging from making to tasting mustards, and even test their knowledge!
Proud of the success of its museum space, the Moutarderie Fallot decided to open its current production site to the public!
Thanks to a revolutionary staging and the use of visual, sound and sensory means very sophisticated, you will finally discover live all the stages of the transformation of the mustard seed: from the storage silo to the packaging of the final product.
If the Moutarderie Fallot knew how to preserve the traditional and ancestral method of manufacture, the grinding of the seeds with the stone millstone, it is today proud to invite you to discover new experiences and sensations unpublished thanks to this new course worthy of 21st century!
You could notice that the home production is exported in about 70 countries all around the world, but concentrated from only a single site, located in Beaune. For an export amount figure of more than 50% including many partnerships with chefs like Loiseau, Galeries Lafayette and Air France, to only count them.
A work mostly done with the stone wheel, an ancient technique that allows to produce with optimal quality results. A visit that begins in one of the cellars of the foundations, dating from the late nineteenth century, starring some digital contents explaining the mustard flowers’ life cycle.
Indeed, the mustard ingredients came originally from Burgundy but many factories import them from all over the world, for financial considerations. Although, a certain tradition is perpetuated for the current mustard in the Moutarderie Fallot, that wishes to maintain the authentic IGP label. To this end, the manufacturer must follow three criteria; keeping the location of manufacturing in Burgundy, supplying mustard seeds from Burgundy and white aligoté wine also from Burgundy, in the case of flavored products.
There are 40 varieties of mustard seed, but the production of the edible mustard, you usually put on your cuisine, is only made of brown seeds.
Of course, you would learn more about it, while visiting this museum that reunites around 50,000 visitors a year and proposes a specific experience on the principle of an intimate journey through the premises of the factory.
Indeed, you would admire the skilled mustard craftsmen busy at the production part, with two large stone wheels, weighing about 900kg, both bathed in water and also two smaller ones…
A last stop at the mustard store, where you would have maybe the chance to taste 3 bases of mustards and 30 flavored, at the mustard bar or buy it straight from the automatic dispenser.
Individual visits take place at fixed times and per group of up to 25 people.
Group visits are possible every day on booking.
Price of the visits:
Individuals: 10 € per person
8 € (for children from 10 to 18 years old)
Free for children under 10 years old
Groups: package 240 € (up to 60 people)
HOURS
Consult our opening hours:
Schedules individual visits | Group visits
LOCATION OF VISITS
31 rue du Faubourg Bretonnière in Beaune
INFORMATION / RESERVATIONS
The Mustarderie Fallot
Such. 03 80 22 10 10
Email: accueil@fallot.com
