Two years ago I had one of my most memorable meals in Dakar. It was a Goût de France dinner at Terrou-bi’s Le Gastronomique. Buy me a coffee sometime and ask me about it. I remember so many details (those scallops!) and I can’t stop talking about it once I start.

On March 21st, the date for this year’s Goût de France, chefs around the world will pay tribute to the savoir-faire of French cuisine, its capacity for innovation and federation around common values: sharing and enjoying while caring for the planet and our health.

More than 2000 restaurants in 150 countries will participate to celebrate French gastronomy. In the 21st century, French cuisine does not want to impose itself on the world culinary scene. The participating chefs do not renounce their own culinary traditions, but instead they marry them with French cuisine for these special dinner menus.

In Senegal, six restaurants in three different cities will participate, combining French culinary know-how and Senegalese products. In Dakar The Avenue at Radisson Blu and The Terranga Lounge at Pullman Dakar; in Saint-Louis, Hotel La Résidence; and in Saly the Casino Terrou-Saly, La Guinguette and Habana Café. See their menus below… And make reservations!

Goût de France is orchestrated by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development and the celebrated chef Alain Ducasse, inspired by Auguste Escoffier, who initiated the “Dinners of Epicure” in 1912. This international event, which will host its third edition in 2017, also celebrates the listing of “the gastronomic meal of the French” as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.