The best young chefs in Marseille are searching for their own middle ground, for somewhere in between the old and the new, low and high, Bergero and Passédat. For Guillaume Sourrieu at L'Épuisette, that means keeping a traditional bouillabaisse on the menu opposite his tagine of sole with braised baby artichokes and Middle Eastern spices. For Christian Ernst, it means dividing the menu at Le Charles Livon—in a converted pizzeria on the boulevard of the same name—between simpler, inexpensive "Bistrot" selections (such as a mussel gratin with garlic and parsley) and their pricier, more elaborate "Gastro" counterparts (like the mille-feuilles of cèpes and parmesan-coated artichokes with truffle sauce). For Florent Saugeron, formerly of Vong, in London, and now chef of the comparatively subdued Lemon Grass, it means creating a fusion cuisine that is more Mediterranean-Asian than French-Asian. And for Dominique Frérard, it means pairing his tuna tartare at Les Trois Forts with panisses and the warm associations those fried chickpea cakes evoke—for native diners at least—of lazy summer Sundays, when these snacks are purchased at kiosks in the fishing village of L'Estaque. Most plates are grounded with some component or flavor recognizable to the Marseillais palate.
At Une Table, au Sud, Lévy is rethinking Marseille's most familiar foods. He first shocked wary diners by turning the beloved tomate à la provençale on its head: He replaced the usual savory filling of vegetables, meats, and herbs with a sweet one of fruit and nuts and moved the dish into the dessert column. Subsequent savory-to-sweet reversals included a black olive clafoutis, a reconstructed artichoke (poached artichoke mousse and artichoke-leaf confit), and a fennel "tarte Tatin" with carrot caramel. "I had made caramelized fennel with fish," explains Lévy. "When I saw that the fennel resembled apple, I knew I had to do a Tatin." He soon flip-flopped the formula, devising dessert-inspired appetizers like his salmon tartare crumble, whose brittle crumb topping has ginger and garlic replacing much of the sugar. Even though Lévy didn't necessarily have to leave Paris to create these whimsicalities, his choice of materials—artichokes, fennel, tomatoes, black olives, garlic—essentially reveals a chef who is engrossed in a Mediterranean milieu and has no thought of looking back to the capital. The fundamental objective he shares with his Marseille colleagues is to interpret a distinct Old Port flavor, one that has been enriched by 26 centuries of importation, immigration, and transplantation.
It is this sea change, this return to a local and regional identity, that is at the heart of Marseille's emergence as a trendy travel destination. "We once wanted to be more like a second Paris than a city of the south," says Bernard Aubert, music director for La Fiesta des Suds, Marseille's annual festival of music, art, and food from, as its name implies, not just the south of France but many of the world's southern regions. "But people have always come to Marseille to experience what they can't find elsewhere: a mix of southern cultures."
WHERE TO EAT
L'Escale
4 Avenue
Alexandre Delabre
04-91-73-16-78
Tiboulen de Maïre
Calanque Blanche
Route des Goudes
04-91-25-26-30
Restaurant Passédat
Le Petit Nice
Anse de Maldormé
04-91-59-25-92
L'Épuisette
Rue du Vallon des Auffes
04-91-52-17-82
Le Charles Livon
89 Boulevard
Charles Livon
04-91-52-22-41
Lemon Grass
8 Rue Fort Notre Dame
04-91-33-97-65
Les Trois Forts
Sofitel Marseille
Vieux-Port
36 Boulevard
Charles Livon
04-91-15-59-56
Une Table, au Sud
2 Quai du Port
04-91-90-63-53
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