From the Table: Marseille
A Lebanese ice cream shop, a match at the Vélodrome, and a pichet of oxidized rosé
This was my second time visiting Marseille. The first time I did some of the greatest hits: had a bouillabaisse at an iconic restaurant, stayed by the sea, walked the Vieux Port, ate at a Michelin restaurant. This time was going to be different. I wanted to go a little deeper than the “must do list”.
One thing I love about Marseille is that it is the gateway to so many different places. By train it is quick to access some of my favorite cities like Avignon and Aix en Provence. Flights to Corsica and Africa are common and not lengthy. Naturally, with its proximity to all these regions, Marseille has a diverse culture. I arrived after spending the night in the seaside village of Cassis. My hotel was inland. About a 15 minute walk from the Vieux Port and near the train station. After a heavy seafood lunch in Cassis I needed a cafe. I’m not sure what the deal is with my espresso obsession in Europe but I find myself downing 4-5 a day easily. Back home I have one in the morning via cappuccino and one shot in the afternoon. I found a Tunisian cafe, ordered a cafe, a couple familiar Arabic pastries and settled in. This is exactly what I was looking for. This North African/Arabic pulse that has a permanent stage in Marseille.
I wandered around the Vieux Port a bit and grabbed a shirt and hat for the Marseille vs. Lyon Ligue 1 football match later that evening. After seeing so many matches on TV, I was excited to visit the Orange Velodrome to watch this match. It was at 9pm on a Sunday night. Wild right? Do people work the next day? I had a train to catch at 6am. Anyways, I was down to experience it all for the night.
I walked back to my hotel room. Grabbed a corkscrew from the desk and had a glass of Clos Sainte Magdeleine Cassis blanc that I brought over from my jaunt in Cassis. Sitting on the tiny terrace and enjoying the view with the seabirds flying over me. I had dinner reservations at 7 at a well known pizza place. Yes, pizza! Marseille is well known for their pizza. Having immigrants from Napoli, the pizza scene has taken over in Marseille. I’ve been told it puts out more pizza than Napoli itself. I really didn’t need to pound this bottle of Cassis blanc before dinner so I decided to get back on foot and watch the sunset.
I walked about 45 minutes towards the Notre-Dame Basilica. Took a quick ride up to the top and took in the view. This is an unedited iPhone shot. Pretty insane. There were quite a bit of people there doing the same thing. I wish I had my big boy camera but this will do.
I walked down and made my way towards the restaurant. I walked in around 6:45. The place was empty although their hours said they were open online at 6. The guy told me and another old French dude to come back in 20 minutes. I decided to come back a little later than that, not wanting to be the only one in the restaurant. I would take an uber to the Vélodrome so I could be a little late.
Pizzeria La Bonne Mère
Pizzeria La Bonne Mère had all the touches of a French pizza place. Including, telling me to come back in 20 minutes. I ended up being the 4th table in the restaurant which was OK by me since I was headed to a match shortly after. The beverage menu had a mix of Italian and French items from beer to wine to spritz. I prefer beer with my pizza so I had a glass of Birra Moretti. You can get classic Neapolitan pizzas here which are very common in Marseille but I wanted something more distinctly Marseille: tomato sauce, black olives and some high quality anchovies. It came out piping hot. It was surprisingly cut into large slices which I didn’t find when I was in Napoli. There was a basil leaf and a smattering of oregano and olive oil. I love anything salty with tomatoes. Washing it down with an ice cold beer, I was ready for the match.
My uber driver dropped me off about a block away from the stadium. There were parties with food stalls and beer carts all around. I planned on walking right into the stadium but opted for a beer and took in the full experience. This is not your typical American football stadium. Once I got to the entrance I was told to go to the other side of the stadium to walk in. It was a 15 minute walk. Pain in the ass. I was so confused as to why I had to do that but I realized once I entered the stadium that it was not connected. The stadium was split into 2 so if I wanted to see a friend on the other end, I couldn’t. Regardless, I made it early enough to watch the team come out and all the player announcements. There was so much energy. I can’t imagine what it would be like to root for the other team. After an intense back and forth, Marseille ended up winning the match. Probably one of the more interesting observations is the lack of replays on the TV. I was told since it was such a high stakes match they don’t show the replays to keep the crowd under control. Notice the amount of orange security guards protecting the pitch. The match was worth it to lose a little sleep.
Off to bed and headed to Montpellier for the next day to meet with some wine producers in the nearby villages. If you’re interested about my producer visits I write about them at culinairegourmet.com. Unfortunately, I am behind. I’ll get caught up one of these days.
I returned from my producer visits and was eager to get out walking around before dinner. I strolled through Cours Julien Graffiti District in the 6th. It had a creative vibe with interesting restaurants and of course plenty of impressive graffiti.
Prosper
Right near Cours Julien, was this cleaned up old Marseille bar that is serving mediterranean dishes. The proprietors, French and British, worked together in Paris. The wine list was impressive with several of my favorites from all over France. The food menu was what I am loving lately about some of these new wave restaurants. 5 small plates and 4 large plates to choose from. 3 dessert options. Keep it simple, keep it tight, and make sure everything is done right. I enjoyed a bottle of Anjou Blanc from Thibaud Boudignon. A ripping acidic Chenin blanc that I know can handle various dishes. I went with the mussel beignets which were basically fried mussel meatballs. With the texture and spices it was hard to register these as mussels. Next was the duck ragu made with fresh pappardelle pasta. Insane with spicy breadcrumbs and mustard seeds on top of the pasta. I finished with caramelized apples, Breton cookies, and crème. It would have been fun to have a group of 4 of us and all share as what I notice a lot of the other guests were doing.
My last day in Marseille started with a tour of Fer à Cheval, the well known Marseille soap producer. If you’ve never worked with Savon de Marseille soap, it’s life changing in my house and can clean a host of things. It was a 45 minute tour and I was able to grab several things that I normally pay for a premium here in the US. I did walk through the historic Saint-Vincent-de-Paul church, found some espresso at a nearby cafe, and roamed around nearby boutiques working up an appetite for lunch.
Coquille
My main reason for visiting Coquille was to try their stuffed wood fired mussels. It is just off the beaten path from the Vieux Port. The mussels did live up to their hype. Think stuffed escargots but take that stuffing and do it to mussels instead and fire it in a wood oven. I could have eaten a whole basket of bread to mop up every speck of that sauce.
I ordered a pichet of their house rosé from Provence which was unfortunately oxidized. Knowing French service, I got up off my chair and went inside asking for it to be replaced. Once they smelled it they knew it was bad. The barman or sommelier, not sure who he was, brought me out a new bottle and poured it inside. He explained to me in French why it was bad, basically because they don’t sell a lot of rosé in March. Not sure I believe an esteemed restaurant like this in Provence does not sell that much Provencal rosé in March but nonetheless I was happy it was rapidly replaced. He was super nice about it as was the rest of the team throughout my service.
As I was waiting on my next course sitting on the terrace I looked out at the two buildings across the courtyard thinking I really need to repaint my shutters. which color? left or right? My main course was a skate wing Grenoble style. This had to be one of the best fish dishes I have ever had in France. The sauce was made of parsley, capers, croutons, and of course butter. The right sauce for a delicate fish like this. Another place I’d like to visit with a group and share one of their seafood towers.
After lunch I needed another cafe knowing I had a 4 hour train ride ahead of me to Paris to catch my flight the next morning. I stopped into a Lebanese ice cream shop. The team working the bar were Lebanese and they knew I was as well. We spoke for a while about Lebanon and the future of that beautiful country. I grabbed a strong Arabic coffee and their recommended thyme and honey ice cream topped with crushed pistachios. Savory and slightly sweet. Something about our heritage seems to bring Lebanese people together from all walks of life. We all have a soft spot for each other. I chatted some more with the “Lebs” as we call each other, and they asked me to come back and chat more later. Hopefully soon.
Stay tuned, my next newsletter drops at the beginning of the month.