A Michelin-Starred promenade in Marseille, France

La Villa Madie is a three-Michelin-starred restaurant nestled in Corton Cove opposite Cap Canaille. It is a beautiful contemporary building with breathtaking views of the Mediterranean Sea. The interiors of this fine establishment are a combination of light wood works and neutral pastel tones which come together to create a relaxed atmosphere. The highlight of La Villa Madie is its splendid terrace above the blue waves of the Mediterranean, which is an ideal place for lunches and post-summer dinners.

The kitchen is run under the leadership of Chef Dimitri Droisneau, who creates menus that follow the seasons and highlight the wonderful surroundings with local ingredients. Chef Droisneau and his team feature three different tasting menus where you can relish delicacies such as grilled royal lobster with a saffron broth, rabbit with Palamos prawn in a cream sauce, veal sweetbreads with celery root, black truffles and lemon zest and grilled calamari and red mullet in a vinaigrette sauce. They also offer an impressive wine list with over 550 vintages that have been put together by their wine sommelier, Lionel Legoinha.

Anse Du Corton Menu – €180
Cap Canaille Menu – €280
Les Agapes de Soubeyrannes Menu – €350

Le Petit Nice is the brainchild of Chef Gerald Passedat and is housed in two historical villas that date back to the 18th century. The restaurant’s menu reflects the Mediterranean terrain that it resides in. Fruits, vegetables, cereals, spices, and fish which are all locally produced or acquired are beautifully highlighted in the creative dishes of Le Petit Nice. For instance, there are over 65 types of fish used in the kitchen from sea bream, pike perch, and dentex to comber, whiting, and john dory.

Under the helm of Chef Passedat, the kitchen reads like an ode to Provence’s maritime culture, exploring the ocean at various depths. Le Petit Nice features 5 different tasting menus – Maldorme, My Bouillabaisse, Calanques, Passedat, and Sea Discovery. Some of the exquisite dishes that you can enjoy at this three Michelin-starred restaurant are sea shell carpaccio with oyster fritters, lobster and fish in a saffron broth, crab with fennel in vegetable juice, and matured fish in Cretan eggplant broth.

Besides the tasting menu, they also have classic dishes such as catch of the day stuffed with seasonal vegetables like sea bass on a tomato, fennel, and truffle base. For truly amazing Mediterranean fare, visit Le Petit Nice when you are vacationing in Marseille.

Maldorme Menu – €230
My Bouillabaisse – €390
Calanques Menu – €330
Passedat Menu – €370
Sea Discovery Menu – €490

AM restaurant is the flagship establishment of Chef Alexandre Mazzia and is located away from the main tourist destination in a residential side street of Marseille near Stade Velodrome. Chef Mazzia grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo and hence his food is reflective of his African influences.

The dining room has a simple atmosphere with textured concrete walls, beautiful blond oak tables, and charcoal grey and cream fixtures. AM serves 22 covers plus two in-demand bar seats at a counter that overlooks the open black-walled kitchen. The menu focuses on vegetables, fish, and seafood ingredients which have been roasted and smoked with spices and are full of flavor. AM does not have an a la carte menu but a lunch and dinner tasting menu which keeps changing every week according to the gastronomic genius of Chef Mazzia and his team.

Some of the unique dishes you can enjoy here are smoked eel with chocolate (chef’s signature dish), scampi covered in manioca with egg yolk confit, satay of burnt mackerel with a sorbet of wasabi, trout roe and wild salmon with smoked milk and breaded langoustine with sesame seeds and bonito. For a flood of complex flavors, perfect service, and a unique adventure of taste, visit AM restaurant in Marseille.

Invitation to Travel (lunch) – €195
Lunch First Trip Menu – €275
Lunch Great Journey Menu – €395
Dinner First Trip Menu – €335
Diner Great Journey Menu – €425

If you want to taste everything that Marseille has to offer, then the Signature restaurant by Chef Coline Faulquier is the place to visit. Chef Coline has worked under many great chefs such as Oliver Nasti, Jean Louis Nomincos, and Christophe Bacque, and gained a lot of culinary experience. She became famous among the general public when she was featured on the TV show Top Chef.

Signature restaurant under her guidance won the coveted Michelin star within two years of its opening in 2019. The restaurant is designed like an eloquent chic bistro with blue, grey, and white color tones. The menu is made up of organic local produce and fresh fish from the Mediterranean Sea.

The fine dining establishment features four tasting menus and also half portions of its dishes so that guests can enjoy a wide variety of cuisines on the menu. In each of them, you can add her signature dish – the aioli, which comprises a mosaic of crunchy vegetables, monkfish, and hake with aioli (as a sauce or iced). Some of the dishes that you can sample on the menu are prawns with green leaves and horseradish in a citrus emulsion, rock octopus with parsley gel in vegetable broth, and wild smoked venison shoulder in pink berry juice.

Discovery Menu – €49
Small Signature – €88
Medium Signature – €125
Big Signature – €149

Saisons is a fine dining establishment located in the heart of Marseille, a stone’s throw away from the Place Castellane. It is a Michelin-starred restaurant run by a team of two professionals – Chef Julien Diaz, who has extensive culinary experience from London and Corsica, and Guillaume Bonneaud, who is a famous French sommelier. The restaurant is a small space that seats only 30 guests.

The interiors of the restaurant are made up of wood, iron, and untreated materials like bricks to create a welcoming and calm atmosphere. The refined and simple decor goes well with the instinctive cuisine of the chef that is made up of seasonal local ingredients. The restaurant offers 4 tasting menus – Initiation, Imagination, Nature, and Season.

The scrumptious dishes you can enjoy at Saisons are veal carpaccio with pomegranate molasses, calamari with wild boar confit and mushrooms, puffed quinoa confit with cumin carrot cream, foie gras with a coffee reduction, and cuttlefish cooked in squid ink and saffron. In desserts, you can enjoy dishes such as banana bread with ice cream and peach with candied fennel and carrot mousse. To have a wonderful gastronomic experience with impeccable food-wine pairings in Marseille, do visit Saisons.

Initiation Menu – €40
Natural Menu – €85
Imagination Menu – €75
Season Menu – €110

Marseille, with its rich and flavorful history, is where grit and grandeur coexist seamlessly. The multicultural port city is full of spectacular rocky fjords, rose wine, bouillabaisse, historic churches, and 12th-century forts. Some of the excellent reasons to visit this beautiful city are scuba diving, cutting-edge rap and hip-hop music, excellent Mediterranean food, and a glamorous coastline.

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