Already accustomed to deploying its unusual dinners on the sea wall for 5 years, Provence tourisme responded this time to a call for expressions of interest (AMI) from the State around gastronomy and the Olympic Games. “We set up a project in several parts, two of which were selected. The only ones in the South region“, presents Isabelle Brémond, director of Provence tourism. Firstly: the flame lunches which take place from May 10 to 12 on the sea wall with three duos of Marseille and foreign chefs from the Mediterranean.
The launch was carried out this Friday noon by chefs Laëtitia Visse (The Butcher’s Wife) and Maurizio Pinto from Genoa. Saturday it will be the turn of Sarah Chougnet (Regain) and Issam Rachi from Marrakech to cook outdoors, finally, on Sunday Mathieu Roche (Ourea) and Aylin Yacizioglu from Istanbul (first Turkish starred woman) will work together for this four hands. “We wanted there to be women in the programming“, insists the director.
The second winning operation of the national program to promote selected French haute cuisine will take place during the Olympic Games, with 13 gourmet events on the sea wall from July 28 to August 8. For these two components, Provence tourisme obtained a subsidy of 100,000 euros from the State.
600 guests in three days
“These flame lunches represent Marseille, a city where people and cultures mix, and that’s what makes it beautiful..” For this first menu, Laetitia Visse and Maurizio Pinto worked together but remotely in order to imagine dishes with Italian flavors. “We are often asked why we agree to participate in this type of event and there are several reasons. The view from the dike! Then we are chained to our stoves, -and we like that- but then we leave our comfort zone.” With his partner, they will make two meals, or 300 seats. “To give you an idea, that’s 40 kilos of chocolate mousse, and I’m not talking about the time spent making homemade mortadella“, she said before heading back to her improvised, sunny kitchen facing the sea.
Issam Rachi also said he was delighted to “leave your kitchen for a temporary restaurant” and of “find Marseille” where he has been coming regularly for 8 years for gastronomic events with chefs like Lionel Levy (Gourméditerranée), Ippei Uemura (Le Tabi) or even Emmanuel Perrodin (itinerant chef and artistic director of unusual dinners). The one who was crowned “great of tomorrow” by Gault et Millau worked by WhatsApp with Sarah Chougnet. “We will prepare each dish together, which might not be obvious but we have a lot in common. Our cuisine is Mediterranean, we use the same products“, explains the chef who still came with Moroccan spices, candied lemons, argan oil… to give a North African note to Saturday’s menu.
There are a few places left for Saturday’s lunch. Reservations at https://mpgastronomie.fr. 80 euros per person.
