This is the end of a typically Marseille story whose pages have been written since 1976. At the time, the Bonnet family took over the restaurant l'Épuisette, nestled on the rocks of Vallon des Auffes (7th), its bay windows facing the Big Blue. Since 2000, chef Guillaume Sourrieu has been serving one of the best bouillabaisses in the city, to the point where he has been awarded a Michelin star for 22 years and 3 Gault-et-Millau toques in 2024. This shows the constancy of a brigade, its rigor and its attachment to a unique place.
“I will never be able to return to the place where I learned everything”
One last time, the team gathered in full force, this Tuesday, December 31, the day before the takeover of management by the starred chef of the Marseille restaurant Signature, Coline Faulquier, and The Social Club group, chosen by the Métropole to take over from the Landing Net. In the main room, emptied of furniture, the waiters go around in circles in a form of contemplation. Baptiste, who entered the kitchen at 22 for his apprenticeship, prefers to stay outside. “I cannot digest the injustice done to Chief Sourrieu, who has worked hard every day for twenty years. He allowed me to reintegrate by taking me on as a clerk, then in charge of the pantry and the vegetable garden. (in charge of the bouillabaisse, Editor’s note). I'm fine, I'm young and I have other plans for my career. But knowing that I can never return to the place where I learned everything, it hurts my heart“, he whispers.
