We are planning a September trip to France that will include Marseilles, Aix, Avignon, Arles and Dijon and are looking for recommendations. Curious about Tunisian, West African food in Marseilles, food stalls or markets and local good food in all the locations. We are pretty casual but very adventurous.
Thanks in advance!
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About Marseille, you might want to watch this video Mark Wiens made upon an itinerary that I planned for him. Marseille is the place he liked above all others during the food tour we did together (other stops were Burgundy, Lyon, and the Grands Buffets in Narbonne which personally left me underwhelmed).
My friend Ezéchiel Zérah, a native Marseillais food writer, is pictured in the video at the Café Caravelle, and if you read a little French, his book would be a pretty good base to explore the city.
All the places described in the video are worth going to, but I would say, on the topic of bouillabaisse, that the best taste is found at Chez Michel, while the atmospheric, scenic, etc., experience will be had at Le Grand Bar des Goudes (featured in another one of Mark’s videos).
Pizza entered France through Marseille. It is very special there, very thin and crispy, with a lavish, pungent garnish of tomato, anchovy, and cheese. Most of the time it is made in a “half-and-half” manner, half-cheese, half-tomato/anchovy. Chez Etienne is a place you should visit at least once in a lifetime.
Tunisian food is a big feature of Marseille dining, especially in the Noailles neighborhood, near the Vieux Port. It is as a rule a bit rough and ready, very cheap, and enjoyable, but you will find it a bit more delicate in cafés like Maison Journo (also near the Vieux Port), where pastries, fricassés, Tunisian sandwiches and the house-made citronnade are delicious. Otherwise, you may try your luck at Tunisian couscous just about everywhere, but bear in mind that the very popular Chez Yacine won’t serve it (“because there are so many places serving it already”). The Tunisian restaurants are nestled among a lovely chaos of shops, cafés, spice outlets and market stalls, and browsing through that neighborhood is already a great thing to do.
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Thank you very much for this!
I can enthusiastically recommend Bistro À Côté in Arles, one of two Jean-Luc Rabanel restaurants there. It’s a bib gourmand selection; his other place has a Michelin star.
I also recommend another bib gourmand spot, L’Agape n Avignon on the Place de Corps Saint, a small park on which L’Agape and other restaurants offer seating in good weather.
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