Restaurants in Provence
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Cuisine du Dimanche
Spitfire chef Marie shops every morning at Les Halles to find the freshest ingredients for her earthy flavour-packed cooking, and takes no culinary short cuts. The market-driven menu changes daily, but specialities include scallops and a simple roast chicken with pan gravy. The narrow stone-walled dining room is a mishmash of textures, from contemporary resin chairs to antique crystal goblets, befitting the chef’s eclecticism. Make reservations.
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L'Echappée Belle
For flavours of cumin, saffron and ginger infusing regional produce; or for homemade pastry and tea, Avignon's new restaurant/salon de thé (tearoom) is a treat. Named after the Nicolas Bouvier novel of the same name (which translates as The Beautiful Escape), L'Echappée Belle is a chic yet relaxed spot amid Avignon's architectural and artistic highlights.
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Restaurant Brunel
Brunel is a local favourite for authentic Provençal dishes such as aïoli , especially at lunch, when there are outstanding deals on main courses (which always include a fish of the day) and desserts. The handful of outdoor tables is hotly contested in warm weather.
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Péron
Perched on the edge of the corniche, with magnificent views of the Château d’If, Péron is one of Marseille’s top tables. The seafood-heavy menu (think marinated tuna, scallops with lemon polenta) is phenomenal; book before dark to watch the sunset.
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L’Epice and Love
Tables are cheek by jowl at this tiny bohemian restaurant, decorated with antique kitchenware and mismatched chairs. There’s nothing fancy, just straightforward bistro fare, stews, roasts and other homestyle French dishes. No credit cards.
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Pizzaria Étienne
This old Marseillais haunt has the best pizza in town as well as succulent pavé de boeuf (beef steak) and scrumptious supions frits (pan-fried squid with garlic and parsley), but it's not just the food that packs the place out. Because Pizzaria Étienne is a convivial meeting point for the entire neighbourhood, you'll need to pop in beforehand to reserve in person (there's no phone), though you will get a free aperitif while you wait for a table. Credit cards aren't accepted.
From rue de la République, cut down passage de Lorette and walk up the staircase.
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Amphityron
Amphityron combines the talents of co-owners Patrice Lesné and Bruno Ungaro. Patrice masterfully oversees the sleek dining rooms of studded red banquettes and outdoor 15th-century cloister terrace; passionate chef Bruno visits the markets each morning for seasonal specialities, which might include 15 different types of tomatoes. The attached Comptoir de l'Amphi is an affordable alternative; and there's a piano where guests knock out a tune after a cognac or two.
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Café la Nuit
The Roman place du Forum, shaded by outstretched plane trees, turns into a giant dining table at lunch and dinner during summer. It's also where you'll find Café la Nuit, thought to be the café painted by Van Gogh in his Café Terrace at Night (1888). Painted bright yellow to re-create the effect used by Van Gogh to indicate bright night-time lights, it's invariably packed with tourists dining in front of its famous façade.
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Le Café Parisien
Le Café Parisien's sculpted plaster walls have been a theatrical backdrop for Marseillais diners for over a century. The brasserie's once-faded glamour has recently been restored to its former heyday splendour, serving elegant fare such as squid drizzled in olive oil and a richer-than-rich risotto. Post-repas, play boules on the café's indoor pitch downstairs, or have a pastis at the adjacent underground bar.
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Bastide du Cours
In the beating heart of Aix, this café right on cours Mirabeau has a delightful interior garden where you can get a culinary taste of Provence with dishes such as slow-roasted lamb shank with wild thyme and locally grown tomatoes. It also has four richly adorned chambre d'hôte rooms with a visual taste of Provence's striped, flowered and checked fabrics. Rates jump about 30% in July.
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Le Dock de Suez
Le Panier's western fringe flows into the commercial port area (metro Joliette, 8e), where dining spots at the London-docks-like complex, Les Docks, include the voluminous Le Dock de Suez. Business high flyers rub shoulders as chef Richard Tucita greases the wheeling and dealing with sophisticated dishes such as supions à la Provençale (squid with garlic and tomatoes) and braised ox cheek.
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L'Aixquis
You'll be tempted to whip out your camera to photograph elaborately presented plats such as truffle-infused St-Jacques scallops at this small peach-coloured restaurant, which has a way of giving even the most humble vegetables panache. The carte (no menus) changes seasonally, but the magical minute chocolat noir (a tray of petite desserts) is a year-round fixture.
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Ardamone
Avocado and salmon sushi, green chicken curry with fragrant rice, and tofu and carrots marinaded in ginger are among the world-influenced dishes at Marseille's only bio resto (organic restaurant). A couple of vegan dishes are included on the strictly organic menu which also features scrumptious desserts such as chocolate and split-almond brownies and blueberry crumble with raspberry coulis.
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Les 5 Sens
Chef Thierry Baucher, one of France’s meilleurs ouvriers (top chefs), reveals his southwestern origins in specialities including cassoulet and foie gras, but goes contemporary-Mediterranean in his gastronomic dishes, such as butternut-squash ravioli with escargots. The dining room is refreshingly unfussy, vaguely French Colonial with rattan and carved wood, and service impeccable.
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Aux Petits Singes
Little visitors will be delighted by this adorable 'children's restaurant' where they can sit at tiny tables, play with toys and games, and enjoy their own special menu of a drink, main dish and a 'surprise' (chocolate or similar). Grown-ups' choices range from charcuterie (cold meats) to tartes, salads and soup. Everything - including the cakes - is home-made.
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Le Poivre d’Ane
Poivre d’Ane isn’t afraid to break ranks with culinary norms: fancy a haddock milkshake, duck sushi, or thyme-and-cinnamon apple tart with Baileys whipped cream? The 10-table dining room’s decor is austere, save for splashes of bold colour, reflecting the chef’s playfulness. In summer outdoor tables are smack dab on one of Aix’s loveliest pedestrian squares. Reservations essential.
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Au Bord de l'Eau
Au Bord de l'Eau (‘At the water's edge') is the kind of place Marseillais cherish: easy on the frills, heavy on outdoor space, steady on the price and artistic on the plate. The menus (fixed-price menus) have the usual pizza, pasta and fresh fish. Catch bus 83 along the coast to av du Prado (by the statue of David), then take bus 19 further south along the coast.
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Jardin des Arts
Opening out to a leafy cloister courtyard adjoining the Espace Van Gogh, this fresh new establishment is popular with locals for light but luscious lunches, and is a hot spot on Saturday nights when it also swings its doors open for dinner. During July and August it doubles as an afternoon salon de thé from 14:00 to 19:00; and artisan ice creams tempt passers-by.
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Le Miramar
Dine on expensive seafood or bouillabaisse, beneath glowing burgundy wall-mounted lamps in the dining rooms, or on a burgundy velveteen settee at the white-clothed tables on the quai-side (quay-side) terrace. The chef runs cooking classes (€120) where he reveals his seafood secrets; see the tourist office for information and bookings.
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Le Bistro à Vin
Fronted by a scrubbed claret-coloured wooden façade and filled with timber tables, this rustic beamed-ceiling wine bistro has some top drops, accompanied by Provençal fare like tapenade, an assiette garrigue (a mix of warm goat cheese, dried ham, fresh figs and melon), and a mouthwatering selection of artisanal cheeses.
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La Fourchette
An enduring classical French bistro west of place de l'Horloge run by the same family for generations, La Fourchette offers a tempting choice of dishes on its fixed-price menu (prices are the same for lunch or dinner). Along with tender lamb, specialities include marinaded sardines, and a sinful meringue ice cream with praline.
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La Baie des Singes
Stunningly located on a cape 15km south of the centre. Select your seafood prior to its preparation, and afterwards collapse on a comfy deck chair overlooking Île Maïre. From Les Goudes follow the signs to the Cap Croisette car park then walk 500m along the narrow path through rocks. Ask when booking about getting here by boat.
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Le Moutardier
In the medieval days of the Avignon popes, the souffleur blew the fire to get it going, the rôtisseur roasted the meat on it and the moutardier made the mustard - hence the name of this traditional restaurant lazing in the shade of the Palais des Papes with sweeping views from its terrace.
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Au Tout Petit
The ‘Teeny Tiny’ packs big flavours into every imaginative dish, such as tuna carpaccio with vanilla, or apricot tarte Tatin with rosemary ice cream; simple, smart cooking, maximizing the use of spice. Wines by the glass cost a mere €2.50, and lunch is a steal. Only eight tables make reservations essential.
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