Some restaurateurs think prices are getting out of hand. Their reasonably-priced solutions are proving big hits.
The Petit-Nice Passédat is 100 years old this year and it seemed natural to celebrate the event with a €100 menu. This Anse de Maldormé menu, cheap at the price, is a gesture towards the strong current trend of resisting the price inflation that is emptying many a restaurant. Michelin has gone the same way with its Bib Gourmand award for excellent restaurants where a meal costs no more than €32 in the provinces and €36 in Paris. How do they manage it? «We have no freezer, we cook fresh from the market every day,» says Malcolm Gardner at Le Schilling, where the chalkboard always reflects the day’s catch. Romain Moullet, the 40-year-old chef who opened L’Arôme five years ago, says «Ours is an unpretentious place where we cook. To keep prices that low, you have to really know how to cook.» The restaurant is only open in the evening: «We couldn’t maintain the quality if we worked more,» he says. Lacaille, in the next street, features a single set menu at €30 and is turning more people away every week. «We’ve positioned ourselves to match the neighbourhood and its customer base,» explains Antonia, «80% of our customers are regulars». She says they have opted to «cook simple fare, with a lot of work upstream, in the kitchen.» The kitchen crew consists of Alexis, the chef, and his younger brother Alan; Alexis’ wife Antonia serves. Chef Mickaël Féval in Aix has a similar approach: his eponymous restaurant has resisted the price rise that usually goes with a Michelin star. «I wanted it to still be accessible to ordinary people», says Féval, who has placed all his bets on the €35 set lunch menu. «A set menu is ideal for keeping things focused,» he says, «I buy a flagship ingredient at the best possible price and use it for the starter or the main. So I change my menu by small touches as the weeks go by; that way I can always get the best prices.» And all these restaurants are constantly full!
Petit-Nice Passédat, 17 rue des Braves, Marseille 7e. T. 04 91 59 25 92
L’Arôme, 9 rue des Trois Rois, Marseille 6e. T. 04 91 42 88 80
Lacaille, 42 rue des Trois Mages, Marseille 6e. T. 09 86 33 20 33
Restaurant Mickaël Féval, 11 petite rue Saint-Jean, Aix-en-Provence. T. 04 42 93 29 60.
Le Schilling, 37 rue Caisserie, Marseille 2e. Tél. 04 91 01 81 39
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