Scents of the market wafting on the breeze, time-worn stone, light flickering between plane tree leaves, birdsong and the murmur of fountains…
Marc de Passorio, chef of L’Esprit Culinaire in Chateaurenard and winner of the 2014 Gault & Millau Gold award, had scarcely left his kitchen at Vallon de Valrugues, Saint-Rémy, than he opened his new place, in May this year. L’Esprit de la Violette is in the centre of Aix old town, a stone’s throw from the Archbishop’s Palace, with kitchen herbs growing in the shade of sweet chestnut trees, guarded by a couple of squirrels. Passorio is an adept of «offbeat gastronomy, a sensuous, elegant, unfussy cuisine, always completely focused on the ingredient». «I’m a bargain-hunter,» he says, «I’ve revived the furniture, created a warmly elegant interior and reconstituted my cathedral of wines. I love strolling in my chef’s jacket from the flower market to the Prêcheurs flea market and bookstalls, stopping off at the fishmonger’s and the Richelme market for herbs. I drink in the sights, tastes and smells and swap recipes.» He creates his dishes from his culinary finds: Cavaillon melon, lamb from the Hautes-Alpes, Saint-Rémy snails, Ventoux truffles. He also takes inspiration from his grandmother’s simple, honest cooking. He wanted La Violette to appeal to Aix diners: a gastronomic restaurant with 30 or 40 covers, with prices starting at €39, close to the Pasteur car park. Simplicity is an art.
L’Esprit de la Violette 10 avenue de la Violette, Aix-en-Provence - Tél. 04 42 23 02 50
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