Le Coude à Coude

A discreet, not to say secret, address. In Aix-en-Provence, Le Coude à Coude has set up shop in the very heart of the city, but in Marseille, it's on the Chemin de Mazargues, not far from Le Corbusier, that Le Coude à Coude has set its sights. A parking lot, sheds, a sports club and an entrance framed by two olive trees. Beyond the gate, a beautiful terrace with fountain, "village square" style, and a warm atmosphere that puts a smile on your face. "We're a restaurant and wine bar, offering carefully prepared dishes, to share or not," smiles Patrice, who shows visitors around. Upstairs, there's a spirits and wine bar, a smoking room, and a furious desire to live here in this huge loft that blends the Peaky Blinders style with that of the industrial suburbs.




On the terrace, guitars are being played, the whole neighborhood is here, and everyone is savoring the moment. In the kitchen, chef Valentin Bezin (ex-Sépia) seems like an orchestra conductor. He's everywhere, keeping an eye on the pass, watching over the cooking and pacing the service like a pro. His savoir-faire is evident throughout the meal.




The menu is well thought-out and takes a small step aside to surprise the usual: whiting and cuttlefish accras, yellowtail crudo with melon and tagetes punzu sauce, roast marrow bone with sauce vierge, sautéed beans and razor clams. Sometimes it doesn't take much to seduce: sage butter in mussels au gratin with Parmesan, a few shiitakes for the perfect egg and potato cream. We like the idea of a tarama whipped with chilli and crunchy puffed buckwheat. The excellent grilled octopus, fleshy to perfection, crisps up as if seared a la plancha and bathed in a meat jus. Braised romaine lettuce with a cherry pickle twist energizes the plate. The tender Camargue bull tagliata plays the acidic card of a chimichurri sauce, with a twist of lemon and white peel jelly and a few mini yellow and red peppers. Irreproachable.




Corsican wines are one of Patrice's pride and joys, and he swells his chest at the mention of the rare Cuvée Granit (white) from the Vacceli estate (an intoxicating sciaccarellu, a sapid, acidic white wine with a hint of oak), or the unobtainable Chioso Nostro (also from Vacceli), which makes a wonderful aperitif (thanks to the vermentino). This winter, we'll be back for a figatellu, "but from Northern Corsica, which I find less fatty than that from the South", explains Patrick. The floating island will be perfect, with the cubic white floating in a thick custard like an addictive sauce, highlighted with caramel.



So, should you dine at Coude à Coude? Yes, of course, first and foremost for the cuisine, which respects the recipes but knows how to impose Valentin Bezin's style and personality. Yes, for the terrace, the cellar, the counters and the friendly atmosphere, far, far removed from the m'as-tu-vu spirit that prevails among some of the neighborhood's neighbors. Yes, simply because we never imagined such a beautiful transformation of the former Reggio oil mills... We liked it here and promised to come back, very soon.