Art and the salt shaker! A few years after running the Palais de Tokyo café, chef Preston Miller (ex-Chardon in Arles and Arsène in Montreuil) is delighting the art gallery crowd in Aix-en-Provence at the most heatwave-proof pop-up of the summer! In the big courtyard of the gleaming Gallifet Contemporary Art Center, you’ll find the striking scarlet silhouette of a man swimming the breaststroke (by Senegalese sculptor Diadji Diop) and miraculous plates that parade out single file. For us, the day went for lunch, seated in the shade of the century-old chestnut trees: a lovely, crisp green bean salad with a few slices of ripe nectarine, shivering under a cucumber granita and a sprinkling of toasted hazelnuts; a hearty octopus and potato pastilla, surrounded by dried figs and fried grape leaves – or a voluptuous coco de Paimpol bean soup with a runny poached egg, smoked tomatoes and fried sage; before poached pear with rose water and tahini. At night, the Los Angeles chef paints a tasting menu in five brushstrokes… In short, a place where you can let the art wash over you! // Laura Dargent & Gwen Jacquère
FEELING THIRSTY? A naturalist southern selection, featuring some beautiful but pricey bottles (a Saint-Rémois rosé from the Milans at €40, an Aix white wine from the Château Revelette at €70), and less impressive wines served by the glass, including a red from the Château La Coste (€6).
PRICE: À la carte €30-44 (lunch), tasting menu €50 (dinner).
