Les Rigoles

A miracle in Marseille! The Palais Longchamp fountain now appears to be spouting wine… And it’s all thanks to restaurateurs Antoine Levollant, Franck Laborde (ex-L’Épuisette, Les Grandes Tables, La Digue du Large) and Antoine Martini, who took over the former Il Capriolo with panache, splashing the facade with a fresh coat of terra cotta paint and then installing a new zigzagging bar inside. But their true stroke of genius was putting Johann Barichasse in the kitchen (Manon Fleury’s former sous-chef at Mermoz, who then did stints at Penny Lane and Mokoloco) for a flurry of small plates: crunchy radishes over a bed of whipped bottarga butter; a flavor-packed fricassé filled with bonito tartare and homemade harissa (his specialty!); voluptuous beef and lamb kefta titillated by garlic cream sauce and a few grilled Padrón peppers; magical poached apricot refreshed by a quenelle of orange blossom ice cream… all of which will have you licking your fingers clean on the terrace, which hosts jazz and bossa nova gigs a few times a month. // Folayemi Abimbola

FEELING THIRSTY? : A primarily natural wine-o-theque, which could benefit from being fleshed out a bit: a grenache from the Domaine La Providence (€5 a glass), a chenin produced by Catherine and Pierre Breton (€6), a sparkling wine from the Domaine Jo Landron (€7), or a vermentino and grenache blanc blend from the urban wine storehouse L’Abri (€33 a bottle)… Otherwise, there’s IPA from the local Soiffe brewery (€8 a pint) or artisan Zéma kombucha (€5).
PRICE: : Plates €5-15.