What is panisse? Well, it’s both Fanny’s lover in Pagnol’s Trilogie marseillaise (a little culture for our millenial readers), and also a French specialty made with fried chickpea flour, gobbled up between Nice and Marseille. Seated on bistro chairs at this patrimonial bistro, the food at Petit Panisse never disappoints – and it’s not all southern either! Just take the day we went for lunch and the very nice €21 prix-fixe menu: an excellent zucchini soup devoured down to the very last drop thanks to some outstanding homemade bread; juicy chicken surpême that evoked healthy grain-fed chickens running around big open spaces, served with pointy cabbage, apples, pancetta and a sweet and sour jus – our plate wiped clean again thanks to their delicious bread; before fromage blanc, honey from the Jura, citrus oil and toasted buckwheat for the very serious dessert! At night, it’s the same “back-from-the-market”-style cuisine, with dishes like line-caught mackerel, raw cream, herring roe and fennel, which you can enjoy like a regular. Because at this rate, they’re likely to be seeing you again soon. // J.-N.F.
FEELING THIRSTY? Almost entirely natural: a sunny Roussillon Carignan from Loïc Roure (€6.50 a glass), CBGB, an Auvergne Gamay from Vincent Marie (€42 a litron) or a Tarn white from Laurent Cazottes (€32 a bottle).
PRICE: Menus €17-21 (weekday lunch), à la carte €29-54 (dinner).
