La Mercerie – Introduction

We love Marseille! It is a gritty, rambunctious city with unpredictable traffic and unpredictable experiences, but if you stick close to the “edges” of the city near the port and the sea you will find plenty to enthrall you.

We love the work that has been done by an enterprising trio in setting up a range of eating experiences in the centre of the city. The trio involved are chef Harry Cummins, sommelier Laura Vidal and manager Julia Mitton (who is responsible for their Arles restaurant).

And we should add that we have, in the past, enjoyed thoroughly meals at their restaurant in Arles sitting outside in summer under the huge plane trees.

Every time we visit Marseille, lunch at La Mercerie is therefore a compulsory first stop for us. The food here is always first class and the wine selection satisfying. The food is fresh and vibrant, the wines are always interesting and the service is seamless. Whether you sit outside in the sunshine or inside you will find the atmosphere comforting. Marseille is becoming a must-visit location for food lovers.

La Mercerie – Food and Wine

On our most recent visit we loved perfectly-seasoned fettuccine with cèpes, lifted with a little cheese and black pepper – this was something of a masterpiece! It was one of those moments and a reminder why @merceriemarseille always draws us back to Marseille.

A few more photos too from a very beautiful Saturday lunch recently. As autumn well and truly settles in revisiting this Niçois inspired salad (very nice cuisson) is a reminder of the weeks of glorious weather and amazing tomatoes September in France gave us.
Also here a couple of photos of its cute new next door neighbour @petrincouchette – for all your daily bread and sandwich needs.

On other visits we had a delightful chawanmushi of corn and basil topped with very fresh crab meat. The beautiful bowl that it was served in enhanced its appearance but it was the flavour combination and the textural contrasts that were very special indeed. We also enjoyed very much a bowl of tomato water with floating pieces of tomatillo, peppers and cucumber. It was perfect for a warm Provencal summer’s day.

Main courses were succulent slices of roast pork served with corn and peppers and cavatelli with sage and potato. Both were excellent.

We were then delighted to be offered some of the mythical brousse de rove cheese for which there is only a handful of producers in southern Provence. It is a fresh goat cheese and one that we always look forward to eating when we are in this part of the world.

A wonderful dessert followed. It was an almond cake served with fresh nectarine and a nectarine sorbet. It looked good and it tasted fantastic.

We should also mention the wine list at La Mercerie. It is a selection of beautiful natural wines from throughout France and Italy including wines from stellar Chablis producers De Moor and Pico, the emerging Domaine Geschickt from Alsace, Le Casot des Mailloles from Banyuls and the rose wines of Jean-Christophe Comor from just along the coast in Bandol to name but a few.

You can check opening hours, read about the restaurant and book your table at their Web site here.

This restaurant is mentioned in our story entitled “Great Eating in France outside Paris“.