The story
La Mercerie is a bistro at 9 Cours Saint-Louis in Marseille, where English chef Harry Cummins cooks modern cuisine built on fresh product. Le Fooding named it Best sophisticated bistro in 2019, and Michelin lists it as Recommended for 2026.
Cummins trained in London, then moved to Paris in 2011 to work under Gregory Marchand at Frenchie. With Laura Vidal and Julia Mitton he ran the nomadic Paris Popup, and the techniques he picked up on those travels shape the cooking here. La Mercerie is the trio's first permanent restaurant.
Dinner is the "Feed Me" menu, five surprise courses at 68 euros that change with what is available. Lunch is simpler, with a single plate at 28 euros or three courses at 39. Le Fooding once described a menu with dry-aged bluefin tuna sashimi, barbecued leg of lamb with Banyuls-deglazed shallot, and a fig leaf ice cream.
The restaurant occupies an old haberdashery on the edge of Noailles, with granito tile floors, bare walls and a chestnut wood bar. You can sit at the counter facing the chefs, in the dining room with a view of the open kitchen, or on the terrace along Cours Saint-Louis. Vidal selects the wines, with a "Wine Me" pairing of half glasses for 45 euros, and the list includes low-alcohol and alcohol-free options.
Recognition
Ambience
Details
History
Best known for having livened up the Hôtel Nord-Pinus in Arles during the summer months, the trio behind Paris Popup (Julia Mitton, Laura Vidal and Harry Cummins) cast their anchor in Marseille back in 2018. In this old haberdashery in the working-class Noailles neighborhood (granito tile floors, stripped-bare walls, a chestnut wood bar), the British chef (ex- Frenchie in Paris) audaciously stitches together some sensational menus. The night we went, the chef’s menu included: tasty cherry tomatoes from Bandol, tucked into homemade ricotta and intensified by wild arugula; spellbinding monkfish liver cubes tickled by kombu confit, mirin and sesame oil; graceful dry-aged bluefin tuna sashimi, glazed with a grilled tuna head oil, and seasoned with shiso, fermented melon and Andaliman pepper; rich coco de Paimpol beans in a spicy sauce thickened by crab roe, Thai basil and tourteau crabmeat; an incredible deboned, barbecued leg of lamb with garlicky haricots verts, taggiasche olives and a big braised shallot deglazed in Banyuls vinegar; before sliced peach with a pear jelly and a creamy fig leaf ice cream, for the very light dessert. // A.S.
Best known for having livened up the Hôtel Nord-Pinus in Arles during the summer months, the trio behind Paris Popup (Julia Mitton, Laura Vidal and Harry Cummins) cast their anchor in Marseille back in 2018. In this old haberdashery in the working-class Noailles neighborhood (granito tile floors, stripped-bare walls, a chestnut wood bar), the British chef (ex- Frenchie in Paris) audaciously stitches together some sensational menus. The night we went, the chef’s menu included: tasty cherry tomatoes from Bandol, tucked into homemade ricotta and intensified by wild arugula; spellbinding monkfish liver cubes tickled by kombu confit, mirin and sesame oil; graceful dry-aged bluefin tuna sashimi, glazed with a grilled tuna head oil, and seasoned with shiso, fermented melon and Andaliman pepper; rich coco de Paimpol beans in a spicy sauce thickened by crab roe, Thai basil and tourteau crabmeat; an incredible deboned, barbecued leg of lamb with garlicky haricots verts, taggiasche olives and a big braised shallot deglazed in Banyuls vinegar; before sliced peach with a pear jelly and a creamy fig leaf ice cream, for the very light dessert. // A.S.
Location
Facebook
Instagram