Le Petit Nice Passedat - Hôtel 5 étoiles Relais & Châteaux

"Opened in 1917, Le Petit Nice Passedat is a star-studded destination—five for the hotel, and three Michelin stars for the restaurant. Perched on the edge of the Mediterranean, the hotel has 17 rooms, suites, and villas with elegant, understated interiors that emphasize the overstated sea views. The new wellness area is outfitted with a hammam, sauna, and Japanese bath. Chef Gérald Passedat has led Le Petit Nice’s famed restaurant since 1985. His approach focuses on Marseille’s maritime heritage, with a menu featuring over 65 varieties of local catches throughout the year, respecting the guidelines for protecting resources. The most iconic dish is Chef Passedat’s Bouille-Abaisse, an elevated take on the traditional Marseille fish stew." - Lindsey Tramuta, Mary Winston Nicklin

"Le Petit Nice (Nice) is recognized in the One Key selection." - The MICHELIN Guide

"Le Petit Nice is inextricably linked to its city, Marseille, and to Gérald Passedat's personality. "I dive into the Mediterranean, in every sense of the word," says the chef. "It carries me and inspires me, as well as all the lands that surround it." It would be an understatement to say that he has drawn inspiration from the Mediterranean terroir (fruit, vegetables, cereals, fish, spices etc) to forge his culinary identity. For example, over 65 types of fish are used in the kitchen, from sea bream, dentex and pike-perch to whiting, comber, and sometimes even moray eel. Gérald Passedat, heir to a family of artists and once a student of Alain Chapel, the Troisgros brothers and Michel Guérard, has lost none of the pleasure he takes in cooking and in surprising and thrilling diners. A taste of the Calanques..." - Michelin Inspector

"Chef Gérald Passedat’s family founded this hotel-restaurant on a craggy stone point sticking out into the Mediterranean in 1917, and since he took over in 1985, he’s made it into one of the world’s best seafood restaurants. The dining room with white tablecloths has sweeping views over the sea, and the menu changes according to what the fishing boats bring in every day. Passedat’s minimalist cooking style showcases fresh fish and shellfish in dishes like carpaccio of sea bream with caviar and bottarga, sea anemone beignets with seaweed sauce, and sea bass in an herb bouillon with chopped tomatoes." - Alexander Lobrano

Marseilles' only Michelin starred restaurant when this was filmed. Bourdain ate: bouillabaisse—Passedat’s take, spread out over four courses: 1. shellfish carpaccio of raw mussels and clams; 2. slipper lobster, weaver, angler, and red gurnard—lightly seared, then a touch in the oven; 3. dorade and other fish, steamed over seaweed water, saffron potatoes, and broth made with rock crabs and various small fish; 4. cheese assortment.