Interview with Lionel Levy
Q: How did your culinary vocation come about? L.L.: Part of my childhood was spent living over a restaurant with the smell of cooking wafting up and kitchen sounds attracting me. I often called in to the restaurant which became a second home. I quickly realized that I wanted to be a chef. The owner, Alberte, was
Q: How did your culinary vocation come about?
L.L.: Part of my childhood was spent living over a restaurant with the smell of cooking wafting up and kitchen sounds attracting me. I often called in to the restaurant which became a second home.
I quickly realized that I wanted to be a chef. The owner, Alberte, was from Oran. While she had no formal training her cooking was absolutely delicious. The sounds, the spices and the atmosphere had a deep effect on me and I decided to study at the Ecole hôtelière in Toulouse.
Q: Where did you first learn your trade?
L.L.: My first job was with Gérard Garrigues, who now runs the Moulin restaurant in Caylus. He is more or less my mentor: it was he who sent me to Paris, where I worked with Yves Camdeborde, a leader in bistro cuisine. I then worked with Éric Fréchon, a three time starred chef with the Bristol. Then I learned that Alain Ducasse, with whom I had always dreamt of working, was coming to Paris. My dream became reality, as I was lucky enough to work with him at bothLa Grande Cascade and the Spoon.
Q: So how did you happen to come to Marseille, that has since become your adopted home?
L.L.: Knowing that I wanted to move on and be my own boss, my mentorGérard Garrigues put me in contact with Jean-°©‐Pierre Descous, who had then taken over La Samaritaine, a brasserie on the Vieux-°© Port. At the very same time Alain Ducasse offered me a wonderful opportunity abroad, which I resolved to refuse. “Go for it” he encouraged me and so thus I opened my own restaurant, Une Table, Au Sud, in November 1999 at the age of 27, knowing nothing of Marseille. I kept this restaurant for 13 years then decided to accept a new challenge.
Q: This was the InterContinental Marseille…
L.L.: When I learned of the initial project to convert the Hôtel-ˇ‐Dieu into a hotel, I decided that I was interested. I had a wonderful meeting with the management of the InterContinental Marseille, who were genuinely interested in the city and its evolution. I feel that I managed to communicate my enthusiasm to create an excellent venue where each one feels at home: 3 settings, each with its own personal atmosphere, where I could serve up Mediterranean gastronomy in a meaningful way, always remaining true to the spirit of the Marseille.
Q: You earned your first Michelin in the Alcyone mere months after the opening. This is a superb recompense for hard work, no? Tell us what is really specific of the food served here.
L.L.: The Alcyone offers original cuisine. It is a veritable cocoon, allowing my staff and myself to work as craftsmen on dishes such as the floating island with black truffles or a bouillabaisse comsommé.
Q: In 2014 you celebrated the 10th anniversary of one of your signature dishes, created in 2004, in your earlier restaurant, Une Table, au Sud, the milkshake de bouille-°©‐abaisse that now graces the menu in Les Fenêtres. What inspired your remake of this monument of local gastronomy?
L.L.: I wanted to create something lighter and more delicate in consistence, to serve as a starter. I began with a “bouillabaisse borgne“ (an earlier recipe without fish, with poached eggs, found in a cookery book by Jean-°©‐Baptiste Reboul, entitled «La cuisinière provençale» “the Provencal cook) This gave me the inspiration to add a sort of foamy egg cappuccino to the fish soup.
Q: Explain how your very modern approach to Mediterranean cuisine is relevant to present-°©‐day tastes.
L.L.: I prefer that one see my cuisine as authentic and geared towards pure enjoyment. It is with these two aims in mind that it is possible to offer truly gourmet moments. I distrust modernity, as it may be out of fashion tomorrow!
Q: What are your goals for 2015 for Les Fenêtres and the Alcyone? Is there anything special in the offing?
L.L.: Yes, we will be working hard for our second Michelin: I am in constant need of new challenges to spur me on and avoid getting into a rut.
