Passedat: Des Abysses à la Lumière

This is a newly revised edition of Passedat’s seminal 2013 work celebrating the food of his Michelin 3-star restaurant, Le Petit Nice in Marseille, founded by his grandfather.

Beautifully photographed, with many of the dishes displayed in full-page presentation shots, the book contains twenty new recipes. It extends the chef’s interest in transforming the typically rustic, rough-and-tumble food for which Marseille–a bustling seaport–is known into more refined and adventurous fare.

Passedat’s restless creativity makes him bold. Just as he recounts making his way into Studio 54 as a young man by brashly claiming to be a friend of Lou Reed—who bemusedly backed him up—Passedat left the family restaurant behind to cook with the likes of Michel Guerard and Jean and Pierre Troisgros before coming home to Marseille and implementing a personal vision which has continued to be influenced by the work of chefs worldwide. 

The dishes in Des Abysses A Lumiere are often complex and intricate in their plating, arranged to look like a stained glass window or a rose, artfully composed to emphasize the refinement they are meant to represent.

Colorful and dramatic.