i need a french coach . if you ve been to france, chances are you haven t been here. france s second largest city, the oldest city in france. it sits right by the mediterranean. the food is famously good. yet, it s a victim of bad reputation, bad history. marseille. as it turns out, exactly the kind of place i like. but, this is a buddy picture, isn t it? eric ripert is the chef of the three-star la bernardin in new york, a chevalier of france; i think that means he s some kind of knight or something, and my friend. this causes him some problems. he, i like to remind him, has a reputation to protect. i do not. welcome to marseille. yeah. you ve never been here? never. how is this even possible? you grew up how far from here? like, uh, fifty miles. a hundred miles. fif- a hun- you grew up a hundred miles from here? what prevented you from coming to this clearly beautiful city? because it s clearly beautiful. it s a fantastic city. i mean, it s beautiful. i agre
if i wanted to open a giant modern hotel across there, is impossible, right? actually, it was just a couple of years ago, it was kind of scaled up on the protection level, so nothing is going to happen now, yeah. and most of these properties are owned by the same family for many years? right. but we lived in marseille. then we came here for weekends. that s nice. lunch is being prepared by andre guidicelli, known around here as day-day. panisse, crispy fried fritters of chickpea, which go really well with nathalie s aioli. and one of my favorites, murex, mediterranean sea snails simmered in a court bouillon of garlic, wild fennel, and orange peel. that s the taste of this region for me. it s garlic. yep. olive oil, yep.
then small shacks or cabanon, the working-class families from the city used as weekend getaways. no running water or indoor plumbing. simple. a place to get together. have a long winey lunch. hello. bonjour. you can t build new ones and the ones that are here like this one owned by dominique and nathalie lefrere have been in the same family since the 40s, and they ain t going anywhere. is this area protected, meaning if i wanted to open a giant modern hotel across there, is impossible, right? dominique: actually, it was just a couple of years ago, it was kind of scaled up on the protection level so nothing is going to happen now. anthony: and most of these properties are owned by the same family for many years. nathalie: my family has been coming here since 1949. anthony: right. nathalie: but we lived in marseille then we came here for weekends. anthony: that s nice.
the working-class families from the city used as weekend getaways. no running water or indoor plumbing. simple. a place to get together. have a long winey lunch. hello. bonjour. you can t build new ones and the ones that are here like this one owned by dominique and nathalie lefrere have been in the same family since the 40s, and they ain t going anywhere. is this area protected, meaning if i wanted to open a giant modern hotel across there, is impossible, right? dominique: actually, it was just a couple of years ago, it was kind of scaled up on the protection level so nothing is going to happen now. anthony: and most of these properties are owned by the same family for many years. nathalie: my family has been coming here since 1949. anthony: right. nathalie: but we lived in marseille then we came here for weekends. anthony: that s nice. lunch is being prepared by
jacques: no. i m french, i m french. france is my country, but marseille comes first. i think your region would come first? dominique: you re loyal to new york before america. anthony: that s true. so what about the people? what do all true, true marseillais have in common? jacques: we re big liars. eric: ah. anthony: a big liar. eric: they have the reputation of exaggerating. so if you eat sardines like that. you re like, at lunch we had sardines like this. anthony: daube de pouple, octopus stew. slow cooked in wine and typical elements of provencal cooking like star anise, dried orange peel, garlic, and tomato. spoon over pasta and enjoy. oh yes. i can smell that octo-stock. it s fantastic. [ nathalie speaking french ] anthony: so, when are you retiring? at what age? eric: soon as possible,