Tête d'ail

It teems everywhere. Full shopping bags jostle together, an argument breaks out among the greengrocers, the regulars play at the next-door café table and stomachs start to rumble. In the Noailles neighborhood, when hunger makes itself known you have to act fast. There are too many temptations: shop windows filled with bricks and msemens with peppers to freshly made panisses.  Located on rue d’Aubagne, Tête d’Ail charms with its clean frontage and playful name. A few tables outside, just enough time to glimpse generous plates, and you’re already sitting down, salivating. Sabyne and Alicia offer homemade cooking, simple and generous, with recipes that evoke the South and are arranged like a mosaic that lets you taste a bit of everything. From 9am to 5pm, the menu follows every craving: for the impatient, pan bagnas, portobello ratatouille sandwiches or zucchini, mint and brousse d’Aix. And for those who have more time, small plates: roasted sun-ripened vegetables, a tasting plate with panisse (organic flour from the Grans mill), pistou soup, tapenade and zucchini fritter, or a plate of grilled octopus and cuttlefish with pesto. The pissaladière and the tomato tart will seal the deal. Garlic, an ingredient deeply rooted in Provençal cuisine, is not here a mere condiment but a guiding thread: that of family recipes, of the South, of dishes shared in the middle of the table, of hands that push their way across to spear a neighbour’s plate with their fork.