Alexandre Mazzia, the chef of the Olympics, has a past as a player and a great talent in the kitchen. Which led him to be one of the number 1 in his country and “have fun” with signature street food
Three Michelin stars and a phenomenon of French cuisine, Alexandre Mazzia he was the chef for the Olympic Games 2024: together with two other great chefs, Amandine Chaignot and Akrame Benallal, he prepared the meals for the 15,000 athletes taking part in the event. Something special for him, given his past as a professional basketball player. But the 48-year-old chef is also famous among fans for his food-truck Michelnamed after his grandfather, a fisherman, who usually stops by at lunchtime – from Tuesday to Saturday – at 17 Rue François Rocca, in the center of Marseille. The idea was born at the end of 2020, in the time of Covid, when the restaurant alternated openings and closings. At the time, in France, his example was copied by many illustrious colleagues. Many subsequently gave up, Mazzia kept it because in addition to having fun – he is often seen behind the counter – he considers it a sort of laboratory “The organization on a food truck is different than AM with the attention to the bread to safeguard the crunchiness, the packaging, the best conservation of the ingredients. All this is stimulating, also because many come to visit us before going to the beach and want quality street food with our brand in mind”.
GREAT SHOOTER
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Born and raised in Congo, with a great-grandfather from Turin, when he landed in France at the age of 16 he used his physique (he is 192 cm tall) and his head to quickly climb the French basketball hierarchy. Mazzia’s main characteristic: the three-point shot. He soon joined the youth national team and landed in the French Serie A, at the end of the 1990s: he played for about ten seasons, changing jerseys three times. During the months of break, he cultivated his other great passion – cooking – by taking important internships. The turning point came when he received a phone call in New York, on an away trip with the basketball team: they offered him a job at Fauchon, in Paris, under the guidance of Pierre Hermé, a pastry legend. He left his teammates and started a new life, where he learned a lot in Spain, then in 2009 he returned to Marseille and five years later opened AM, a restaurant with the initials of his name. Six months later, the first star arrived (a unique case in the history of the Michelin Guide). The second in 2019. The third in 2021. Mazzia has always amazed with surprising dishes (one of the first, which later became a signature dish, was the chocolate-smoked eel), served in a refined but simple place at 9 Rue François Rocca: seven tables, just over twenty seats, an open counter and kitchen, minimalist furnishings.
The Idea of ​​Mauro ULIASSI
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The same balance between class and taste is found in the menu of food truck with proposals at fair prices, thinking of the “creative signature” and the complexity of the recipes. They range from 6 euros for the pasta croquettes (linguine, peas, spices, scamorza) to 19 euros for the Hot-Mazz which is a spiced sandwich filled with lamb sausage, galangal herb, spinach sprouts, carrot mustard, smoked beetroot. The “cult” for its many fans is however the Croc-Mazz: cereal bread, seaweed hummus, caramelized onion jam, Comté cheese, grilled courgettes and aubergines, curly salad. Nor is there a vegetarian proposal such as the Keb-AM: a boule of celery marinated in spices with crispy escarole, vegetable mayonnaise with soy milk, chimichurri sauce, chili pepper gel. Street food at the highest level, in short, as was that of Mauro Uliassi – chef-patron of Senigallia, at the time not yet three-starred – who in 2011 created a futuristic food truck, with the complicity of Mirko Gabellini (designer with experience in designing mobile paddocks for Formula 1), protagonist of events in many places in Italy. Here too it was great low-cost cuisine – the iconic dish was the “Porchetta e porchetta sandwich” – which would be very welcome in these times.
2024-09-03 03:12:58
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