Paulette's, Restaurant in the 2nd arrondissement, Marseille, France
Paulette's is a restaurant on the Quai du Port in Marseille's 2nd arrondissement, right along the waterfront. It serves French dishes at lunch and turns into a bar with tapas and cocktails on Wednesday through Saturday evenings.
Paulette's was opened a few years ago by Pauline, her brother Aristote, and Timothé, a young team who wanted to build a place that felt personal and welcoming. From the start, the kitchen was led by Omar, a chef who had worked in Japanese restaurants in London and brought a mix of French and Asian influences to the menu.
Paulette's sits on the Quai du Port, and its terrace looks directly toward Notre-Dame de la Garde on the hill above the city. From Wednesday to Saturday evenings, the space shifts into a bar where people gather over cocktails and small bites like panisses and skewers with Thai spices.
The restaurant sits right on the waterfront in the 2nd arrondissement, making it easy to reach on foot from the Old Port area. In the evening, it is worth arriving on the earlier side, as the space transitions from restaurant to bar and the mood changes as the night goes on.
The head chef Omar trained in Japanese restaurants in London before coming to Marseille, and those influences show up in small, unexpected ways on what is otherwise a French menu. The bar stays open until 2 am, which makes this one of the few spots along the port that carries an evening all the way through to the early hours.
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