As social life in Marseille creeps up toward Jolliet, the waterfront neighbourhood facing the city’s cruise port, break-out chefs have begun to make their mark. Paris native Julien Sebbag, a former private chef and Instagram star, is one of them.

His Marseille branch of Forest, already a hit at the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris, is a feast literally and visually, thanks to Sebbag textural Mediterranean-inflected dishes, his passion for dripping greenery and the on-trend interiors, assembled in shades of terracotta.

His similarly-named cohort Julien Sebban, of Paris-based collective Uchronia, devised an entirely unique scheme for the sunny satellite, starting at the arcades over the front terrace. His lime-washed ochre surfaces contrast subtly against perforated terracotta brick, burnt-orange banquettes, olivewood furnishings and striking blue-stained alcoves. Flattering lighting emanates from strategic coves and apertures – and a series of undulating terracotta pendant lights by ceramist Olivia Cognet. But the crowning glory is the stained-glass dome, radiating light and petals over the bar.

Here and there, Sebban has commissioned wall-paintings of underwater scenes referencing shellfish and coral. For their inspiration, you need only to glance at the menu.

4 boulevard Jacques Saade, 13002 Marseille.

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