Jean-Paul Passedat, father of three-star chef Gérald Passedat, and developer of the "
Petit Nice
" hotel-restaurant, a Marseille gastronomic institution, died on Wednesday August 10 at the age of 88 in Marseille, his son announced. in a press release.
Anchored on the white rocks of Anse de Maldormé on the Marseille coast, Le Petit Nice is the first restaurant in Marseille to have won three Michelin stars under the leadership of its chef Gérald Passedat.
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A path of excellence traced by his grandfather and his father in a family saga which began in 1917 when Germain Passedat, owner of a bar-tabac, bought from a baroness a large white building, "
the Corinthe villa
", open on the sea and the Frioul islands to turn it into a restaurant.
By chance, the baroness had come to use the phone in her bar to tell her notary that her property was up for sale.
"
No need to look, I'll buy it from you
", would have launched Germain Passedat, according to the family story.
He baptizes the place "
Le Petit Nice
to attract a posh clientele, the city of the Alpes-Maritimes being very fashionable at the time.
He moved in with his wife, Lucie, singer and muse of the Lumière brothers, the inventors of the cinematograph, whose photos adorn the walls of the restaurant.
Passionate about Marseille culinary traditions
Celebrities like Pagnol or Fernandel flock to the "
Petit Nice
" which, on the death of Germain, is taken over by his son Jean-Paul.
An opera singer, he put aside a promising career to devote himself to gastronomy with his wife Albertine.
He transformed the Petit Nice into a luxury hotel, dug a seawater swimming pool, and won a Michelin star in 1977, then a second in 1981
. son Gérald the taste for beauty, the sense of rhythm, the love of things well done and the taste for pleasing others
, ”welcomed the family in a press release.
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At the dawn of the new millennium, his only son Gérard Passedat, who had always dreamed of being a chef and had attended hotel school, took over the reins of the restaurant in 1985, with which he won his third star in 2007. Jean- Paul continued to run the five-star hotel for years before retiring within the walls where he owned an apartment.
“
When asked if he was born in Marseille, he invariably answered: No, I was born in + Petit Nice +
”.
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