Behind the stoves, his stunt figure - 1.95 m - does not go unnoticed.
But what we notice above all is his talent.
A talent recognized by all.
On Monday, January 18, Alexandre Mazzia, imposing build, surgical meticulousness with his hands and alchemist of flavors, joined the prestigious and very closed list of chefs with three stars by the famous Michelin guide.
Its Marseille restaurant, “AM par Alexandre Mazzia”, is even the only establishment to obtain three stars this year.
The Grail for all cooks.
He compares this distinction to an entry into the "Hall of Fame in the NBA", a sort of Hall of Fame for basketball players.
A metaphor that is not by chance.
Before winning his three macaroons in the red guide, Alexandre Mazzia stacked 3-point shots on the basketball courts.
“I did sessions of 2000 shoots, remembers the trigger which is now a treat for the finicky.
Sport educated me in everything, it is the school of life, of humility, of respect for others.
One day you're upstairs, the next day you're downstairs.
We get the best out of some by restoring confidence in others, the goal is to succeed together.
Collective values are strong in basketball and in the kitchen.
"
Basketball, his outlet during his youth
It was late in life that basketball and cooking came into her life.
Born 44 years ago in Pointe-Noire in the Republic of Congo - where his father, a wood trader, and his mother, an accountant, are installed - little Alexandre arrived in France as a teenager, at the age of 15. .
The landing is brutal.
His first year, he spent in boarding in a horticultural school in Igny (Essonne).
“For the Jesuits, a very complicated year,” he explains.
Basketball will be his escape, his outlet, "a refuge".
“Before I was called
babtou
(
Editor's note: term that designates white people
), albinos.
I went from the kid we pointed out to the teammate we trusted.
I have found siblings.
"
This Michael Jordan fan frequents the Parisian playgrounds - “Bir-Hakeim, the Porte de Clignancourt” - and “gets out of hand” with the Mous Sonko, Vincent Masingue or Sacha Giffa.
These future internationals made up the Cardiac Kids team in Levallois at the end of the 1990s. “We all hung out together,” remembers Giffa.
On the pitch he didn't let it go, he was a brawler in a good sense.
"
"I was always at 250%, I felt indebted to my trainer as to my boss"
But it is in the rival club of Poissy-Chatou, with the Hopes in Pro B of the coach Sylvain Lautié, that he discovers the professional world: “There was Thierry Rupert, with whom I got along well, Mourad Rahib, Hervé
air man
Nsenga, who was like my big brother.
At the same time, the one who has just obtained his Bac C (scientific) enters a hotel school in Saint-Cloud.
“I had passed the competitive examination to be a military doctor but I was not sure of my choice.
I had told my grandparents about it.
My grandmother had whispered in my ear that if I were a cook I would never starve… ”He follows the advice of the woman who opened the first restaurant on the Ile de Ré after the Second World War.
Love at first sight is immediate.
Alexandre Mazzia (n ° 10) in the jersey of Poissy-Chatou./DR
He leads his two passions simultaneously.
Without counting his hours.
"I started at 3 o'clock in the morning at the Fauchon pastry shop (place de la Madeleine in Paris) where I was on a training course, then I would help the catering service and then I would go to training at 4 pm, rewind Mazzia.
I was still at 250%, I felt indebted to my coach as well as my boss.
People took me for a phew.
"
Its partners at the time were the first to discover its unique universe, this explosion of flavors for the taste buds.
“They were my guinea pigs, laughs the one who collects Air Jordan shoes.
On Sundays I invited them to cook for them, to show them what I was learning.
I was proud even if it was not always successful.
We keep good memories.
Most of them went to McDonald's, I showed them something else.
"
Parallels between his two passions
At 21, he left Poissy and the Paris region for a Tour de France for the N1 and N2 teams.
But, each time, he decides on his future club according to the tables of great chefs nearby where he can continue his training.
“Basketball allowed him to do a sort of tour de France of companionship, believes Sylvain Lautié, his former coach.
He is a self-taught person who learned everything on the job.
He succeeded through willpower, hard work and sacrifice.
It was done by force of the wrist.
"
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For the former coach of Nancy, winner of the Korac Cup (C2) in 2002, basketball and cooking are closely linked.
“A shooter is always a perfectionist, a metronome in repetition.
There are a lot of parallels between the two.
He works to the millimeter, with pliers and never one word higher than the other.
He has learned to resist pressure and to work, with a lot of kindness, as a team.
"
"It seems that my kitchen is unlike any other, but I do what I am", comments Alexandre Mazzia./AM by Alexandre Mazzia
Over time, the kitchen takes over.
"I was given responsibilities, I had become second," explains the Marseille chef.
I went to games less.
One day, a partner told me they needed me, I told him they needed me less than a kitchen team needs their chef.
"
"He belongs to an elite"
He abandons the basketball outfit for the chef's hat.
Without regret.
"I refused to join the University of Villanova in the United States because I had been taken from Fauchon, we will never know what would have happened if I had agreed to go, says the dad of Juliette, 3, and Gabriel, 11.
But the story is beautiful.
I never wanted to be a chef.
I progressed and I was given responsibilities, the lesson is that you have to believe in yourself.
It seems my kitchen is unlike any other, but I do what I am.
"" His story is incredible, continues Sylvain Lautié.
There are only 129 3-star restaurants in the world.
He belongs to an elite.
I went there and it is a real experience.
You will experience that nowhere else.
"
With the health crisis, the chef had to adapt and opened a food truck “to keep in touch with his local suppliers and customers”.
If the scenery changes, the requirement remains the same.
“We are like a top athlete who gets injured, we try to keep in shape for the day when things start again.
»With Mazzia, basketball is never far away.