What’s on the menu at Alexandre Mazzia, the three-star French chef who's changing the rules of the game

Alexandre Mazzia, beyond his specific skill, astonishes with a string of innovations in both form and content that automatically represent an alternative and fertile idea of a different format for fine dining:

1. His restaurant in Marseille, AM par Alexandre Mazzia, consciously cancels every typical practice of a Michelin three-star, especially a French one.

2. The main mode of food consumption is through the setting of numerous dishes and small plates on the table, in successive waves that literally fill the space and are then managed freely by the diner. This evokes conviviality and deconstructs the usual service style which typically interacts continuously, almost obsessively (and often excessively), in the back-and-forth of individual courses. Here, instead, the table is set and then left alone, allowing diners all the time they need to enjoy the feast in peace.

3. Then there's the purely gustatory aspect, which is also highly original. Mazzia was born in Congo (as detailed in: "Who is Alexandre Mazzia, the 50Best bet. Africa, Marseille and the cuisine of spices, smoke, and chili"), where his family had moved for work. His dishes constantly echo a flavor memory marked by so-called "exotic" elements (Africa remains one of the few still largely unexplored frontiers in creative cuisine). Tastings result in explosions of flavor where fruity, spicy, briny, citrusy, sweet, acidic, spiced, and smoky notes find unusual expressive characteristics. They gradually take center stage, defining a unique style.

Let us also add a fascinating fourth aspect: when setting the individual "waves" of small dishes, each featuring unusual aspects and aromas, no specific tasting order is suggested, nor is there a required pairing dictated by the kitchen. Instead, diners are left free to explore, so that those wishing to understand the chef's flavor construction are faced not with a single path but a thousand possible combinations, at their complete discretion. Each wave thus carries a dual message of creative freedom: Mazzia's in the structure and the diner's in determining the result, picking from here and there, inventing continuous new palate marriages. What’s incredible is that no matter how you combine them, the outcome always feels well-centered and harmonious. Mazzia’s work is a major demonstration of gastronomic thought that eliminates all standardization and serves as a fertile model for haute cuisine. Our menu included 44 tastings (forty-four! Listed below for curious foodies). We also counted the declared ingredients in the dish names: 175 in total. Normally excessive, here they become the key to extraordinary complexity, even technically speaking.

Very few elements recur, and it’s worth noting which: ginger, sweet potatoes, bottarga, and Espelette pepper, each appearing in three different tastings. So you get fruit-citrus-spice-fresh heat and warm-toasty spice, then briny, umami, sweetness. The contrasts: parmesan meets pistachio, nasturtium meets seaweed, eel meets chocolate, lard meets ginger, mortadella meets green tea, balsamic vinegar meets corn, sugar meets oyster. The flavor bursts are continuous, built on diversity but expressing a deep continuity—a declarative intention and expressive form. The chef mixes and draws inspiration freely. It’s not Europe, Africa, or Asia: it’s a disorienting and delightful palate synthesis.

You could say: haute cuisine often tends toward standardization—one of the roots of fine dining’s crisis. At AM, however, there is almost total renunciation of traditional stylistic norms: the table is packed with small dishes, every formality is deconstructed, we eat 44 courses in just over two serene, peaceful hours. Some say: «Mazzia lets you taste his Congo». But who really knows Congolese cuisine? You go on trust—and that trust is well placed, because the results are unforgettable. The chef says: «Old three-stars are dead. It’s important to cook with your own personality. Fine dining is changing because more and more people want simplicity and a deconstruction of the old model—while still eating elegant and original dishes».

The handling of eel already shows pure talent (Smoked eel and dark chocolate. Essentially, a memorable praline). The dish Candied plankton sugar, oyster leaf, curry marinière sauce, Daurenki caviar features a spun sugar turned into a shell, resulting in a beautifully amplified saltiness that is harmonious and not at all aggressive. In Razor clams, puffed barley, brine and seaweed condiment, egg yolk cream cooked in rice vinegar and cumin, green apple and fennel water, the egg yolk (presented in the form of an egg nog) is astonishing—we can't recall a dish that showcased it better. The scallop in Scallops, citrus condiment, Jerusalem artichoke, corn, shrimp mousse is deep, deep, deep. The Citrus and orange blossom couscous, horseradish and shellfish broth provides a near-pop interlude, keeping continuity and rhythm in the progression—just like the earlier standout dish of Wild trout and salmon roe marinated in sake, smoked milk. Meanwhile, Black truffle from Carpentras, Jerusalem artichoke, spicy gel, beef juice feels like an over-the-top excess, in need of recalibration.

 

OUR MENU
Swordfish, brewer’s yeast, tuna with vinegar
Crystallized cabbage with saffron, caviar bottarga, ginger and burnt mackerel head seasoning
Sweet and sour parsnip barigoule-style, potato leaf, parsnip and cider vinegar condiment
Marinated langoustines, flowers, figs, vegetables, roots and sumac consommé
Seaweed, sweet potatoes, licorice, bottarga
Galangal biscuit, grilled and marinated Limousine beef, Campari jelly
Parmesan, pistachio, pomegranate and aloe vera
Crispy flax, marine condiment with shellfish mousse, sardines, radishes with nori seaweed, Espelette pepper
Nasturtium sorbet, seaweed popcorn
Grey shrimp, katsuobushi, green chili oil

Wild trout and salmon roe marinated in sake, smoked milk
Vegetable shortbread, herbaceous and iodized cream, organic flowers
Smoked eel and dark chocolate
Candied plankton sugar, oyster leaf, curry marinière sauce, Daurenki caviar
Razor clams, puffed barley, brine and seaweed condiment, egg yolk cream cooked in rice vinegar and cumin, green apple and fennel water
Smoked cress, beetroot, scallop granite and scallop milk
Crispy cassava, red mullet paste, bottarga, iced mussels, chili gel
Squid, Espelette pepper, smoked cauliflower, oyster, bottarga
Scallops, citrus condiment, Jerusalem artichoke, corn, shrimp mousse
Smoked Viennese bread, kaffir lime butter
Spider crab, marinated hibiscus flowers, tuna, garum
Citrus and orange blossom couscous, horseradish and shellfish broth
Peanut butter focaccia, Espelette pepper and licorice, black cumin and spicy butter
Brioche, sardine, Colonnata lard, ginger and grapefruit condiments
Black truffle from Carpentras, Jerusalem artichoke, spicy gel, beef juice
Aged poultry soup with oyster shell, dulce and burnt orange peel
Tempura spinach, vodka, smoked pike roe, chili, powdered shellfish
Line-caught hake, sweet and sour gel, green juice with satay, spicy cherry
Passion fruit, parsnip, dragon fruit juice, black trumpet mushroom jus, seaweed popcorn, chili skin
Pickled onion, mortadella, chanterelles, smoked green tea mousse
Spinach, curry vegetable paste, beetroot juice, mushroom mousse
Wasabi and horseradish ice cream
Raspberry, harissa
Pudding with jus, caramelized banana, tamarind, hibiscus, feuilletine
Persimmon with spices, praline, passion fruit, orange blossom, hibiscus flowers
Sweet potatoes, mango, dates, marjoram water
Banana cream, puffed rice, caramelized peanuts, kumquat
Pineapple and saffron sorbet, spicy jelly
Avocado, ginger, sugar, fennel, mustard seeds 25-year balsamic vinegar, toasted corn meringue and sorbet
Fresh mango, guava, candied sweet potato and ginger
Grapes, spiced water, poppy seeds, tarragon, grappa vinegar
Green apple ice cube, apple water with green curry, gin
Sweet potatoes and spicy cream, figs, lemon and basil