Already busy preparing menus for athletes at the upcoming Paris Olympics, Alexandre Mazzia will split his time for 4 years between Marseille and Cognac, where he will lead a private table for just 6 guests dedicated to pairing with Martell distillery's spirits, from aperitif to dessert.
The news
We left Alain Ducasse busy preaching passionately for the cause of accessibility, arguing that today the priority is to cook for less but for more people. And here we find another French three-star chef, Alexandre Mazzia, scratching quite a different itch, in the realms of extreme luxury. In recent days, it's been reported that the chef from Marseille is about to open a private table with Maison Martell near Cognac, excluding any sort of concessions to millionaires, as reported by Food & Sens.
The location is the enchanting Baroque style Chanteloup castle, the historical residence of Jean Martell, founder of the Societé de Cognac in 1715, surrounded by 147 hectares of vineyard (the Martells were indeed British, having arrived in France from the island of Jersey). Here, a partnership already initiated in the role of brand ambassador will be completed. But it won't be just any restaurant, but rather a private table, where one must be invited to attend.
The affair started in 2023 when, upon the invitation of CEO César Giron, Mazzia met head winemaker Christophe Valtaud: they proposed to shape the brand's global gastronomic identity for the next 4 years and to create precisely a new table, where to live a unique and exclusive experience, in a castle that for the first time would open its most private doors. So far, indeed, only a handful of VIP guests had been able to stay and eat sporadically in its most secretive rooms.
It will be just 6 covers, each paying 500 euros for an experience that promises to be "creative, generous, and sustainable." Obviously, there will be the great vintage Cognacs of the house, in close dialogue with Mazzia's spicy dishes, from aperitif to dessert. The chef, as always in these cases, exudes enthusiasm: "Maison Martell embodies many of my values. I am proud and honored to be able to sign with her a unique and profound vision, to give a different positioning to Cognac, preserving the integrity of exceptional savoir-faire. Martell asked me to shape its gastronomic identity. It will happen progressively. We have committed for four years and I am very honored. I will bring my sensitivity, but I don't want to upset everything. There will be nothing extravagant, nothing demonstrative."
However, the connection would not be purely commercial if it is true, as Mazzia tells, that he often spent his summer vacations in the area, so he can draw on his childhood memories in his creations, as already happens with the spices of Congo.
