Jean-Pierre Ferrato has vin coursing through his veins. Since as young as he can remember, he spent time at Chez Ferrato, his grandfather’s wholesale-retail wine shop. Grandpa Ferrato would siphon French and Algerian table wine from giant wooden barrels into glass bottles, then bring them to restaurants and individuals on his delivery tricycle. Customers would return the bottles, les consignes, for Ferrato to wash, dry, then reuse again. The process was a ton of work – “It was eco-friendly before the word even existed,” winks Jean-Pierre. The ever-smiling Marseillais is still satisfying locals’ thirst for wine eight decades after his grandfather launched his shop in 1940, making his own vintage by upping the wine quality and swapping the barrels for tables topped with Corsican dishes.
Fitting for a familial establishment, Chez Ferrato has a homey ambiance. The chalkboard menu features Corsican classics like figatelli (pork liver and meat sausage) and comfort fare like daube (beef stew). Jean-Pierre’s dog, a lithe Weimaraner named Olympe, hovers at the kitchen counter in hope for scraps. Retired men gather at the wooden bar for a morning café, afternoon pastis, and daily dose of conversation. In the mostly residential Baille neighborhood, Chez Ferrato is a necessary fixture for the community. “It’s a bar [from] yesteryear,” shares Jean-Pierre.
He and his wife, Pascale, took over Chez Ferrato in 1985. Jean-Pierre always liked being at his grandfather’s shop. And his easygoing nature was, and is, perfect for the hospitality trade. When the couple noticed that consumers’ tastes had evolved from bulk wine to winemaker-driven bottles, they removed the barrels to make a restaurant in the early 2000s. “The space was perfect for a dining room,” explains Jean-Pierre, “Plus I always liked to cook…and eat.”
The connection to Corsica actually began with Pascale. Her family comes from Vescovato, a town in northern Corsica. Jean-Pierre has Italian roots, like many Marseillais, yet he spent so much time on the Isle of Beauty during school vacations that he fell hard for the island. Then he fell for Pascale, and he convinced her to move to Marseille to open Chez Ferrato.
Their shared Corsican history is infused in the menu. Typical dishes include cannelloni stuffed with spinach, mint, and brousse (a traditional, ricotta-like cheese made with sheep’s milk.) The baked pasta has a deliciously browned crust. We are big fans of the flavorful veal cutlet that is breaded with Cervione hazelnuts, whose high quality is protected by the terroir-driven IGP certification. Though he hired a cook 15 years ago, Jean-Pierre still makes the tripe stewed in tomato sauce himself.
Of course, charcuterie, one of Corsica’s most beloved foodstuffs, is on the menu. A wooden platter in the shape of the island is laden with pepper-crusted lonzu (salted and smoked pork tenderloin), saucisson (dry sausage), and prisuttu (cured ham) which they source from father-and-son artisans. For dessert, fiadone, a Corsican cheesecake made with brousse, is just as it should be – lemony, light, and not too sweet. The menu is rounded out by dishes found in other Marseille brasseries: steak frites, salade du chèvre chaud (warm goat cheese), and aubergine à la parmesan, the eggplant classic found at our favorite old-school spots. Chez Ferrato is mostly geared for lunch, but you can order a platter of cheese or charcuterie before they close at night. Or a hot dish, if there are any leftovers.
Don’t be intimidated by the walls of bottles in the cave (wine cellar) that Jean-Pierre created. The wine buff is happy to guide you. This is a great place to try hard-to-find Corsican grapes like the hearty, ruby red minustellu. Ninety percent of Chez Ferrato’s wine hails from France, including Cassis’s minerally whites, Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s powerful reds, and Jean-Pierre’s beloved Bourgogne. Be sure to order a bottle of sparkling Orezza water. Remarkably effervescent, the “champagne of Corsica,” is a sign that you’re dining in a restaurant that has Corsican connections. A small bookcase near the bar sells Corsican products: honey, pastis, anise-scented canistrelli biscuits, and a Nutella-like spread made with the aforementioned hazelnuts.
Decorated with bygone lamps, mirrors, and wooden tables, the dining room has an old-timey feel, as do the placemats, faded photos of grandfather and family, and vintage car and tricycle used for deliveries. Lined with an old sign from Ferrato’s wine-by-the-barrel days, the hidden courtyard out back is lovely on warm days. Some like to dine in the wine shop, surrounded by shelves of bottles young and old, Corsican sausages hanging from the ceiling, and the bulbous dame-jeannes (demijohns) that were once used to transport bulk wine. With only two circular wooden tables, you’ll want to reserve here – the space can also be booked for convivial soirées, as local companies like to do.
These nearby white-collar workers make up a chunk of the lunch crowd. There are also solo diners, groups of friends, and elderly residents, the latter of whom the staff thoughtfully delivers food to if they aren’t able to leave their homes. Every customer seems to be a long-standing regular and knows the owners. “I’ve seen their kids grow up here,” explains Jean-Pierre. “These are our friends.” Sometimes the regulars man the bar for the morning shift when he works late the night before. With this kind of kinship, there is no need for social media, hence Chez Ferrato’s relative anonymity outside of the quarter.
We only came across it when we stumbled upon the café by surprise when picking up a package, having never walked on Rue Antoine Malle, or in this part of Baille, for that matter. Despite Chez Ferrato’s unassuming façade, the chalkboard menu and vintage interior stopped us in our tracks. Olympe trotted out to greet us, so we popped in for a café. And returned a week later for lunch. When Jean-Pierre brought out a water bowl for a diner’s dog, we commented on how France is not often known to welcome four-legged friends in restaurants. “All are welcome here…as long as you’re nice,” he grins.
He adds that as parts of Marseille are modernizing, this quarter is still friendly and “dans son jus” (“in its gravy,” in French, a euphemism for something old that has been preserved.) We’d say the same about Chez Ferrato.
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Published on October 14, 2024
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