As the calendar year turns over, we’ve grown accustomed to the barrage of lists telling us where to travel during the next 12 months. Often these places are a country or even a whole region – you could spend an entire year exploring just one of the locations listed and still barely make a dent.
We like to travel on a smaller scale. Forget countries and cities, for us the neighborhood is the ideal unit of exploration. Celebrating neighborhood life and businesses is, of course, essential to what we do as Culinary Backstreets. Since our founding in 2012, we’ve been dedicated to publishing the stories of unsung local culinary heroes and visiting them on our food walks, particularly in neighborhoods that are off the beaten path.
Plus, we recognize that tourism, while a justifiably important economic force in many cities, can devastate the urban ecosystem if not distributed responsibly into neighborhoods otherwise neglected by the travel industry. To help that process along, two years ago we launched an annual “Neighborhoods to Visit” guide, featuring areas off the main tourist trail from all the cities that we cover.
Yet as various other annual “must-visit” guides have made clear, following the same formula year after year can lead to selecting destinations solely for the purpose of a complete list. So we’re changing it up in 2020, focusing on a smaller selection of neighborhoods (as well as the people and places that keep them going) that truly deserve the extra attention. Below is a compilation of six less-visited areas that our correspondents are eager to explore this year:
Marseille: Cinq-Avenues
When locals say that all roads lead to Cinq-Avenues, they aren’t just being figurative. The neighborhood’s nucleus is a star-shaped intersection at which cars, buses, trams and scooters seamlessly crisscross in a marvel of urban choreography. The quartier actually inherited its name from the busy junction, which, ironically, has six not five (cinq) streets – three grand boulevards and three avenues.
If Marseille is a city of 111 villages, Cinq-Avenues is a village that feels like a mini-metropolis, with its daily morning market, high density of shops, a movie theater and a sprawling park that houses one of the city’s most majestic monuments, the Palais Longchamp.
Brimming with locally owned storefronts, the vibrant neighborhood is where the fleuriste, the boulangerie and the boucherie know your name – and each others’, thanks to the active neighborhood association. Many of the businesses are eateries, making Cinq-Avenues a veritable foodie paradise, one that offers a snapshot of Marseille’s diversity: U Mio Paese, a Corsican deli, Pizza Charly, a popular pizza truck, and Phénicia, a Lebanese/Armenian restaurant run by sisters. Foch 2000, a butcher shop, makes the famous Sôcisse de Marseille while its neighbor, Maison Calambo, has been serving seafood platters since 1946.
Shaped like a stout boot, the toe of Cinq-Avenues starts at the end of Marseille’s main drag, La Canebière, and stretches north to the bustling Boulevard Sakahini. Place Sébastopol’s market stalls and café terraces sit to the east while the aforementioned limestone palace marks the western border. This architectural stunner sparked the neighborhood’s growth – it was built in 1869 to commemorate the construction of the Canal de Marseille, which transports much-needed water from the Durance River to the city.
Since its start, Cinq-Avenues has welcomed a steady stream of locals drawn to its village vibe. The tram’s construction in 2007 made it even more geographically desirable. Recently, a wave of young couples and families have arrived, lured by the park and the stylish Art Deco buildings priced lower than the hipster ‘hoods of Vauban and Saint-Victor.
They convene at the Cane Bière (a beer bar whose name winks at Marseille’s most famous road) and the bar à vin Bistrot de Margaux. A sign that Cinq-Avenues is trending? Two culinary favorites, pâtisserie Bricoleur de Douceurs and fromagerie Art de la Fromagerie, have opened their second locations here. The recent uptick hasn’t changed the communal spirit. Just pop into Monsieur Madame, a café that’s chock-a-block with vintage décor, to find a mix of retirees, long-standing locals, moms with their kids, and freelancers tapping away on laptops.
From a bird’s eye view above Marseille, Cinq-Avenues is quite central, its southern border just a mile north of the Vieux Port. Yet, in spite of the plethora of public transport that passes through, visitors rarely make their way to this 4th arrondissement quartier. Which is a shame, because the food options are some of the best in the city. Plus, the Palais Longchamp’s two museums, the Musée des Beaux Arts and the Musée d’Histoire Naturelle, are fresh off a face lift – with the latter’s makeover to be completed in April 2020. And you can always walk off your meal at the verdant park behind them. – Alexis Steinman
Published on January 14, 2020
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