GALLIFET: A SUN-DAPPLED PROVENÇAL MANSION MARRYING ART AND FOOD

Introducing Gallifet, a hybrid experience combining art and food in the heart of Aix-en-Provence. This contemporary art centre, summer garden restaurant and gallery-store, residing in an 18th century Provençal mansion, is announcing its brand new chef residency and latest exhibition.

Each summer, the grand doors of Gallifet open to welcome a new chef in residence who will run the leafy garden restaurant for four months. Chef Josh Dallaway (of Bar Bruno, 107 - previously P. Franco, - Sager + Wilde) is heading to Provence with his partner – sommelier Sinead Murdoch (of Bistro Freddie and ‘Suppher’, a community interest company raising money for women’s charities through wine and food) – to look after the Gallifet kitchen from June through to October.

The family-owned Gallifet, as directed by couple Nicolas Mazet and Kate Davis, is making waves on the burgeoning southern French contemporary art scene, whilst also placing Aix-en-Provence firmly on the map for forward-thinking cuisine. From the Opera Festival in Aix, to the art network Réseau Plein Sud, to the cultural boom of Marseille (where Chanel recently held their Cruise show); there has never been a better time to visit Provence.

Gallifet’s shaded courtyard restaurant and art centre is situated amongst the grounds of this archetypal Provençal mansion, surrounded by 200-year-old chestnut and lime trees, antique fountains and contemporary sculpture. Diners will be seated around the aptly named ‘Nager dans le bonheur’ (swimming in bliss) by Diadji Diop: a sculpture that lends a playful mix of colour to the sun-dappled garden space. Set against the backdrop of this grand shuttered property, this is a garden where it feels as if time has stood still.

Chef Josh will be drawing upon French techniques to create contemporary dishes, which are truly hyper local and seasonal, focusing on produce from the farmers, fishermen and winemakers who are their friends and neighbours in the surrounding area. At lunch, the menu will change according to the local market offering, with chefs visiting daily. Think Torched Tomatoes, Martigues Anchovy, Raspberry & Basil; Sisteron Lamb Tartare and Financier with Spelt Ice Cream.

By dusk, a fixed 5-course evening menu will offer a fuller taste of Gallifet:

Crudites & Walnut Bagna Cauda
-
Confit Tomato, Raspberry, Olives & Lovage
-
Lamb Tartare Au Poivre
-
Stone Bass, Late Spring Fricassée, Cuttlefish & Smoked Butter
-
Elderflower Cream, Burnt Honey Biscuit & Rose
-
Mignardise


Josh and Sinead’s ethos is ‘food you want to drink wine to’. The list will be unapologetically local and entirely French, stretching east to west ‘from Bandol to Banyuls’. Sinead will be working with producers to showcase a mix of traditional and natural pours.

Running alongside the restaurant will be Gallifet’s summer show entitled “Passe-muraille: de Nan Goldin à Sol LeWitt, œuvres choisies dans la collection d’Yvon Lambert.” In this show of some sixty pieces from the Collection Lambert (Yvon Lambert’s personal collection of contemporary art which he donated to the French state) photography by Nan Goldin will sit alongside works by Anselm Kiefer, Jenny Holzer and Sol LeWitt. A store showcasing contemporary Provençal craft, ‘objets d’art’ and limited edition prints and photography completes the experience.

Kate of Gallifet comments: “We are thrilled to be working with Josh and Sinead this summer. The coming together of our two partnerships feels very special and I am sure loyal guests and those new to Gallifet will respond well to this energy. Nicolas adds: “Alongside the restaurant, the new exhibition from Collection Lambert is an invitation to guide our gaze towards elements of reality that we don’t always see and to discover not only a new artistic perspective but also to appreciate the poetic beauty of daily life.”

For more information please contact a.grier@gemmabellandcompany.com