Where the Sun Tastes Better: A Summer Table Above the Sea

Some places feed the body. Others awaken something more elusive — desire, memory, imagination. Casa YOUM, perched in quiet majesty above Marseille’s Estaque, is one of those rare sanctuaries. Here, a new kind of culinary intimacy takes root, shaped by sea winds, fig trees, and the poetic touch of a woman who cooks as if she’s writing with her hands.

This summer, the bastide-turned-guesthouse welcomes the radiant and self-taught Khouloude Ben Thayer for a two-month residency that feels less like a pop-up and more like a love letter to the Mediterranean. Raised between Tunisia and Paris, seasoned in Mexico, and refined through eclectic stints from Brooklyn to Balagan, Khouloude is the kind of chef who doesn’t follow recipes — she channels them.

Her food is instinctive, textured, emotional. Think: zucchini in all its sensual forms — flower stuffed with ricotta and langoustine, tempura light as sea foam, ribbons chilled in lemon thyme water. Duck gyoza arrive lacquered in orange jus like a stolen kiss, while vegetarian versions hum with vegetal grace. Main courses flirt with contrast: monkfish with creamy bisque and wild dill foam, or pasta al burro scattered with herbs that taste like summer afternoon naps.

But this isn’t about high-end dining in the traditional sense. At Casa YOUM, dinner feels like being invited to a friend’s table — if your friend were a design-savvy, poetry-reading aesthete with a flair for layering ceramics, scent, and silence. Amira and Édouard, the Franco-Tunisian-Italian couple behind the project, have created a space that is equal parts retreat, atelier, and home. Every tile, textile, and thyme bush tells a story. Cézanne once painted here. Today, Khouloude plates memories.

Twenty guests max, one menu that evolves weekly, no pretension. Just intention. In a time when “experience” has become a buzzword, Casa YOUM dares to slow the pace and sharpen the senses. It doesn’t shout luxury; it whispers meaning. It doesn’t trend; it transcends.

This is modern masculinity in motion — sensual, generous, curious. Not about owning more, but feeling more. Not about being seen, but seeing differently. And from this hillside table where the Mediterranean stretches like a breath held between courses, we’re reminded that taste, like time, is best when taken slowly.

Reservations via @casayoum or www.casayoum.com
Casa YOUM – 12 Plateau du Peintre, 13016 Marseille
Four-course dinner: €60 (excl. wine)