One emblematic sign drives out the other. with fins. Le Déli Bo, the flagship restaurant on rue Bonaparte closed on July 2, becomes Peixes. The same as that of rue Jacques-Médecin (formerly rue de l’Opéra). This fall, we will eat fish there. From the Mediterranean. And seasonal. Red mullet, meager, tuna… In ceviche, carpaccio, tartare… Dishes signed Loïs Guenzati, new owner of the place, associated with his chef, Pierre Lorenzo.
an instinctive
Who is Loïs Guenzati, this handsome 33-year-old bearded brunette, who we hear a lot about in the local gourmet landerneau? A hard worker who has ideas, a tasty background and a feeling with small onions: “I work from the heart. I act on instinct. Déli Bo was an institution. I transform it into Peixes. I care about my brand. I put a lot of energy into it. We will duplicate the same principle of raw fish. Since my boss was hitting on me to get us to open something together, I’m teaming up with him over there.” There, it will also be called Peixes. Which means fish in Portuguese, a language well known to Armand Crespo, with whom Loïs worked. A long time. On different concepts.
Philippe Canatella in the loop
“Each time, with Armand, it was a great human and professional adventure. (read below).” And then, little by little, the two men nurture different desires. Loïs buys Armand’s shares for the Peixes, which opened 7 years ago. He meets Philippe Canatella, another alchemist of taste success. “We launched Carmela, at the exit of the Covid, on the Cours Saleya, in place of the old Leff. Sun side. We made a mix between what we know how to do him and me.”
The sign of fate
Solo paintings. Carmella in tandem. And then sometimes there are signs. Opportunities that you have to know how to seize. As we said, Loïs has a hollow nose. “The Déli Bo was not planned. I was going on a trip with my wife and my granddaughter. I received a call in the car informing me of the sale of the Déli Bo. I knew Élise and Pascal Ciamos, the two responsible, but no more. I turned around and said OK.”
90% scales
Le Déli Bo, a cult address. But no question of redoing Deli Bo. “A case is specific to a boss. Resuming to reiterate the same formula would be a mistake.” Lois also has the right palate. So, raw fish, present at 90% on the menu, is in vogue. The work will follow: “I’m redoing everything to come up with a concept that doesn’t yet exist in this district. It’s the right time to breathe in something new that has developed well near Masséna.”
White, blue on the walls and ceiling. Duo decorated with a giant octopus prepared by the reveler Cédric Pignataro. For the interior decoration, it is Julia Condro from Maison maju who sticks to it. Opening scheduled for the end of October with a team of 12 people (5 cooks, a dishwasher, 6 people in the dining room) in a restaurant which will operate continuously every day, except Sunday, from noon to 10 p.m. and for an average meal of 35 euros including including a glass of white. A big fish of quality originality lands in the lap of the port…
Alongside the greatest
Lois Guenzati. Pure strain of Nice. Whose grandfather, a restaurateur, takes him to restaurants in the South-West, where he has settled. Not at all a pensum for the boy: “I have always cooked, even when I was little. As I was not a very good student, when the question arose of my professional future, I wanted to try the Paul-Augier hotel school where I spent a BEP then a work-study vocational baccalaureate.”
Divine alternation. Sometimes at school. Sometimes in the kitchens of the Palais Maeterlinck in Cap de Nice. “Over there, I spent two years in the kitchen with Laurent Broussier. On weekends, I went to Armand Crespo, who had created Le Bistrot d’Antoine. Then I went to Joël Garrault at L’Hermitage, in Monte-Carlo. It was great!”
In the kitchens of the Negresco
Four years of Principality. At L’Hermitage, at the Bay Hotel, at the MonteCarlo Beach. Return to Nice. With, in the pot, a precise desire: “Going to the Negresco to join chef Jean-Denis Rieubland, who wanted a second star. I worked alongside him for two years. In a very close-knit team.”
Once the Rieubland era is over, Loïs returns to see Armand Crespo: “We opened Le Comptoir du Marché, where I stayed for twelve years. Then there were Peixes and La Cave du Cour. Always in association with Armand.”
.
