Europe’s first solar restaurant to open in Marseille

Published: August 2, 2024 by Taste of France Editors 1576

It’s taken ten years and a great deal of experimentation but at last, a restaurant in Marseille is planning to serve the first meal cooked by the heat of the sun.

Radiation from the sun will power the ovens at Le Présage, in Marseille’s 13th arrondissement, in a system chef Pierre-André Aubert (who used to be an aeronautical engineer) has been working on for a decade.

He hopes to cut the business’s carbon footprint by 50% and as well as the solar stove, which is powered by two enormous parabolic mirrors which concentrate the sun’s rays, the entire restaurant has been designed with energy-saving in mind. The aim is to cook 80 per cent of the time using solar power, which heats the stove to a searing 400°C – temperature control is achieved by moving pans closer to and further away from the centre.

Le Présage, the first solar restaurant in Europe, will open its doors to customers on June 18. It’s a good job Marseille enjoys 3,000 hours of sunshine a year!