Les Vieilles Canailles — Restaurant in Aix-en-Provence

We first discovered Les Vieilles Canailles shortly after it opened when its young chef was given an award by Gault & Millau. Back then it was excellent. So a return visit this month was a mighty let-down. The restaurant seems to be a victim of its success, the tables jammed too close together and a single waiter struggling to cope. After contemplating a glass of tap water for 20 minutes while he continued to chat at length at other tables, we politely asked if we might place our order. His mask of false bonhomie vanished in a heartbeat and he was spectacularly, disproportionately rude to us thereafter throughout the meal. Now, bad waiters come and (usually) go, but the food itself was appalling. The dish of the day was calf’s liver, cut as a pavé (thick slab) rather than thinly sliced. Fine. But, served in a runny parsnip puree, these pieces had not been properly cleaned and were full of veins. We left most of them on the plate. The house wine we tried was quite good, and so it should be at 7 €uros a glass. Needless to say our cheerful waiter did not chirp the usual ritual, “Ca a été? Tout s’est bien passé?” but slammed the bill down wordlessly in front of us. It all added up to the most disgraceful meal we’ve had in a very long time. We shall not be returning and shall no longer be recommending Les...

PERFECT...From the beginning to the end. Best restaurant in Aix and its area.

Super friendly, welcoming and warm when I called in to book the table.

I went there in the high season and they gave us the table I had asked for (which was not that easy given the restricted number of tables due to covid restrictions).

Seasonal menu magnifies French traditions. All products are fresh and some vegetables come directly from the garden the owner has outside the city.

Yes Frédéric puts a lot of time, energy and passion to describe everything that is on the menu. You either hate it or love it. I loved it. Feeling that passion is just delightful...And so far away from the food business being done in many restaurants these days...In Aix and elswhere.

Wait time is absolutely acceptable given the quality and freshness of the dishes being prepared.

Wine list is super rich and outstanding.

Super young staff doing an amazing job.

Prices are fair for that level of quality in the products and service. I wish there were more places like that.

Les Vieilles Canailles is just a good reminder of why French cuisine can be the best in the world.

Thanks for being so passionate, honest and good at what you do...from the kitchen to the table.

I will surely come back the next time...

We had an excellent meal here, with the téte de veau and turbot being highlights. The wine list has many gems, with several smaller producers who deserve to be highlighted alongside great food. The bearded gentleman who waited on us was over the top incredible. His jovial demeanor, and ability to serve our table despite waiting on the entire 40 seat restaurant, was impressive. If this here, it would have had 5 stars instead of three. Unfortunately, the chef-owner who was acting as sommelier for the evening was beyond rude, curt, and unhelpful. While his counterpart spent time describing each food menu item in detail, cracking jokes and building rapport along the way, the chef-owner instead decided to force us to order by the glass to start. After spending half of the appetizer course with an empty glass, I was finally able to get his attention to hopefully order a bottle. This request apparently was one he did not seem to appreciate. When asked questions about the differences between two bottles, he refrained making eye contact while offering semi-insulting answers. It’s almost as if he wasn’t interested in making a sale. All in all, it seems that this chef-owner learned a lot about cuisine during his time with Alain Ducasse, but he didn’t learn anything about...