At seven every morning Marc walks down to the harbour with two crates and no list. The menu is decided by what comes off the boats.
Three boats
He buys from the same three boats he has bought from for thirty years. They fish at night with nets and lines a few miles out, and they are in by half past six.
How to tell it is fresh
Clear eyes, red gills, skin that springs back when you press it, and a smell of the sea rather than of fish. If any of the four is missing, he does not buy it.
The rule is simple: what came in this morning, and nothing else. On a day when the sea was too rough to fish, the menu is vegetables and lamb.
How we cook it
Small fish are grilled whole over vine wood with olive oil, salt and a lemon from the kitchen wall. Large ones are baked in a crust of salt and opened at the table. Nothing is hidden under a sauce.
