Hardware stores are like temples to the inner workings of the physical world. I love browsing through the aisles, trying to glean what tool is used for what task or which screw is best. Most hardware stores these days cater to contractors who are sort of temple acolytes with a broad understanding of what’s what. The casual fixit customer is no doubt often intimated by it all. I’m more of a mission specific customer so I pick up bits of knowledge one fixit job at a time.
People tend to have an emotional bond with their favorite hardware store so I expect to hear it when I say the best hardware store in the world is in Marseille, the second city of France. Marseille is a completely different experience than Paris. While the capitol of France is known for its sophisticated and fashionable scene, in Marseille, you’re hard pressed to see anyone even wearing a suit. It’s a casual city.
Marseille’s position as a port means it’s a marvelous destination if you’re a food lover as the city attracts culinary influences from all over the Mediterranean as well as chefs from former French colonies. For example, one extraordinary restaurant called Kin (kin-restaurant.com) is run by chef Hugues Mbenda from the Congo RDC (the second most French-speaking country after France). And in a delightful restaurant called La Mercerie (merceriemarseille.com), my moment of revelation was a butterscotch and gnocchi dish so delicious I recreate it at home on regular basis. And let’s not forget the local Provence wine. (The female chefs seem to favor a Cotes du Roussillon red wine called les Sorceres.)
I was in Marseille as part of culinary tour orchestrated by Meredith Abbot, the culinary director of Sur La Table (www.suralatable.com) This is a great way to experience a city like Marseille. One highlight was accompanying a local chef to source fresh fish from a harbor market, supplemented by vegetables bought at another nearby outdoor market, then assisting in the creation of the city’s famous bouillabaisse, culminating in an intimate cooking and dining experience in the spacious apartment of the chef’s mother who I suspect was the original source of this particular recipe.
The La Sur Table tour also included a private cooking experience hosted by Nice-based chef Rosa Jackson at a farm with a focus on Mediterranean style cooking recipes—with the key being the use of olive oil instead of butter due to a lack of cows in the region—and a visit to the famous La Verrierrie de Biot glassblowing works. A comprehensive guide to the Marseille food scene is a book called “Taste The World In Marseille” by Verane Frediani that boldly claims the city as France’s new food mecca (there are recipes and chef profiles).
But the place I could have spent all day in was a Marseille hardware store called Maison Empereur that opened its doors in 1827, making it the oldest hardware store in France. And it’s still run by the same family. A visit to Maison Empereur is a like making a pilgrimage to the Vatican. The store is enormous—locals call it Ali Baba’s Cave. The store stocks 50,000 items so they have things you never knew existed. Maison Empereur is a key resource for restorers but it’s a great destination for the casual shopper. I bought a measuring cup written in French for five euros that my baking daughter thinks is very cool and a pair of green wooden egg cups for my obsessed self. If you want to cook like a French chef, this is the place to gear up. There’s even a small café with exposed timber ceilings that looks like the kind of place the Three Musketeers might have frequented. And while there are sections that offer everything from paint and tools to clothing and leather bags, a key attraction is an “Art of Living” department that offers goods made by local Provencal craftsmen using time-tested techniques. You can even arrange to stay overnight in an apartment at the shop where an old-fashioned bath by candlelight is part of the experience.
The key to Maison Empereur’s longevity may be its service. There are some small touches you notice during the course of your visit. One is that the staff wears Prussian-blue work jackets that have been worn by manual workers since the 19th century. In the pockets of those work jackets are small cards that staff use to jot down your requirements. And the one thing I have never seen in any other hardware store are chairs where customers and staff can have a sit-down dialogue. Sometimes those chairs are emotional support for visitors who remember coming to the store with their grandparents when they were children. The most experienced and knowledgeable staff sport military-style work medals to denote their expertise. The lasting impression: these are knowledgeable people you can trust.
Marseille has some great places to visit like the massive Basilica of Notre Dame of la Garde that dramatically dominates the city or Fort Saint-Jean which has been guarding the Old Port since 1660, now linked to two museums by foot bridges. Get in touch with your inner D’Artgnan with a glass of pastis at the balcony bar at the Hotel Belvedere overlooking the harbor and decorated with model sailing ships of yore. You probably won’t see a hardware store listed in most travel guides. Nevertheless, Maison Empereur may be the coolest place to visit in Marseille. But be advised, Maison Empereur is getting pretty famous beyond the city’s borders—the store won a Global Innovation Award earlier this year at ceremony in Chicago. Empereur.fr
Have a Happy Holiday season! I’ll be back in the New Year!
