Michel Portos

• Named 2012 Chef of the Year by the Gault-Millau Guide, with two stars at the Saint James, in Bouliac (Gironde), Two years ago, Michel Portos returned to his home town of Marseille to open the Malthazar. Prior to that, he plied his trade at some of France’s most prestigious restaurants, from Dominique Toulousy’s Jardins de l’Opéra in Toulouse to the Troisgros in Roanne, via Perpignan – where he cooked at the smallest starred restaurant (just 6 tables) in France. He is the author of a stunning coffee-table cookbook, Le Saint-James en 65 recettes (The Saint James in 65 Recipes), published by Flammarion in 2011.

  Journalist Nathalie Krafft was the editor-in-chief of the Monde de la Musique for 15 years. She now writes for the news website Rue89.