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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Laura Spinney

From crime lord to Michelin award: how a notorious Marseille prison was the making of a top French chef

Portrait of Krishna Léger in the kitchen of his restaurant, Volver, near Uzès
Krishna Léger: ‘It sounds strange, but the possibility of changing my life hadn’t even occurred to me.’ Photograph: Denis Dalmasso/The Guardian

Krishna Léger is confident he is the only person to have smuggled fresh fish into Les Baumettes in Marseille, one of the most notorious prisons in France. With the fish he made bouillabaisse, the famous Marseillais soup. One of his fellow inmates – also from Marseille – said it was the best he had ever tasted.

These days, Léger serves bouillabaisse on the first Sunday of every month at his restaurant, Volver, just outside the pretty medieval town of Uzès, in the southern French département of the Gard.

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