A freshly baked pitta bread stuffed with crisp, fragrant fried balls of a chickpea and herb mixture, hummus, tahini, salads, pickles and chilli sauce can be bought for three shekels (50p).
Kati and Philippe are welcoming hosts, and this is the place to discover little-known regional wines such as Bellet, Villars-sur-Var, and Saint Jeannet. 3 Rue de la Tour, +33 4 9380 0331 cavedelatour.com, open Tue-Sat 7am-8pm, Sun 7am-12.30pm Nonene should leave Nice without trying the famous Socca, a local take on pizza, but made with chickpea flour and olive oil.
In Orange, for instance, a town in Provence where many north Africans live, E. Leclerc, a rival chain, was offering 20 varieties of chickpea.
MIDDLE EASTERNERS have had a habit of making war but they suffer a stronger addiction to hummus, the chickpea dip that is a staple of Levantine cuisine.
James is fairly pleased with his chickpea and cuttlefish soup – "fish a bit rubbery, though" – while Rachel thinks her octopus carpaccio is "overdressed".
The poulpe grillé (octopus, with a spoonful of baba ghanoush, over a tomato and chickpea panisse) does not taste fresh enough for its £9.50; but, much worse, the "Chop-Chop" salad never becomes more than the sum of its parts, even after the unnecessary addition of half a lobster at £15.
The speciality snack of Nice, though, is socca, a rather tasteless chickpea pancake covered in pepper.
The seared scallops (£8) with chickpea purée and criolla sauce (made from red peppers) are serviceable only, which at that price isn't good enough.
"I'm already bored with seeing veggie lasagne and chickpea curry on menus and I wish pub chains would liven up their veggie offerings beyond a mushroom burger or salad".
Out to brunch Sample socca – the Niçoise chickpea pancake – at Chez Thérésa (22) in the Cours Saleya (€3).
I love the fact it has a story and that it focuses on everyday, simple suppers rather than posh, fiddly things: my favourite recipe is probably his slow-roasted lamb with chickpea mash.
