‘Big dreams’ for couple who set up town centre cafe-restaurant serving French cuisine six years ago

A cafe-restaurant serving unique French cuisine at the heart of Northampton town centre has continued to evolve over the past six years.

Marseille, located in Sheep Street, was opened by Sergiu and Lina Andrevschi after they made the decision to set up a family business following their wedding.

What began as a cafe inspired by their travel experiences and passion for French cuisine has since adapted and now operates as a cafe-restaurant.

As he also shared in another recent story in the Chronicle & Echo about the opening of Sakura Sushi Bar with his brother, Sergiu’s love of cooking began in childhood in his home country of Moldova.

Having travelled widely, including to countries with famous cuisine like Italy and France, Sergiu and Lina “turned their passion into a reality” almost a decade after moving to Northampton in 2009.

Marseille offers classic French dishes for brunch, lunch and dinner, as well as unique meals that “you cannot find in other restaurants”.

Though Sergiu knows they are not for everyone, frog legs are available as a starter and this has been one of their unique offerings from the very beginning.

“The beginning was tough,” he said. “Some people are afraid of trying something new and you have to show them what you can offer.”

Sergiu believes one of their selling points is that customers are served authentic meals without having to travel to France for them – as well as the fact they offer local dishes and others inspired by destinations across the world.

When asked what he believes keeps customers coming back to Marseille for more, Sergiu said: “Apart from serving beautiful and tasty dishes, we provide a good service and a system that works. We have a good staff team to provide the experience and we’ve had good feedback.”

The business owners’ proudest achievement since opening back in 2018 is the fact they acted on the “bigger potential” of expanding from a cafe that only offered brunches and lunches.

“After gathering a good team, we expanded and set it up as a cafe-restaurant with a bigger variety,” said Sergiu, who likes the fact they now offer live jazz music events from the venue.

Though the pandemic was a difficult time for Marseille, which was unable to operate while closed in line with the restrictions, Sergiu and Lina did the best to retain their staff before reopening to the public.

When asked his hopes for the future of the business, Sergiu said: “We have big dreams to expand and find other places to offer the same services in other towns.”

With another venture with his brother underway, the people of Northampton are encouraged to try out these family-owned restaurants.

For more information, visit Marseille’s Facebook page here.