At 1 rue Jules Gilly, in Old Nice, Natacha and Sacha opened the establishment they themselves were looking for: a true pan bagnat, made to order, at a Niçois price. A portrait of two friends who waited five years before taking the plunge.
In Old Nice, between the colorful facades, narrow streets, and terraces spilling onto the cobblestones, Natacha and Sacha chose to champion one of the simplest—and perhaps most precious—symbols of Niçois cuisine: the pan bagnat.
With Batchas, their small establishment opened at the beginning of summer at 1 rue Jules Gilly, they didn't try to reinvent a recipe generations old. On the contrary. Their idea is almost counter-current: to do things as they should be done, to preserve a taste they've always known, and to allow everyone to eat a real pan bagnat in the heart of Old Nice.
A story of bread, tomatoes, and olive oil, of course. But above all, a story of memories, transmission, and taste.
Five Years for a Simple Idea
Batchas wasn't born in a few months. The idea has been with Natacha and Sacha for nearly five years. For a long time, it stayed in the back of their minds, before things became truly serious about two years ago.
At its origin, there's primarily an observation from Niçoises.
Both are big fans of pan bagnat. They know those somewhat hidden places where you can find a good one. Neighborhood shops, bakeries, places recommended because they do things simply, without much fuss.
But when they looked for the same thing in Old Nice, they couldn't really find it.
And the paradox struck them: how can one of Nice's most emblematic dishes be so difficult to find in the neighborhood that thousands of visitors discover first? How to explain that a tourist can walk through Old Nice without easily stumbling upon a pan bagnat that truly tells the city's story?
So the idea took shape: to create the place they themselves would have liked to find.
Not an overly reinterpreted tourist product. Not a sophisticated version that forgot its origins. But something good, made on-site, generous, prepared with quality products and sold at what they simply call "a Niçois price."
At Batchas, the pan bagnat starts at €7.90. A detail that matters almost as much as the rest in their way of seeing things: remaining accessible, maintaining the product's popular spirit, and not transforming an everyday recipe into a luxury item.
Twelve Steps, and No Real Shortcuts
At first glance, a pan bagnat might seem like the simplest sandwich in the world.
A round bread, some vegetables, tuna, olive oil, and voilà.
At Batchas, you quickly understand that it's not quite how things work.
Natacha and Sacha talk about twelve steps to compose their pan bagnat. And the word "compose" is important. Here, it's not about randomly stacking ingredients. Each element arrives at its moment, in a precise order, so that the whole works once the sandwich is closed.
It all starts with the bread, of course. Then gradually come the elements that give the pan bagnat its freshness, its texture, and its deliciousness: tomatoes, raw vegetables, spring onions, peppers, egg, tuna, anchovies, Niçoises olives, not to mention the olive oil that binds it all together.
Everything is prepared to order.
And the more Natacha and Sacha explain their method, the more you understand that a good pan bagnat ultimately comes down to a few things—but things that must be done well.
The bread must be sufficiently soaked, but not soggy. The tomato must provide juice without overwhelming the rest. The ingredients must be generous without turning the sandwich into a difficult-to-eat block. The oil must be present everywhere without taking over.
It's almost a small balancing act.
And this idea of soaked bread is indeed at the very heart of the product. The word "bagnat," from the Niçois "banhat," refers to the idea of something wet, bathed. So it's not a detail of preparation: it's almost its definition.
At Batchas, this simplicity demands a lot of attention. When a recipe has few ingredients and almost no artifice, it's difficult to hide an average product or poor proportioning.
So you prepare, you assemble, you oil, you close.
And you start over.
Recipes from Further Afield
Behind the counter, there are also many memories.
Natacha and Sacha drew from their families, their habits, and the recipes they grew up with to imagine Batchas. Some preparations come directly from this family transmission, from those tastes you know even before you can explain them.
This is what gives their project something very personal.
They didn't start from a trend or a desire to create a "Niçois" concept. They started from what they already had around them.
Family recipes. Products they know. Mealtime memories. Tastes they wanted to rediscover and share.
Even the menu tells Nice's story in its own way. The different pan bagnats bear the names of the city's neighborhoods, like little winks to those who live there every day.
And behind this, one clear guideline remains: work with seasonal products, preserve Mediterranean flavors, and keep the pan bagnat's simple, fresh, and popular identity that makes it so appealing.
Batchas, a Name that Reflects Them
The name also tells the story of this encounter between their history and that of the product.
Batchas is, of course, a play on Natacha and Sacha, but also a sound that immediately refers to the pan bagnat and the Niçois universe they wanted to create around the shop.
A simple, easy-to-remember name that sums up their project quite well: something personal, but deeply rooted in the city.
And even if the pan bagnat remains the heart of the establishment, Batchas doesn't stop there.
You'll also find pissaladière, other sandwiches, and a menu destined to gradually expand with other recipes inspired by their families, their memories, and the seasons.
Always with this idea of not overdoing it.
Making things good, making them right, and staying true to what they themselves love to eat.
And Then We Had to Taste It
Naturally, after hearing them talk about their twelve steps, the order of ingredients, and everything that goes into balancing the pan bagnat, we had to verify.
So we tasted it.
And the first thing that strikes you is the freshness.
Then something else comes, more difficult to explain: everything seems perfectly proportioned.
No ingredient tries to overpower another. The tomato provides just the right amount of juice, the olive oil soaks the bread without crushing it, the vegetables add crunch, the tuna and anchovies bring character, and the olives finish the ensemble.
Above all, we understand why Natacha and Sacha insist so much on the construction.
Because once in the mouth, everything works together.
The pan bagnat is generous, but never heavy. It is well-filled, but remains easy to eat. The bread retains enough structure to accompany the rest, while absorbing enough juice to become almost melting.
And most importantly, the bites follow one another with quite disconcerting ease.
There's something almost mechanical in how everything is balanced: one bite calls for another, then another. Nothing tires, nothing overloads. It's fresh, fluid, and almost too simple to finish.
Perhaps that's the greatest success, after all.
Behind the twelve steps, the good products, the family recipes, and the years spent imagining Batchas, once the pan bagnat is in your hands, everything seems obvious.
And that's probably the best compliment one can give to a recipe like this.
In a city where tradition can sometimes become a marketing argument, Natacha and Sacha chose to do something simpler: to bring it to life.
A brand-new address, for a recipe that is not.
And a lovely way to remind us that in the heart of Old Nice, there is still room to tell the story of Nice with a round bread, some vegetables, lots of olive oil—and two friends who waited five years before taking the plunge.
Batchas in Practice
Batchas — 1 rue Jules Gilly, 06300 Nice, in Old Nice, a few minutes from Cours Saleya and the sea. Open 7 days a week, from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pan bagnat from €7.90, vegetarian version "Santon," Niçoise salad, pissaladière, and panisse cubes. The full menu and their story can be found on batchas.fr, and daily updates from the shop can be followed on Instagram.
And if you want to know where this sandwich really comes from, we dedicated a whole article to it.
