July 11, 2012

The Best Places to Eat in Morocco

From riads and the medina to high-end hotel restaurants, nine places to experience the allure of Moroccan cooking
by Raphael Kadushin
 
Clockwise from top left: Vendors setting up their food carts and stands on Djemaa el Fna at dusk; a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice; a trio of salads from Café des Épices; Khadija's couscous at AnaYela.

A decade ago in Marrakesh, Morocco, you could usually count on getting a floor show served along with your dinner. The palatial big-splurge restaurants dished up lots of low camp and ersatz exotica—including jiggly belly dancers and manic drummers twirling their fez caps—designed, perhaps, to distract you from what you were eating. Dry tagines, soupy couscous, and perfumed fruit bowls were commonplace stand-ins for real Moroccan cuisine, and just as faux as the show. (Ironically, the early aughts saw authentic Moroccan cuisine flourishing in cities as far afield as San Francisco and Berlin, where emigrant chefs were composing more thoughtful dishes.)

Back then, dining choices for tourists like me were confined to public spaces—hotels, expatriate restaurants, and medina stalls that actually welcomed travelers. The best Moroccan chefs, though, were the dadas, female home cooks who worked behind the closed doors of their own kitchens. But slowly, the doors have opened, and in today's Morocco, where the private has begun to go public, more and more boutique riad hotels, as well as an increasing number of serious restaurants, are featuring meals produced by dadas, along with the food of young chefs who are reviving and seriously sourcing soulful Moroccan dishes. The result is a genuine Moroccan cuisine that travelers can actually taste. The following nine dining options offer a taste of the best of Marrakesh and Fez.

Classic Moroccan Restaurants in Marrakesh

La Maison Arabe, Marrakesh's pioneer boutique riad hotel in the medina, takes its food very seriously. The culinary ambition comes courtesy of owner Fabrizio Ruspoli, whose restaurant Les Trois Saveurs triumphantly reclaims Morocco's beleaguered signature dish, the tagine. Chef Didier Levy's famous lamb tagine is a vibrant tour de force roused by saffron, onions, sesame seeds, ginger, turmeric, and caramelized oranges so the tender lamb is brightened by the fruit's sunny sweetness. Just as good are his chicken tagine with sun-dried peaches, and his pigeon pastilla. Sign up for the hotel's cooking classes, led by a dada who will reveal recipe secrets that have been passed down through generations. (1, Derb Assehbé, Bab Doukkala; 011-212-5-24-38-70-10; lamaisonarabe.com)

Lunch Al Fresco

Most Marrakesh visitors spend the day prowling the souk until hunger or heat demands that they stop for lunch. Until recently, lunch options in the medina were uninspired. But Kamal Laftimi, the Marrakshi son of a local Arabic teacher, wasn't shy about fusing the best of old and new Marrakesh when he opened Café des Épices in the thick of the souk. This rooftop café, clubhouse and hangout isn't easy to find, so diners tend to be insiders who know their way through the medina's maze. Black stone cabanas, big round wicker chandeliers, and cushion-lined banquettes spritzed with hiccupping clouds of cooling mist from ceiling vents create a perfect hideaway from the heat. The photogenic waitstaff wear big straw hats and bear portable chalkboards scrawled with each day's menu, a list of eclectic dishes that jumps from tagliatelle to tagines, couscous to crème brulée. At midday, opt for the lighter dishes with clean, bright flavors: the trio of Moroccan salads (usually cubed eggplants, the sweetest carrots, and potatoes) or a fruit bowl piled with oranges, kiwi, and pineapple. (Place aux Esclaves, 011- 212-5-24-39-17-70, facebook.com/cafedesepicesmarrakech)

If the rooftop at Café des Épices is too crowded, head over to Kaftimi's second, newest restaurant, Le Jardin, a few twists of the medina away from the Café. Situated in the blooming courtyard of a restored riad, Le Jardin is a mash-up of café and performance space, where films are projected on the walls at night and a small library nestles under the courtyard arches. The food, like that at the café, is best for a simple lunch: Try the chicken club sandwich, salad of three melons, sardines in olive oil with toast, or the ricotta ravioli. The calm, oasis-like setting under tall courtyard palm trees makes for a smart escape from the sun. (32, souk El jeld, Sidi Abdelaziz, 011-212-5-24-37-82-95, lejardin.ma)

Riad Restaurants

While the constellation of intimate boutique riad hotels is multiplying daily in the medina, you don't have to be a guest to eat at one. Riad AnaYela is located in a corner of the medina that is so hard to find (part of its odd attraction) you'll need a walker to meet you at the taxi drop-off and guide you to the entrance. Be sure to call the riad by 2 p.m. to reserve a table for dinner, either around the courtyard pool, up on the tented rooftop, or at AnaYela's signature "flying carpet": a red-curtained pavilion overlooking the medina. Dinner is whatever Khadija, AnaYela's dada, finds fresh that day in the local markets (which is why you have to call to reserve by 2 p.m.). Her signature couscous is a revelation. Forget all the gummy couscous you've had in the past: This rendition, topped with a pinwheel of sliced zucchini and carrots, is so fluffy it almost floats off the plate. End with an ethereal stack of paper-thin almond biscuits, cinnamon, crème fraîche, and peaches. (28 Derb Zerwal, Zaouira Abassia, 011-212-5-24-38-69-69, AnaYela.com)

Moroccan Street Food

Every evening at around dusk, the medina's central square, Djemaa el Fna, transforms into a marathon street-food buffet. The vendors set up their numbered cooking stations and tables, and smoke starts to waft off their grills in billowing, perfumed clouds. To mitigate the risk of "tourist belly" (which is neither more nor less likely here than anywhere in the world), be cautious and follow a few basic rules: Avoid stalls that mount elaborate food displays, attempt to cook a multitude of dishes, and are crowded with tourists. Instead, head for the stalls that attract the locals and specialize in one or two signature dishes. Stalls numbered 1 through 6 all focus only on bowls of fresh snails served in a rousing broth of thyme, caraway seeds, green tea leaves, mint, and red chiles. Vendor #94 (and the unnumbered vendor facing #94, apparently so popular he doesn't need a number) serves a surprisingly satisfying sandwich of hard-boiled eggs cradled in fresh-baked bread. And try a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice from one of the juice vendors framing the square; it will be the sweetest, pulpiest glass of orange juice you'll ever taste.

Continental Fare

When you want some relief from an overload of authenticity and the medina's din, consider the web of unabashedly luxurious resorts that have settled around Marrakesh in a suburban ring. In some ways, the restaurants at these increasingly posh properties are as authentic as anything else in always-evolving Marrakesh, where the expat's European tastes have increasingly infused local menus. The classic La Mamounia, a 10-minute walk from the medina, has benefited from its recent massive renovation. Its sensuous plum-colored interior, designed by Jacques Garcia, is a stunning combination of Moroccan craftsmanship and Parisian chic. The food has improved, too, and while the on-site Italian and Moroccan restaurants are good, the best restaurant at La Mamounia is Le Français, where French chef Bertrand Charles recently introduced a "bistronomic" lunch menu that is the best reason to stop by. Among the kitchen's strongest brasserie dishes: seared scallops with truffle-scented celeriac mousseline; a shepherd's pie made with beef tail, white wine, and truffles; a toss of beets and red cabbage crowned by foie gras; and caramelized bananas with chocolate fritters. (Avenue Bab Jdid, 011-212-5-24-38-86-00, mamounia.com)

If that seems too Gallic, head for the shiny new Four Seasons Resort Marrakech instead. The resort, which opened in 2011, is a 10-minute cab ride from the medina. Its epic sprawl of low-lying buildings looks like a posh sand castle village and features a spa, two slate pools, and its fine-dining Italian, Bleu d'Orange. Why eat Italiana in Marrakesh? Why not? Choose between the dining room lit by candles flickering in its wall niches and a big terrace spilling outside, along with some very comforting dishes: a gnocchi with butter and fresh sage; lobster linguine; and a simple calamari salad. (1 Boulevard de la Menara, 011-212-5-24-35-92-00, fourseasons.com/Marrakech)

Dining Outside Marrakesh

For real relief from the medina, an easy escape is the 45-minute drive south from Marrakesh into the Atlas Mountains to where Sir Richard Branson's Kasbah Tamadot occupies a hillside overlooking a timeless Berber village. The lunch menu, served on an open terrace, stars light, contemporary dishes like a verbena-infused red-pepper gazpacho paired with a timbale of crab and avocado, and a carpaccio of mango turned sweetly tart with lime ice cream, shaved coconut, mint, and passion fruit sauce. (BP 67, Asni 042150, 877-577-8777, kasbahtamadot.virgin.com)

A side trip to Fez, the other essential Moroccan city, takes a little bit more work: The 240-mile drive north through desert landscapes is scenic and worth the time if you have it, but it's easier and more convenient to hop the quick flight between the two cities. Though more conservative than Marrakesh, Fez is slowly opening up to visitors in fresh ways, and the doggedly chic Palais Amani Riad alone is worth the trip. The kitchen's feathery cauliflower purée topped by cold pickled cauliflower is a gorgeous duet of flavors and textures. Also sublime: a chicken pastilla crowned by two little crossed chicken legs and a simple pear poached in wine sauce. The fact that you're dining around a courtyard dressed up by jewel-toned Moroccan tiles and a tinkling fountain doesn't hurt in the least. Once closed to travelers, that open courtyard may be the real face of Morocco—one that knows how to invite in the new without giving up its old, soulful self. (12 Derb el Miter, Oued Zhoune, Hay Blida, Fes Medina, 011-212-5-35-63-32-09, palaisamani.com)

Raphael Kadushin is a Contributing Editor at National Geographic Traveler magazine and a regular contributor to Condé Nast Traveler magazine, Gourmet Live, and Out. His award-winning fiction and journalism have been widely anthologized in a range of collections including Men on Men, Mr. Wrong, Best Food Writing 2001, 2008 and 2009, and National Geographic's Through the Lens. He is the editor of the anthologies Wonderlands: Good Gay Travel Writing and Big Trips. He is also the Senior Acquisitions Editor at the University of Wisconsin Press, where he oversees the film, dance, history, autobiography, fiction, and poetry lists.

Photos: Courtesy of Raphael Kadushin

From epicurious.com

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