Vegan Festival in Fez

Vegans from around the world have been invited to VegFest - a festival in the heart of the old Medina of Fez, on Sunday, December 2

An international festival dedicated to the vegan lifestyle is an event organized within the cultural centre, the Medina Social Club that hopes to bring together several activists and actors from the sector from Morocco but also from the United States, Europe and North Africa.

This will be the first VegFest organized in North Africa and second in Africa, the annual event, which promotes a healthy, animal-free and plant-based lifestyle, aims to combat the prejudices related to this way of life and expand the community Vegan in Morocco.

Several activities are on the program, including yoga sessions, vegan cooking classes, round tables and debates, tastings of dishes and vegan drinks. The menu also includes a booth and exhibition area and product sales as well as music concerts and artist performances.

The round tables should be interesting and there should be much to debate, especially in light of recent research that shows that people who avoided eating any meat or fish are less healthy and have a higher risk of some illnesses. Another research group looking at student diets reported lower self-esteem, lower psychological adjustment, less “meaning” in life and more negative moods in vegans than those students in the study who ate meat or fish.

“Vegetarians also reported more negative social experiences than omnivores and semi-vegetarians,” they noted. “Although women were more likely than men to identify as vegetarians and semi-vegetarians, controlling for participant gender did not change the results of the analyses.”

The authors concluded that, “The differences we found are consistent with other research that suggests that vegetarians are less psychologically well-adjusted than non-vegetarians.” Titled, “Relationships between vegetarian dietary habits and daily well-being,” the study’s authors, who are research psychologists at UCLA and the College of William and Mary, found that vegetarians are generally “more miserable than meat-eaters, have lower self-esteem and may be less psychologically well-adjusted.”

Entry to the Festival at the Medina Social Club is 80 Dirhams.

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Australians Get a Taste of Morocco

The Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco in Canberra has just launched the first Festival of Moroccan Gastronomy at the Hyatt hotel. The public is invited, for ten days, to discover the flavours of the culinary heritage of the Kingdom

Organized as part of the festivities marking the 19th anniversary of the Throne Day, the event "The Flavors of Morocco " was inaugurated by the Ambassador of His Majesty the King in Australia, Karim Medrek and the Minister of Multicultural Affairs, Rachel Stephen Smith, in the presence of several heads of diplomatic missions accredited to Canberra and a host of personalities from the world of politics, culture, and civil society.

" This initiative, the first of its kind in Australia, aims to introduce the Moroccan culinary art and its flavors to the Australian public ," Medrek said in a statement to MAP on the sidelines of the opening ceremony.

The Ambassador explained that " Moroccan cuisine is one of the most refined and diversified thanks to the country's interaction with other cultures and nations over several centuries, particularly through its African, Berber, Moorish tributaries, Arab, Jewish and Mediterranean ". The richness of Moroccan cuisine also comes from ancestral know-how, which has always crossed generations, he added.

And to emphasise that Morocco and Australia " enjoy excellent relations and that such events help to bring together the two peoples who share the value of hospitality ".

For his part, the Director General of the Hyatt Hotel Canberra, Fredrick Arul, said that the event " is an opportunity for Australians to taste the dishes and dishes that make the richness of the culinary arts of Morocco, a country that attracts more and more Australian tourists . "

" For this premiere in Canberra, the hotel is experiencing unprecedented enthusiasm for its prestigious restaurant" la Promenade ", which has 150 people daily. A craze expected given the notoriety enjoyed by Moroccan cuisine around the world, "he said, adding that this kind of event is very important to further strengthen the bonds of friendship between Rabat and Canberra and mutual understanding between the two peoples.

The guests at this first evening, enhanced by traditional Moroccan music, have not lost any praise for the delicious dishes, including the must-haves of Moroccan gastronomy couscous with seven vegetables, meat tagine with prunes, the Pastilla, the chicken with olives and lemon confit without forgetting the essential tea with mint. A unique tasting experience offering diners the opportunity to discover a range of dishes as refined as each other.

Hassan M'Souli

These gastronomic days will continue until August 12 with the participation of the Moroccan chef, Hassan M'Souli and his "new Moroccan" cuisine.

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Ancient Knowledge, and the art of Islamic cuisine

The Fes Festival of World Sacred Music offers visitors to Fes more than just music. To coincide with this year’s Festival theme - Ancient Knowledge - Palais Amani and the Fez Cooking School will host a public cooking demonstration showcasing recipes from the ancient art of Islamic cuisine in the presence of the award winning chef Anissa Helou

Chef Anissa Helou and Chef Houssam Laasiri at Palais Amani

Born in Lebanon to a Syrian father and Lebanese mother, Anissa Helou has been described as the Claudia Roden of the Islamic culinary world. In 2013, she was named one of the “100 Most Powerful Arab Women” by Arabian Business magazine” and she was also included in their “500 most influential Arabs.”

Her first book Lebanese Cuisine, the first comprehensive collection of this kind in the English language, was published in 1994 followed by Street Café Morocco. Since then she has published over half a dozen other cookbooks concentrating on the richness and diversity of culinary cultures in the Arabic world. 

Her latest book Feast was published at the end of May this year. “Telling a genuine food story that covers a quarter of the world’s population is a mighty task. One person who can wrestle with such a challenge is Anissa Helou," says Yotam Ololenghi in praise of the book.

Anissa Helou has lived and travelled widely from Egypt to Syria, Iran to Indonesia, gathering some of its finest and most flavourful recipes for bread, rice, meats, fish, spices, and sweets, all found in her new book. Feast is an indispensable addition to the culinary canon featuring some of the world’s most inventive cultures and peoples. 

Chef Houssam Laasiri

On Wednesday 27th June, at 2.30 pm, in the gardens of Palais Amani, Anissa Helou will be describing her research into the art of Islamic cuisine, while chefs from the Palais Amani will be demonstrating some of her recipes for you to see and try. 

She will also be officially opening the Fez Cooking School, the well equipped facility on the roof top of the Palais Amani.  Signed copies of Anissa Helou's book Feast will be available for purchase at the event.

Special Festival Menu

In honour of the book, and the Festival’s theme, the Eden restaurant will be running a special menu that explores some of the most celebrated dishes from Moroccan cuisine and a selection of mezze to accompany your pre or post Festival drinks - using the recipes directly from Anissa’s book.

Extended dining opening hours during the festival: 6. 30 pm to 10 pm for dinner, and 6.30 pm to 11 pm for drinks and mezze.

The Fez Cooking School

Fez, spiritual capital of Morocco, is also the birthplace to the most refined and diverse cuisine.
The school offers the opportunity get under the surface of this fascinating country by plunging into the souks with the class chef as a guide and tasting simple delicacies that are on our doorstep. Experience a hands-on cooking workshop at Fez Cooking School at Palais Amani, located in a unique setting with views over the Medina rooftops.

What: Ancient Knowledge, and the Art of Islamic Cuisine. Cooking demonstration and complimentary tasting.
When: 27th June at 2.30 pm.
Where: Gardens of Palais Amani, 12 Derb El Miter, Fez Medina 
More info: Jemima Mann-Baha or Amilia Vergnaud at contact@fezcookingschool.com
www.fezcookingschool.com

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The Carrot Washers of Ain Chkef

The river running through the forest of Ain Chkef is the centre of a small but important part of the Fez food chain - carrot washing!

Small trucks deliver the carrots right into the river

A woman washes bunches of carrots

While the women wash the men sort the carrots into bunches

Downstream from the washing area, boys collect stray carrots

From a tourist perspective, the Forêt d'Ain Chkef - the forest of Ain Chkef - is probably one of the least visited attractions of Fez. This forest is located in the south of the city.

With beautiful enormous trees and greenery, it is a peaceful space to walk or run in—especially in the mornings when the air is cooler. This forest is famous among locals, which means it would be best to go on weekdays when it’s less crowded.

photos: Suzanna Clarke

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Programme for Fez Culinary Festival

DIPLOMATIE CULINAIRE - Troisième édition du Festival du 19 au 22 avril 2018 The third edition of the Festival of Culinary Diplomacy opens tomorrow.

For more information visit the official website or Facebook page

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The Fes Festival of Culinary Diplomacy

The Fes Festival of Culinary Diplomacy under the theme "Culinary arts, health and wisdom of the world: gastronomy and local cultures of Morocco and elsewhere", will be held from April 19 to 22

"The event will revisit the collective memory of the gastronomic heritage, of a common cultural history. Our ambition is to see how each country tries to expose its gastronomic art, to develop it to the extent that this promotion is the best ambassador there is, "says Oussama Skali, director of the festival.

This 3rd edition will highlight the kitchens of Tunisia and Mexico. During the numerous conferences, artistic performances and evenings (dinners / debates) organised during the festival there will also be music and the arts.

"We have among the speakers Mrs. Gloria Lopez Morales, the president of the World Forum of Gastronomy of Mexico, who has worked to introduce Mexican gastronomy into the UNESCO World Heritage," says the event's leader.

Another renowned speaker is Professor Henri Joyeux. Author of the best seller "Change of Food" Henri Joyeux should interest the festival-goers with his "health passport" approach.

"It is through the aphorism of Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin: "Tell me what you eat: I'll tell you what you are ", that we will trace the path of this knowledge," announces Skali. Mirroring with the book: "Cuisine and Dietetics in the Western Medieval Arab", according to an anonymous treatise of the 13th century, this year's festival will reflect on how to integrate into the contemporary political and diplomatic approach , essential cultural dimensions in a perspective of well-being.

Festival-goers will discover the paths by which we are led to both the art of living and that of food. "We can discover a wealth of information full of creativity and common sense in works of medieval Andalusia such as that of Tujibi, in the gastronomic heritage of Morocco in its different cultures, in the Amerindian traditions of Mexico or Peru, in the Ayurvedic Indian tradition, that of Japan related to Shintoism and Buddhism and the dietary and psycho-spiritual advice of Hildegard of Bingen, "says Skali.

Among them are chiefs Christian Tetedoie, Moha, and Najat Kanaache. These cooks will share their knowledge and their art with the public. They will also reinterpret our respective gastronomies in the light of these centuries-old experiences and what we say and propose in science today.

Local products

From April 19th to 22nd, every evening of the festival will be held with a gastronomic dinner accompanied by debates, prepared by one of the chefs in collaboration with small local producers and the Fez-Meknes region. Also, the festival will apply the concept of diplomacy from the kitchen. Chefs from different countries will work together to present their own gastronomy, but also to create joint creations.

The View From Fez is an official Media Partner of the Festival

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Escape the Heat in Fez - Head to the Hills

If you have been sweltering in Fez there are a growing number of places up in the foothills of the Middle Atlas where you can chill out. The View From Fez team recently visited Dar El Mandar, just 35 minutes from Fez

This beautifully designed Amazigh dwelling is nestled in the hills overlooking the Fez-Sais plain with a view of Fez.  It is an ideal place for families or groups to stay overnight or visit with a day pass that includes use of the pristine pool and a delicious lunch.

Dar El Mandar was created by Jaoued Saidi and his wife Samira who have put years of thought and planning into creating a place of beauty that combines both contemporary and traditional Amazigh (Berber) styles.

For cooler times, the main house has a roaring fire in the large open-plan lounge and dining area. There is choice of a large dining table or a less formal table on the terrace outside.

The food is traditional, beautifully prepared and ranges from simple tagines to more elaborate menus if arranged in advance.

The bread and cakes are all cooked on-site in a traditional Amazigh oven. For those interested, a traditional bread making course is available.

Traditional Amazigh bread-making with Khadija

What is remarkable about the Dar El Mandar experience is the variety of areas, each with a totally different ambiance. Sitting beside the pool sipping a cool rosé, or with a group of friends eating lunch in the outdoor dining room, or (our favourite) chilling out in one of the the traditional Amazigh tents.

Room with a view - outdoor dining

The Amazigh tents are ideal for simply relaxing, reading a book or having a siesta. Looking out over the landscape it is easy to see why Game of Thrones used the tents as a template for the Dothraki tents. Khal Drogo slumping on a banquette would not look out of place.

The perfect chill out spot

At the end of the day the bedrooms are inviting, tastefully decorated and with very comfortable beds. If you want to stay overnight it is important to book well ahead as Dar El Mandar has only three (air-conditioned) bedrooms.

Photo credits: Sandy McCutcheon, Suzanna Clarke - Click on images to enlarge

DETAILS

Douar Lahricha Bni Mellala, Kandar Sidi Khiar Caïdat Aït Youssi, Sefrou, Morocco.
00 212 676 141 335
darelmandarfes.com

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The Ruined Garden - planting and renovation

This is the time of the year in Morocco when many people take holidays and so the folk at The Ruined Garden will be taking a well deserved break. Not just for recreation, but also for some interesting renovations

The Ruined Garden will close after lunch on 12th July for 2 weeks of renovation. After a busy year, as many have had in Fez it is time to rearrange the kitchen and the coffee and drinks dispense area as well and ‘re-hang’ the Garden. The planting is now 4 years old and it is time to release some of the fruit frees currently in pots and plant directly into the soil. Also grape vines and peach, nectarine and apricot trees will be planted and then trained to form living walls behind tables in the central rectangle. Direct planting into Fez clay will reduce water consumption as well as increase yield. One day - Chateau Idrissy?

The restaurant will re-open for dinner on the 27th July with a revised menu and a greater selection of tapas for lunchtime (Hake Chermoula with olive oil cooked potatoes, couscous omelette, mint and cucumber soup, fried sardines and lemon) Tapas from 20 dirham per plate, a few regulars will remain on the tapas menu but many will be new.

The real Pigeon B’Stella

In the evening there will be more celebratory dishes including Pigeon B’Stella, this is one of the high points of Fez cooking and is hard to find on an A La Carte Menu and not within a fixed price set menu (in the garden 200 dirham - order a day in advance, boneless pigeon, spices, roast almonds, egg and sugar, with a tomato and orange salad).

www.ruinedgarden.com  #riadandgarden
reservations riadandgarden@gmail.com or +212(0) 649191410

Riad Idrissy will also close for 2 weeks and re-open on 27th July.

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Fes Festival - Food Guide

One of the delights of the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music is the opportunity to explore the cuisine for which Morocco is justifiably famous. For visitors to Fez, here are some of our suggestions for top places to enjoy fine food. We offer seven of our favourites. If you are attending the whole festival, try one per day and you'll still have a couple of days to spare for some street food!

Moroccan food is incredibly diverse, thanks to the country’s interaction with a variety of cultures and nations over the centuries, including Amazigh (Berber), Moorish, Arab and Mediterranean influences. Spices feature extensively in Moroccan cooking and there is a centuries-old art to their careful balancing.

The Ruined Garden

The Ruined Garden is in the garden of Riad Idrissy and is a delightful, relaxed oasis. It will be opening its doors each day between 13.00 and 21.30.

The Ruined Garden is a delight

The Ruined Garden lunch menu will have will be more tapas this year and in the evening there will be the most famous Fez speciality - Pigeon B’Stella - a filo pastry pie stuffed with pigeon meat, spices, egg and toasted almonds with an orange and tomato salad and cinnamon and sugar. There will be no need to order a fixed price menu as it will be a main course dish. The Ruined Garden is still one of the few places in Fez to offer this on an a la carte menu (200 DH).

There are also a couple of dishes that are worth taking the time to order in advance.

Worthy of special mention is the slow-cooked (7 hour) lamb 'Mechwi' - 240 DH for 1 kilo (32 oz). It is a good dish to share and comes with a saffron, garlic, cumin and vegetable tagine (each extra kilo costs 180 DH).

Sephardic Saffron Chicken - 280 DH for one chicken, enough for two or three people. (Ask if you are a bigger group and need a larger bird.) This is poached with saffron, chickpeas, garlic, onion, eggs and stuffed with spiced minced beef.

Ice creams are also on the menu and to drink there is salty lemon and sprite and coke floats.

Contact: 06 49 19 14 10 or riadandgarden@gmail.com
13 Derb Idrissi, Sieje, Sidi Ahmed Chaoui. Ph 06 49 19 14 10  http://www.riadidrissy.com/

Moroccan mint makes the world's best mint tea

The Eden at Palais Amani

Gastro Pop-up in the Fez Medina - The Eden at Palais Amani. This is a boutique hotel just inside the Medina in Fez and another excellent place to eat. The Eden restaurant introduces guests to the diversity of Moroccan cuisine through the types of dishes found in Moroccan homes. The menus are revitalised with a twist of creativity and sophistication and brought to your table by their acclaimed chefs.

As part of the 23rd edition of Fez’s Sacred Music Festival, Eden will be running a three day Gastronomy Pop-Up event, in collaboration with Food and Friends.

Food and Friends are a duo - both born in Belgium; one with Italian/Indonesian roots the other Moroccan.

Carlo worked for years in Belgium, in iconic Michelin star restaurants such as Comme Chez Soi, De Slagmolen, Clos St Denis and De Bijgaarden. Noureddin has been running a hotel in Belgium with his partner. Today, Noureddin's sense of hospitality blends with Carlo's culinary talent and together they form Food and Friends.

They are passionate about high quality food from fresh and seasonal local products. Together they work on many private dining projects and are also involved in gastronomic pop-up events in Morocco and Belgium.

From the 12th to 14th May (inclusive) Food and Friends will be showcasing a delightful tasting menu available at lunch and before and after concerts.

For more information please contact Amilia Baha at salespalaisamani@gmail.com or +33 6 87 09 98 63 and for bookings please contact reservations@palaisamani.com

Cafe Clock - home of the camel burger

Cafe Clock

Over the last 10 years Cafe Clock has become a significant feature of Fez social and cultural life. It is is especially the place to head for the camel burgers. Service is efficient and the menu has something for everyone. Their coffee is particularly good. Cafe Clock is open 9am to 11pm and will have their regular events - storytelling, jamming and Sunday concerts. Workshops will also be available - Clock Kitchen, Calligraphy, Oud and henna.

Call into the Clock at 7 Derb el Magana off the Tala'a Kbira, to check out what else is happening there during the festival. https://www.facebook.com/Cafeclockfes/

Fez Cafe Restaurant 

Nestled within the grounds of the well known riad, Le Jardin des Biehn, is a surprisingly vast garden, designed in Andalusian style and encompassing both flower-lined walks and produce for the kitchen. The cafe, with its pastel coloured walls and doors open to the courtyard, is one of the most relaxed in Fez. The food drawing equally on Moroccan cuisine and that of Mediterranean France, is Fez fusion with  highlights including salmon tapenade, duck b’stella or the spiced goats cheese salad. They stock some reasonably priced local wines.

The colourful and cosy Fez Cafe at Jardin des Biehn has a gorgeous interior and also an outdoor garden setting. A great place to chill out between events.

Contact: 0664647679 or contact@jardindesbiehn.com

Nur

The opening of Nur restaurant in Fez was greeted with much excitement. For good reason. Chef Najat Kaanache presents seven courses of fine food with creativity and flair.

Nur presents fabulous food in creative ways

The Nur experience is such that it is probably best to reserve for a night when you are taking a break from the music, or heading to the Sufi performances at 11pm.

Find them at 7 Zkak Rouah in the Medina - make a reservation: phone: +212 6 94 27 78 49

Dar Roumana

Dar Roumana is a guesthouse on the north side of the medina, close to parking at Bab Guissa. it has wonderful medina views from the terrace and a great chef. Dar Roumana normally offers Fes Sacred Music Festival Special Pre-concert dinners.

Dar Roumana has a great atmosphere

Dar Roumana 30 Derb el Amer Zkak Roumane, Fes Medina  +212 660 29 04 04 (mobile) +212 535 741 637 www.darroumana.com

Maison Moi Anan

With his distinctive flair, fashion designer and chef Anan Sorsutham creates genuine Thai dishes, as if you were a guest in his home in Thailand.

Using the freshest of local ingredients, supplemented by imported herbs and spices, the subtle and authentic blend of flavours is an unexpected but exciting experience to find in the Fez Medina.

Maison Moi Anan is located in a traditional Fez house, which is tastefully decorated. On the ground floor is the boutique, where Anan’s latest fashion designs are on display. Upstairs offers a range of dining options from an elegant dining room, to a plant festooned terrace, to two intimate rooms that can be shared by up to six guests.

Find Maison Moi Anan at 30 Zkak El Ma, Chrablyen,
http://maisonmoianan.com
Tel: 06 52 49 73 91 / 05 35 63 57 13

Street Food

*STREET FOOD is good - take your pick of any of the sandwich places around Bab Boujloud and the market at the top of Tala'a Kebira. Choose your filling from the display and watch as it's cooked on the grill. For around 30 DH, you'll get half a round loaf, or a small baguette, stuffed with grilled chicken, tomatoes, onions and olives, or beef and liver, or merguez sausage. Chips or fried eggs are an optional extra. Many of the stalls also do vegetarian options with fried aubergine slices or green peppers.

*SELF-CATERERS are in for a treat with markets at the Bab Boujloud end of Tala'a Kebira and the huge market in R'cif. All sorts of meat (except pork, of course), fish and a wide array of fruit and vegetables are on display. Cheese is limited to a softish white variety wrapped in leaves - very tasty, too. You will find a wide range of recipes in The View From Fez Cookbook

*BAB BOUJLOUD: there's a wide selection of restaurants near the famous Blue Gate, from the well-known Thami's to Abdou's Restaurant Fassia, Restaurant Bouyyad, Rachid's and the Kasbah and several others. Choose one where the seat covers appeal to your sense of style (gold with large bows, polka dots or zebra stripes?) and enjoy a fairly standard range of Moroccan traditional dishes. A three-course meal with water or mint tea will set you back around 100 DH.

Feeling hungry? Then bookmark this page!

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Fes Festival of Culinary Diplomacy

The Fes Festival of Culinary Diplomacy is set to return after the success of its previous edition. The event, which will take place from 27 to 30 April, will highlight the Moroccan gastronomic heritage with its three components: Arab-Andalusian, Amazigh and Judaic, at the crossroads of culinary traditions in three countries: France, Spain and Italy

Each dinner, prepared in cooperation with the representatives of each community, will be an opportunity to highlight the Arab-Andalusian, Amazigh and Hebrew traditions of Fez and Morocco. The main theme of these exchanges will be expressed by the journey of the great Ziryab, the founder of Andalusian music and the creator of a gourmet tradition still alive today. Hence the choice of the theme of this edition: "Culinary Diplomacy in the Mediterranean World".

Najat Kaanache

In this spirit, Moroccan chef Najat Kaanache will meet this year with personalities as diverse as Christian Têtedoie,  a French chef, Stefania Barzini, culinary leader and Italian journalist, Oliel Makhlouf, a Hebrew chef, and Fernando Pérez Fernández, a Spanish chef at the head of the "9 balcones" establishment in Huelva.

Dinner debates are organised each evening and preceded by an original, artistic and musical creation inspired by the Ziryâb repertoire. The public is also invited to film screenings, exhibitions and tastings of local products that will be held each day for free. Every day the public will be able to discover the artistic creation of the second edition of the Festival "La quête de Ziryâb"

In addition to the artistic performances and evenings (dinners-debates) organised during the Festival,  every day, a Mediterranean country and a Moroccan tradition will be honoured. The national and international chefs will be invited to make their market purchases in the Medina. Cooking workshops in public hotel training establishments will also be held under the supervision of renowned chefs.

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Nur - A Fez Restaurant Review

The opening of the Nur restaurant in Fez was greeted with much excitement. For good reason. Chef Najat Kaanache presents seven courses of fine food with creativity and flare

Najat Kaanache

While there is no menu to select from, the choice is the number of courses. Having no notion of what they are makes for an interesting, if somewhat confusing, experience.  The lack of a wine list, however, is a flaw. The wine on offer turned out to be one of the very cheap Moroccan labels at a price per glass that was around the same price as a bottle in the local liquor outlets. It was not at a quality that mirrored that of the food. Another visitor was charged 300 dirhams for a bottle of Guerrouane!

On the night The View From Fez sampled the fare on offer, we opted for the four courses and were greeted with some of them being so small as to hardly be worthy of the name. The first, a tiny glass of pomegranate juice (delicious), was insignificant - we thought it was a complimentary amuse-bouche. Sadly not.

The second course was a standout - an artistically presented salad that resembled a work of art and tasted as fresh and delicious. It was (in contrast to the "first course") generous. The third course was a very small portion of salmon with an arrangement of potatoes and other vegetables. It was beautifully presented but a triumph of art over content. Unfortunately the salmon was lost, drowned beneath a sea of green sauce.

The final course, which we initially thought to be a dessert, turned out to be a a rich and tasty portion of chicken in chocolate sauce. Again, delicious, but small.

There is no doubting the quality of the food, however, being at a price point well above comparable quality restaurants such as Dar Roumana, makes it less attractive for locals who regularly dine out. Fortunately there are now many options, Hotel Sahrai, Palais Amani, The Ruined Garden, Fez Cafe, Maison Blanche, Dar Roumana, Maison Moi Anan and more.

Service was friendly but slightly confusing for mere anglophones as we were unable to discover what was on offer in advance; essential when ordering an accompanying glass of wine.  Even a chalkboard description of the menu would be an improvement. Failing that, a description of each course by the waiter so that the customer can order which courses he or she wants.

Talking to locals in Fez, they agree that the Medina needs restaurants and chefs like Najat and it is hoped that after their settling in period they offer a reasonable wine-list, and a menu which offers  more affordable options - even if slightly less artistic. In the end, food is not just to be looked at, it is to be eaten. The Fez restaurant market is very seasonal and during the quiet times, a restaurant needs solid support from the locals.

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Fine Food in Fez - Resto 7 becomes "NUR"

When Resto 7 closed its doors, Fez lost one of the few fine food restaurants in the Fez Medina. Now the lights are on again - not as Numero 7 - but as Nur

Najat working some culinary magic

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