Sacred Heart of Morocco: Moulay Idriss putting on the tourist map

Once a no-go area, is the holiest city in Morocco starting to woo tourists with a new friendly guest house and office of the coolest restaurant's Fez

Until 2005, the non-Muslims are not allowed to stay in Moulay Idriss. Guides warned tourists who dared to visit the city by 3pm. This is what Edith Wharton had to do in 1919 when they left the city, known as the holiest place in the country visited to her classic travel memoir research in Morocco. Although there was nowhere for her to stay, she claimed that she was the first foreigner to witness the hectic city moussem – the music and dance-drenched summer party considered by many Moroccans as an alternative to the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.

Well, there are places to stay now, and an intriguing new restaurant run by Mike Richardson, a former maitre d 'of the Ivy and the Wolseley which recently became the first foreigner to buy a home here. The red-haired pioneer moved to Fez, one hour east, five years ago in Café Clock (concept: crazy Moroccan souk meets Venice Beach-style cafe with camel burgers) and now planning to do the same in Moulay Idriss.

"Foreigners are now welcome," he says, adding that Moulay Idriss reputation as an unwelcoming place not only had fallen to religious sensitivities.

"From what I can gather," he says, "the myths established because the place is so special. Moroccans wanted to keep the secret."

His new restaurant, Dar Akrab (Scorpion House), is perched on one of the two hills in this ancient city where Moulay Idriss el Akhbar, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and the man that Islam brought to Morocco 1,200 years ago, was buried. It has the allure of an exciting place yet star-struck by the promises of tourism.

Bus tour of Fez used to no closer than Volubilis, an eerily deserted Roman city 20 minutes walk from the city. There is no regular public transport, the cheapest way to get to us is shared in a "grand" taxi to Fez and Meknes.

For additional information, you can also ask the other customers because, unlike many of the beautiful new place in Marrakech, Dar Akrab you can meet with local youth, men and women.

"The atmosphere will be dictated by the people of the city," said Mike, as we wave to a few of the women enjoy afternoon tea at a nearby terrace. He says he first place as a refuge from his life as a celebrated resident of Fez purchased. Café Clock in the middle of the souk, is so successful that every time he steps outside, he grabbed by a stallholder selling pet chameleons or homemade rosewater who wants to pass the time of day.

Even for the non-famous, Fez can feel claustrophobic after a few days, and the huge skies and a spectacular view of Moulay Idriss is a tonic. Other attractions include ancient Roman hot springs, a 10-minute walk in the quiet hills, with two fairly large pools built into the base of the mountain Zerhoun. You can swim here: the water smells like cumin and hot stone. (In summer, Richardson said, is "boy soup.") But even without a dip, it's worth the climb for amazing views. Looking down on the vast plains of Volubilis gives a real sense of Africa – and a flash of what Roman Africa might have felt.

Thanks Dar Akrab, Moulay Idriss is starting to wake up. local friend of Mike, Fayssal, is a new five-room guesthouse, Dar Zerhoun. It is a modest wood frame, tile floor boutique hotel with classic keyhole-shaped doors, many of the romantic balconies and a rare Baraka or exclusion of Muhammad in the central courtyard indicates that a portion of the house originally came from Mecca.

The conservatory-like dining on the filled roof terrace (weather), incredible mountain views. Breakfasts come with local honey and couscous bread dipped in olive oil from a forest just down the road.

Fayssal's father, Mustapha, is a great host, too. Once a week, he offers his guests the possibility of his tangia, the famous Moroccan stew cooked by men only. It is a very masculine dish that much meat and not much work. You take a large ceramic urn to the butcher, get him to fill it with seasoned meat and then take it down to the hammam. You let the fire in the hammam, go out and have a good steam, and when you're done, take it home and announce, "Hey baby, I made dinner!"

The big show-off time comes Mustapha empties the urn for me. The richness of the sauce and the tenderness of the meat here shock me silence as impenetrable Fayssal father and his jovial smile down on me.

Food will be a large part of New Venture Mike's. He already runs cooking workshops in Fez, and will do the same in Dar Akrab. His friend, cooking writer Tara Stevens, has just published Clock Book: Recipes from a Modern Moroccan Cuisine (33books, £ 15), inspired by Mike's. In Moulay Idriss, it will be manning the Moroccan barbecue and teaching guests how to make everything from duck in spiced pomegranate molasses, crystallized rose petals.

• Contact Dar Akrab, which opens at the end of May, on +212 535 637855, cafeclock.com. Ensuite doubles at Dar Zerhoun costs € 45 (212 535 544 371, buttonsinn.com). Ryanair (ryanair.com) flies from Stansted to Fez from £ 42 return flights

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Sacred heart of Morocco: putting Moulay Idriss on the tourist map ...
Morocco + Restaurants | Travel | The Guardian
Sacred heart of Morocco: putting Moulay Idriss on the tourist map ...
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Submited at Saturday, April 30th, 2011 at 9:00 am on Restaurant by dave
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