In conceiving this warm and refined space entirely run by women, architecture duo Studio KO inverted the archetype of Moroccan cuisine – its secretiveness – and instead placed the cooking at the epicenter of the restaurant’s activity:
The concept is as much about honoring the women who cook as the cuisine of Morocco, which is one of the most admired in the world.
Based on the strength of a collaborative friendship of more than 20 years’ standing, Karl Fournier and Olivier Marty (Studio KO) together with Helena Paraboschi and Pierre Pirajean (Le Grand Café de la Poste, Bô Zin) have combined their complementary areas of expertise for the first time to create this unprecedented collective project.
Sahbi Sahbi, which means soulmates in Darija, is more than a restaurant – it is a meeting place, exclusively run by women, that revolves around traditional Moroccan cuisine.
In Morocco, the kitchen is normally a secretive place, the hidden domain of the DADAS, women who hand down recipes from one generation to the next. It is with precisely this intention, to share and transmit knowledge – an intention evident even in the layout of the restaurant – that guests are welcomed at SAHBI SAHBI.
And so here, the secret is revealed: an open kitchen at the heart of the dining space. For the first time, knowledge and its application are both on show. The concept is as much about honoring the women who cook as the cuisine of Morocco, which is one of the most admired in the world. The team includes women with all kinds of talents and knowledge about different regions, from all kinds of backgrounds. The result is an ambiance as productive and varied as the ‘melting pot’ of women working there.
In this way, the diners become the audience for a ballet of cooks, as they create, serve and explain traditional dishes including various tagines, pastilla and couscous, the staple, which is also on the menu every Friday lunchtime in three versions that differ according to the cereal used – including, unusually, maize.
The interior design by Studio KO echoes another form of excellence, offering an ode to the artisanal tradition of Morocco, here recreated and restyled to incorporate a touch of modernity.
In conceiving this warm, convivial space, the architects inverted the archetype of Moroccan cuisine – its secretiveness – and instead placed the cooking at the epicenter of the restaurant’s activity. The beauty they have created is subtle: details, textures, the play of light and surfaces, natural tones and motifs that tell a story of traditional materials and knowledge, freely reinterpreted.
This place, located in the center of the modern Guéliz neighborhood, is distinguished by its authenticity. Behind the spectacular facade lies a relaxed and friendly place that promises an immersive experience of traditional Moroccan cooking, created by several people working in harmony.