Richard Neat: Our man in Marrakech

30 March 2006
Richard Neat: Our man in Marrakech

Richard Neat comes striding across Marrakech's main square, early morning sun and the minaret of the Katoubia mosque behind him. It's a bit of a film entrance - which is appropriate, given that he has been fêted as one of the most talented chefs of his generation and his career closely followed for more than a decade - and, in truth, he has the air of someone used to attracting curious stares.

Maybe it's his height. Maybe it's the shades. Maybe it's the red shirt and black leather bag slung casually across one shoulder, all so very different from the local Moroccans, in their flowing Obi-Wan Kenobi robes, who people the rest of the city. Whatever it is, the eye is drawn to him, although, actually, he's not quite what I was expecting.

There's an indefinable hippyish air about Neat: something very relaxed about his demeanour and in his pleasant greeting which is at odds with everything I've been told or heard about him. He once reduced a colleague of mine to a nervous wreck after an awkward interview; he gave another such a tough time she walked out halfway through hers. And there are numerous stories floating around the industry about his short fuse in the kitchen 10 years ago, when he shot to fame by netting two Michelin stars at London's Pied à Terre restaurant in 1996.

But that's a long time and several restaurants ago (including a Michelin-starred one in Cannes and another short-lived venture in London's Oxo Tower) and when, later, I mention these incidents, he smiles sheepishly and admits to being a "complete arsehole" in those days. Part of the blame, he muses, lies with the difficulties that sprang out of trying to make money in a pressure-cooker environment while under the full glare of the media spotlight.

Commercial instinct?
He is not, he says, a money-making animal by instinct or desire. "I am commercial because it gives me sovereignty, but the accessories of commerciality have little value for me. I don't have the inclination to make myself rich. I'm a very private person who enjoys small, preferably face-to-face gatherings, so I probably shouldn't bother with the fame bit - with a world inhabited by people who network, connive and kiss other people they hardly know, all the while wondering how everyone might be beneficial to them."

When, in the evening, I see Neat cooking at Casa Lalla, the restaurant-with-rooms that he and his wife, Sophie, bought in Marrakech two years ago, his statement is put in to context for me. Casa Lalla is a traditional Moroccan riad (a roof-terraced house built around a central courtyard) in Marrakech's old city quarter, the Medina. And it is small. Eight bedrooms, 16 covers in the restaurant. Dining here makes you feel as though you're at a private dinner party in the Neats' house. It is intimate.

The decor is modern and muted, there are personal items - a wedding photograph, books on shelves over and around the fireplace for instance - and then there's Oliver, the boxer. Boxer as in dog, that is. He's integral to the "chez nous" ambiance and patrols the dining area, nonchalantly saying hello to the guests from time to time. Rather like Neat, in fact, who pops out occasionally during service to introduce dishes and chat to guests. Underlining this informality, he cooks in jeans, an old T-shirt and bare feet.

Sophie, who oversees front of house, is in jeans too. They are both charming hosts. It is patently obvious that they are content with their current world. Their guests (mostly British and staying at Casa Lalla or one of Marrakech's other upmarket riads) clearly feel valued. Part of an exclusive world. "My ambition for Casa Lalla is that it should feel like a table for friends," Neat says.

Not just any old table for friends. One with the best food in Marrakech, possibly in Morocco. Say this to Neat and he protests that he is not cooking at the peak of his powers. "I can't understand why so many people are getting so much enjoyment from my food - where have they been eating?" he asks, believing that diners are seduced by the whole package at Casa Lalla.

There may be some truth in that. But my meal is undeniably the best I have eaten in a long time. Most dishes have several elements in their make-up, though perhaps not as many as Neat has used in the past which may account, in part, for his critical self-assessment. He has always said that he prefers to cook "difficult" food. However, the dishes are all supremely balanced in their flavours and textures, both individually and as part of the menu as a whole. Deeply satisfying to eat, they exhibit the lightest of touches in their cooking.

It's true, I can't benchmark against Neat's previous cuisine, having never eaten at any of his earlier restaurants. But when I phone the Guardian‘s respected food editor, Matthew Fort, on my return to England, he confirms that these qualities are quintessential to Neat. "When he was cooking in London his food was utterly distinctive, characterised by the ability to make complex dishes balance," Fort tells me. "He used highly flavoured ingredients and always managed to keep the flavours distinct but in balance. And he had great visual impact. There was a very strong sense of personality in his food."

So what did I eat? Well, the first thing to be said is that I had a tasting menu. This is the only type of menu that Neat cooks and he sends his food out in a traditional French auberge way; you don't know what you are going to get until each dish arrives at the table. And what you get depends on what is available on any given day. I kick off with a little tower of tabbouleh with confit tomato and a sliver of monkfish tail draped over the top. It is supposed to be a tabbouleh of crab, but I am allergic to shellfish and Neat has adapted the dish. It is still good. I like the way he has translated local specialities into his own sophisticated style. The dish has a hit of sweet plump raisins, against a tang of cumin. Very North African.

Next up is a fantastic ballotine of foie gras, duxelle and cappuccino of celeriac - intense in its fungi hit with an airy foam lifted by a sprinkling of chives. Then we move on to a carpaccio of red mullet, topped with a mound of fève salad, which is draped with a small fillet of the same fish and surrounded by a slick of black olive tapenade. This is followed by another sophisticated take on a local institution, pastilla. Traditionally this is a type of pigeon pie using brick pastry. Neat's version uses cabbage leaves instead of pastry, monkfish instead of pigeon; and he puts a pomme purée on to the plate for good measure. The acidity in the apple works amazingly well with the fish.

The penultimate dish is rabbit with tart tatin of pear (lovely) - a base of tatin containing both rabbit and fruit, topped with salad leaves and a draping of rabbit fillet (the latter, it seems, is a bit of a favourite presentation method). There is a daube of salty sauce on the plate - too much if it is foolishly sampled on its own but perfectly in balance when taken with a mouthful of pear. And the meal's finale? The lightest, most intensely chocolatey fondant I have ever eaten, sitting in a pool of coffee-flavoured anglaise. I don't like coffee, but this dish is so spot-on, it makes me re-examine my taste-buds.

Top-notch food
It's remarkable that Neat is able to serve such top-notch food. He is working out of a tiny kitchen with no plating area to speak of, helped by just two assistants, both of whom he has trained up himself. One, Rachida, used to be a hairdresser. "She can do absolutely anything. She just watches me do something then pushes me out of the way and gets on with it," Neat says with a smile.

Perhaps you're wondering, too, how Neat sources his produce? Well, it comes from a one-stop-shop: a giant wholesale warehouse on the outskirts of Marrakech. Which brings me back to our initial meeting in the square. I want to shadow Neat as he goes to "market". Prior to the meeting, I have visions of some kind of open-air food market. That delusion dissipates when the Metro warehouse comes into sight. However, a step inside shows me why he's here.

The fresh produce on sale at Metro is high-quality, much of it imported directly from France. There's foie gras from a French woman who farms just outside Casablanca, fish and shellfish "fresher than I got in Cannes", and any meat and veg that Neat might need. "It's a burden having to shop every day and I don't want to have to go to six different shops, so I come here," he says.

You can't help concluding that Marrakech suits Neat. Casa Lalla does well without having to sell itself (they turn away 50 to 60 diners every day and the rooms are booked up to two months in advance). And, because the restaurant is open only in the evening, Neat doesn't have to be in the kitchen until 3pm. "I have a business that offers me the greatest gift imaginable - time," he nods.

It gives him space to read and write books among other things. One book is finished ("12 chapters, 12 recipes, 12 people who have had a large influence on me"), another - on Marrakech - is in the planning stages. "He couldn't have done it before, but here he feels more liberated," Sophie confides.

But doesn't he sometimes miss the buzz of London or France, the recognition of his peers and the wider public - Michelin? "No. That's nothing to do with me any longer," he avows. "I hate the hype surrounding launches, and the unholy trinity of guides, critics and PRs that just distorts everything, and the consumers who merely want to be titillated and amused by the latest ‘new' name. Here I have the luxury of building up something small, of being rewarded primarily by word-of-mouth and the loyalty of a group of regulars."

How long he'll be in Marrakech, though, he refuses to say. "I'm not looking beyond now. I'm an opportunist. I'll take whatever comes."

Casa lalla

The Neats bought Casa Lalla two years ago, already refurbished and ready-to-go as a business, safe in the knowledge that Marrakech is pretty much a 12-month holiday destination.

The property, a traditional Moroccan riad, has eight bedrooms and seating for 16. In the summer the dining area is on a roof terrace but in winter the Casa Lalla's open central courtyard is covered over and tables are moved inside.

The restaurant is open only in the evening, currently for six days a week. There is one menu on offer - a tasting menu - which is brought out and introduced to guests at the table. Dinner kicks off at 8pm and latecomers are not always allowed in as Neat likes to serve dessert by 10pm and clear tables by 11pm, primarily out of consideration to guests staying at the riad.

Casa Lalla, Rue Riad Zitoune Lakdime, 16 Derb Jermaa, 40000 Marrakech. 00 212 44 42 97 57;www.casalalla.com

Richard neat on…

Cannes

"We knew we were going to be expelled at some time when we bought Cannes because the landlord didn't want a restaurant on the site. So we knew we had a limited period of time to make as much as we could out of it. Our turnover was far superior to what it was when we bought the place, but the landlord was a lawyer and played the system. He brought 33 civil cases against us and in the end 10% of the turnover was going on legal fees. You can't sustain that."

Oxo Tower

"I probably should never have done it, although the business did really well at first. I should have done something different with the brasserie to maximise profits and I didn't really know how to run a bar properly. I was never happy there. And once 9/11 happened that was it. We had 77 bookings on that night, and we did 11. The rest were cancelled. But my business is unimportant compared to that. You're talking about loss of life against a restaurant. I know some people went to the bathroom financially at Oxo and I'm sorry I let them down."

Couscous of vegetables with red mullet and parsley sauce >>

Pastilla of monkfish with apple puree >>

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