Head chef Mohammed Sabiri brings fine dining to the High Atlas mountains of Morocco
Our head chef, Mohammed, is the third of the Sabiri brothers to bring his unique talents to the Eden Boutique Hotel. Born and raised in a nearby village, Mohammed spent eight years in Spain working in fine dining restaurants, before moving back home to lead the kitchen when his brothers took over their first auberge in 2012.
There he built its reputation as the go-to restaurant in the region, thanks to his fusion of Moroccan and European flavours and his refined style.
While Eden Boutique Hotel was being constructed, Mohammed was able to work with his brothers to ensure the kitchen was designed to his own rigorous specifications. Not only did this allow an ergonomic workspace with an effective and efficient flow for all the staff, but it also provides an ideal space to offer cookery lessons to Eden’s guests, whether traditional Moroccan dishes or in his contemporary style.
A fusion of Moroccan and European flavours with a refined style
Mohammed shops at the local markets himself to get the freshest seasonal produce with the smallest carbon footprint, while Eden’s still-new kitchen garden already provides fresh herbs and flowers from plot to plate. Fresh goat’s cheese is brought weekly from a women’s cooperative, and eggs from a free-range farm in the next village.
Chef’s day starts with supervising breakfast for the hotel’s guests – a lavish spread including nightly-prepared natural yoghurt, fruit salad, freshly made breads, crêpes and Moroccan pancakes, along with home-made jams, mountain honey, savoury spreads, and of course a traditional Berber omelette.
Once breakfast is on its way, Mohammed goes to market and returns to Eden for lunch service. One of his specialities is a delicate salad based around beetroot, goat’s cheese and orange, containing 23 different ingredients! As one recent guest commented, “Eating this salad is like strolling through a mountain garden”.
The freshest seasonal produce with the smallest carbon footprint
After lunch, he takes a break, going back to his home to see his wife and children and rest for a few hours. Mohammed then takes charge of dinner service for the evening. His kitchen always remains tranquil and calm, even when the restaurant is completely full. He leads his team like the conductor of an orchestra. With meticulous organisation, every station seems to work in perfect harmony and an air of quiet concentration. Petals are placed, saffron sprinkled, dainty galettes balanced to give the main dish an appealing height. Each course arrives at the table with impeccable timing, but without any sense of rush.
While the core of the team already had years of experience in his kitchen before moving here, the staff at Eden has expanded since it opened at the end of 2023. Mohammed has been patiently training a new young generation to develop first as commis chefs, then to specialise as chefs de partie. Coming from villages up in the mountains around the Dades Valley, they have the opportunity here to develop knowledge and skills they would not be able to access otherwise. Chatting with them, they smile as they talk about how kind Mohammed is as a “boss”, and how carefully he teaches them the precise aspects of their trade. Our head chef not only brings renown to Eden Boutique Hotel today – he is also busy guaranteeing it for the future.