L’Italien par Simone Zanoni - La Mamounia

L'Italien sits inside La Mamounia, the palace hotel at the gates of the Marrakech medina, in a room redesigned by Patrick Jouin and Sanjit Manku as a light-filled Roman trattoria. The space feels nothing like you might expect from a century-old Moroccan landmark: frescoes of playful cats line the walls, furnishings come in soft almond green, and tall windows open directly onto the hotel's legendary gardens. A wood-fired oven and open kitchen island occupy the centre of the room, giving the place the energy of a working Italian kitchen rather than a hushed dining room. Since September 2025, the restaurant has been led by Simone Zanoni, the Italian chef best known for Le George at the Four Seasons George V in Paris. Zanoni grew up on a farm near Lake Garda and built his career through Gordon Ramsay's kitchens in London before making his name in Paris. His menu at La Mamounia leans southern Italian: wood-fired pizzas, fresh pasta, seasonal risotti, and an antipasti spread that draws on the hotel's own vegetable garden for herbs and produce. Main courses run from roast lobster to osso buco, and desserts carry the signature of Pierre Hermé. The result is the most relaxed of La Mamounia's four restaurants, a place where the cooking is generous and unfussy, the aperitivo cocktails set the right tone, and the setting manages to be both elegant and genuinely convivial.