Sabo - Selman

SABO takes its name from the French word for hooves, and the reference is deliberate. Selman Marrakech has always been defined by its Arabian thoroughbreds, and this restaurant, opened in 2025 under Jean-François Piège, extends that spirit of noble extravagance to the table. The setting is a previously unused patio redesigned by Jacques Garcia: zelliges, carved plaster, velvet, Ginori porcelain, and a retractable roof that slides back to reveal the night sky. It feels less like a hotel restaurant and more like a private riad you happened to find the key to. Piège, one of the most celebrated chefs in Paris, built the menu around Belle Époque theatricality and Moroccan produce. Beef tartare is carved tableside from a roving chariot. Oualidia prawns arrive flambéed in cognac. A wood-fired oven, installed at his insistence, gives the sea bass and black cod a smoky depth no conventional kitchen can replicate. The carte reads like a love letter to French classicism rewritten in the Red City: snails in garlic butter with toasted soldiers, a Parisian lobster salad with coral jus and tarragon, Beef Wellington with Périgueux sauce for two. Lighter gestures appear too, among them the Sabo Pasta with vodka-tomato sauce and lettuce hearts dressed in local argan oil. The room holds around ninety guests and spills into the palace's library-bar for a more intimate finish. With its own entrance and dedicated kitchen, SABO stands apart from the Selman's other tables. After dinner, the stroll past the stables and the 80-metre pool back through the gardens is part of the experience.