BLACKBOOK ON LOCATION D BLACKBOOK ON LOCATION D E PA R T U R E S at - I N T E R N AT Log on for a peek inside Sofitel Casablanca Tour Blanche I O N A L . C O M m o r e S e e DETOUR While winding your way through Habous, be sure to make a pit stop in a tiny side alley filled to the brim with olives of all shapes and sizes, as well as an improvised “food court” where you can pick up some excellent Moroccan street rations. When it comes to cuisine, Casablanca’s French inclinations still dominate. On the palmlined Boulevard d’Anfa – Rodeo Drive’s gritty cousin – the restored Art Deco Villa Zevaco (Angle Boulevard Abdelkrim el Khattabi et Moulay Rachid; +212 5 22 95 07 52) plays host to a refined Mediterranean restaurant on the second storey. While sampling what may be the city’s best bouillabaisse, the voyeuristically inclined should request a table on the balcony to take in the colourful patio and weekend crowds below. Part of the massive Tahiti Beach Club, Le Pilotis (Boulevard de la Corniche, +212 22 79 84 27) is one of dozens of seaside restaurants peppered along the Corniche. While a bit careworn, this 20-year-old establishment is the ultimate address for French-inspired seafood and stunning views of the Atlantic. Not far away, equally aged Basmane (basmane-restaurant. com) serves up delicious tagine (for Above: from film to reality – Rick’s Café; below: a young generation of Casablancans kick up their heels at the beach Morocco neophytes, Berber dishes slow-cooked in an earthenware pot) amid gorgeous, mosaic-tiled walls and occasional – somewhat awkward – belly dance interludes. For post-prandials, Casa serves up a range of clubby cocktail bars and neonlit discos, but there’s nowhere better to start the evening than Sofitel’s lounge bar Le Casart, where award-winning bartender Sidi Med Mhaimdat serves up his signature Le Baroquain – his take on the mojito – under a puckish neon installation by Casablanca-born designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac. For those who can’t resist, Rick’s Café (rickscafe.ma) of movie fame is just a short cab ride away. Set in a restored mansion on the Atlantic shoreline, this über-popular gin joint didn’t actually exist until ten years ago, when Kathy Kriger, a retired American diplomat, decided to bring the fictitious café to life. Surprisingly enough, Rick’s is almost devoid of kitsch, offering up a subdued WWII-era mise en scène with meticulously re-created period decor as well as fresh seafood, though in-house pianist Issam, who tickles the ivories every night, is known to play the film’s theme song, “As Time Goes By”. And if you’re feeling particularly nostalgic, he’s likely to play it again just for you. Golf courses, like fine wine, need time to age and mature. Which is why nowadays, new courses aren’t unveiled in haste when the last of the grasses take hold and the saplings start to bloom. Indeed, sometimes it’s best to wait for a course to fully ripen to experience it in all its glory, just as its architect envisaged. A perfect case in point is Mazagan Golf Club, a three-year-old Gary Playerdesigned track, stretching 3km along Morocco’s blustery Atlantic coast an hour south of Casablanca. More Montrose than Maghreb, the 6843m links is a monumental tour de force, comprising undulating greens which run true, generous landing areas guarded with natural sand bunkers and waste areas and multiple tee positions – all of which are framed by semi-tropical sea fig vegetation and eucalyptus trees that, in the words of its architect, are “influenced by some of the great links courses in Scotland”. Befitting a proper seaside links (four of the 18 holes play directly on the water), the wind here can take centre stage, and when it does, it will reward only those who “stay patient as they navigate themselves around this golf course”, says Player. “[They] will find themselves hitting all kinds of different shots, which is the hallmark of a great links layout.” Especially one like Mazagan, which is now well and truly hitting its stride. mazaganbeachresort.com FARHAD HEYDARI TEEING OFF SEASIDE STUNNER CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: © RICK’S CAFÉ, PANOS PICTURES/VISUM, © MAZAGAN BEACH RESORT, FOTOLIA 30 departures-international.com CONTACT PLATINUM CARD SERVICE FOR BOOKINGS
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