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Mega Loft Restaurant, Essaouira, Morocco
Mega Loft restaurant, Essaouira (אסואירה ,الصويرة, ⵜⴰⵚⵚⵓⵔⵜ, Mogador), Morocco (מרוקו, المغرب).
Description
Mega Loft is a new restaurant that incorporates material from demolished buildings in the Mellah and the theme of the Jewish community leaving into its interior design, demonstrated by the blue-painted doors reclaimed from the Mellah on the walls and the symbolic suitcases on the ceiling. The owner, Outman Hibat Lah, known as Othman Chic around Essaouira, was born in Tafilalt, Rissani to be precise, but grew up in Essaouira:
"This used to be a traditional medicine shrine, and Mr. Azoulay confirmed that it was a Danish medical clinic before that. So I already had a concept for the place in my head: For the interior design, I wanted to use the spirit of the place, which was disappearing, and also pay tribute to those who had left."
Sources
Information courtesy of World Monuments Fund, "Stories of the Mellah" Cultural Mapping project, https://www.wmf.org/untold-stories-jewish-quarter-essaouira
Photographs courtesy of World Monuments Fund, Stories of the Mellah Cultural Mapping project. All photography by Amine Bennour, Laura Brandt, and Yousef El Miadi.