Bon soir et bienvenus.
The two tall men open the heavy wooden doors, releasing them like giant clams.
A warm glow of orange light filtered through. We approached a desk surrounded by red curtains and soft yellow lights. A receptionist looked up from a heavy A3-sized reservation book.
– Avez vous une reservation?
– Nous avons déjà diné, merci. Seulement pour boire un verre.
– Bien sur.
He opened the red curtains, motioned with his arm and revealed the hall: soft white walls and marble floors.
Fez caps moved smoothly amongst the diners, pouring wine, taking orders.
Palm leaf shadows criss crossed the bare white walls and Islamic archways.
An ornate silver lamp shade hung in the central atrium, spanning three stories of diners.
One of Gershwin’s numbers played above the polite chatter.
We sat at the bar. Near us, an American man sat in a white blazer talking with his son, over a glass of Kir Royale. Leaning forward on a small round table, he smiled with head tilted to the side, his hands interwoven, listening to his son – no doubt an Ivy league student. Both talked confidently in their clean, East Coast accent. New York was far away. Here in Casablanca, the sun was setting and prayers called above the manic traffic.
“They must be asleep in New York.”
Rick’s Café in Casablanca, Morocco, is modelled after the original cafe as seen in the film, “Casablanca” with Humphrey Bogart. It is situated near the waterfront in an old, traditional Moroccan riad building. I really enjoyed spending an evening there. It was a pleasure to admire the elegance of a bygone era which had been kept in tact in Rick’s Cafe. The romanticism of the moment was heightened by the contrast between the hustle and bustle outside and the peace and tranquility inside. Morocco is a land of great contrasts.
French is still used widely in Morocco particularly amongst the educated classes of society so it was no surprise to hear it in Rick’s Café. The French language is a requirement for many high level jobs and is often seen as a benchmark for academic atainment. Although Arabic is the main language of Morocco, the French language was recently (2016) reinstated as the main language for education – reversing a policy of ‘Arabisation’.
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