It took eight months for David Leboutillier, Craig Nelson, and crew to renovate the old Lulu’s Bistro space on Maybank Highway, but they finally finished, and Fez, their French Moroccan restaurant, opened to the public last Friday. We’ve been hearing about this place for months, getting inside reports from Al di La’s John Marshall, who served as the consulting chef for the restaurant and traveled to Morocco to research the food. He worked with Chef Bryan Lindsay to create the mouth-watering menu.
The menu is short but appears rather rich in flavor — saffron, cumin, ginger, pepper, turmeric, olives, preserved lemons. Leboutillier seems hell bent on exposing our sheltered palates to the world of flavor out there. He’s brought us French (Rue de Jean), Spanish (Raval), Mexican (Taco Boy), and now Moroccan.
The menu kicks off with “Petits Plats,” with nibbles like Berber Spiced Almonds, Harira (Moroccan chickpea soup), and Kefta (grilled skewers of spiced veal). The sandwich section has three choices: grilled marguez (baguette with harissa), Croque Madame (ham and gruyere cheese), and hamburger.
Apparently, a good burger has a place on any of Leboutillier’s menus, even if it’s a French-Moroccan one.
The star of Fez will surely be the tagines (stews), which feature braised meats like lamb, chicken, or beef and such ingredients as olives, onions, figs, apricots, golden raisins, and almonds. They all come served with cous cous.
A smattering of more traditional French dishes like cassoulet, confit du canard, and soupe du poisson round out the menu, which finishes up with chocolate and sesame creams, north African struedel, and baklava. Yum.
Fez is open for dinner nightly and closed on Sundays. The bar will stay open until 2 a.m. I didn’t ask about signature Moroccan drinks, but can only assume their cocktail menu must have at least a few inspired choices.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve got my reservations set for Saturday night. (843-406-2767) Anyone out there been already?
6 Comments
The braised shortribs and cassoulet were excellent. Nice atmosphere. Cool winelist.
Shouldn’t be mentioned in the same sentence as Taco Boy.
I agree with joeblow..should NOT be associated with Taco Boy! great food! Even if you dont know what it is… SOMEONE will tell you…and it “sho am good!!!” Yo, Joe? did you get any dessert? Best I have had in years! Tried things I never knew I would like and will go back for more…James Island needed a place like this!! Thank you!!
I enjoyed my visit there tonight. The lamb tagine and Moroccan style mussels were both winners in my book. It was a little on the dim side though, and I found myself eating in the dark. Could use a little more lighting or some taller candles that at least reach above the tagine dishes so you can see what you’re eating.
I had the lamb tagine and the Morrocan mussels too. Tasty, interesting, but the dimness was definitely a mitigating factor. I couldn’t believe how undercooked the white beans in the dish were. After I remarked on their crunchiness, my friend laughed: “I think they’re almonds.”
I really hate eating food that I can’t see. One slice of my very tender lamb had a bit of fat, but I couldn’t see in order to cut it off, so I left a huge bit of meat behind. Our waitress was nice enough to leave us her penlight, but it seems kind of stupid. Why not put a couple of track lights up above to illuminate the tables so you can at least read the menu and see the food?
I was just there last night, and they have addressed the lighting issues. The lights were perfect, and the food was as delicious as always!
I took my wife there last night and I think it was one of the best meals I have eaten in Charleston and I have lived here for almost six years. I had the braised duck and my wife had the wild salmon. They were both very tender and full of flavor. The ambiance was perfect and our server was full of knowledge. I highly recommend this resteraunt to anyone who wants to try something different than the ordinary.