Best North African Restaurant: Aziza

May 14, 2003

Although Aziza exhibits most of the classic Moroccan-restaurant characteristics, it isn't your typical North African hangout. Sure, there are belly dancers, and the hand-washing ritual, and the deal where the waiter pours the mint tea into your cup from three feet up in the air. But Mourad Lahlou created a venue in which the foods of their native Marrakech are touched with fresh new flavors and accents. Hummus is flecked with sun-dried tomatoes; eggplant is prepared to the consistency of a light, lovely soufflé; bastilla, couscous, and grilled lamb attain an uncharacteristic lightness and zip. Other dishes -- most of them prepared with organic produce and free-range meats -- include braised lamb shank with honey and kumquats, Cornish game hen with saffron and Moroccan pink olives, and yogurt sorbet with orange granita. The arched doorways, plush cushions, and blue-and-white color scheme are lovely, evocative of some sultan's palace on the Mediterranean coast.