Bistro Marrakech to close
by Mike Fitelson Bistro Marrakech, one of Northern Manhattan’s most highly regarded restaurants, will close its doors on July 15, its five year anniversary of dishing savory Moroccan dishes in Inwood. Husband and wife team Karim Bouskou and Natalie Weiss publicly announced the clo sing June 25 via email. Reached at home, Bouskou said the eatery is for sale and that the decision was made due to burn out. Bistro Marrakech, formerly Park Terrace Bistro, was the first restaurant Bouskou owned after spending over two decades in the industry. “I thought my 24 years of running around in restaurants was over. I’m running ten times more,” he said. “I’m completely tired, we’re done.” Financially, the Bistro is doing well, he said. The name change in February was aimed at helping identify the restaurant more closely with Moroccan cuisine and succeeded in attracting new customers. The streamlining of the menu over the past few months helped him manage in the kitchen, giving him fewer dishes to juggle. There is potential to grow the business, he added, since he didn’t open for lunch or on Mondays. Ultimately, he was worn down by the ceaseless pace of the restaurant routine, working late in the night in the kitchen followed by shopping for ingredients the next day all the while trying to make time for paperwork. Finding good help was also an issue. He estimates that he went through 12 chefs, three managers and 40 waiters since he opened. The decision to close came slowly, creeping into his mind more and more frequently in recent weeks as he fantasized about taking an extended vacation. After the closing – nothing special is planned – the couple plans to take two months off to recharge, Paris and Moroccan beaches appear to be the most likely destinations, before returning to New York and possibly delving back into the restaurant business. Asked about the highlights from the last five years, Bouskou, an Inwood resident, said “everything”: the listings in the prestigious Michelin Guide, the 22 food rating in Zagat’s, and a positive notice in the New York Times. But overall, he is most appreciative of knowing that he succeeded in following his passion. “I put together the menu and atmosphere that I dreamed of doing and people came in and now they know what to expect,” he said. Bistro Marrakech was also popular with Manhattan Times readers, who voted it Best Diner, Best Ambiance Best Service in the 2008 Readers’ Favorites Awards handed out with Audubon Partnership for Economic Development. The Manhattan Times is the bilingual newspaper of Washington Heights and Inwood.
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