Festive breaks
Where to find festive culinary cheer in the run-up to Christmas
Souks made for eclectic Christmas gift-buying and usual daytime temperatures of 16-20C make Marrakech an ideal winter getaway. WHERE TO STAY: The Moroccan King’s sublime Royal Mansour hotel in central Marrakech treats guests as visitors of HRH; the VIP treatment starts at the airport where you’re whisked past the queue for passport control into a private lounge for a cold drink, while your papers are processed. Opened in 2010, the hotel is a result of King Mohammed VI having commissioned 1,000 artisans to make a showcase of Moroccan craftsmanship: every centimetre is testament to the artistry of the mosaicists, wood sculptors and plasterers. There are 53 two-storey guest riads among twisting tree-lined paths. Staff top up personalised, gold-inscribed stationery and pots of dried fruit, moving between riads via underground passages. EATING IN: Royal Mansour’s three restaurants are overseen by twinkly-eyed 3-Michelin-star French chef Yannick Alléno. Loud live music, waitresses dressed in traditional silks, and candlelight drew us to La Grand Table Marocaine where spinach and orange blossom foam salad enthralled us, but royal pigeon pastilla was the highlight (matched with excellent Moroccan wines). There’s also La Table restaurant, where you can eat indoors or in a peaceful garden, and the Grand Table Francais, Alleno’s French-style fine-dining room. EATING OUT: Jemaa El Fna Square is famous for street food. Feeling brave? Take a seat, ask the price and order. Harira soup is a Moroccan must-try, as is fried fish, kebabs, or perhaps stewed snails or sheep head for the truly daring. At Le Tobsil restaurant (00 2125 2444 4052), in the medina, guests sit on two levels around a courtyard, taking in live gnawa music (blues/Arabic fusion). Book and come hungry for the set menu of aperitifs, endless meze dishes, pastilla, tagine, couscous, fruit, mint tea or coffee, and pastries to finish. In the city’s bakeries, look out for the local special-occasion cake, m’hancha, a coiled ‘snake pastry’ made with almond paste, orange flower water and cinnamon. Take home saffron and spices from the souks, eating street-sellers’ roasted nuts as you go. WHAT TO DO: Visit Maison de la Photographie to see historic photos of Morocco (maisondelaphotographie.ma), and the Majorelle Gardens (jardinmajorelle.com), then head back to the hotel for the amazing spa. Start in the hammam, where you’ll be scrubbed from head to foot, before reclining in the blissful relaxation area. THE DAMAGE: One-bedroom riads start at around £678 per night, including fast-track airport service and private transfers (royalmansour.com). The Christmas celebration package includes Christmas dinner, a hammam, Christmas tea and more from £2,195 for two, B&B, for 3 nights. Return flights from Gatwick to Marrakech cost from £50 (easyJet.com). MORE INFO: visitmorocco.com
This city’s robust signature dishes, rib-sticking entrecôte cooked in red wine, butter, shallots, herbs and bone marrow sauce, confit duck and lamprey, come into their own in winter, and it’s an excellent place to shop for foodie stocking fillers. WHERE TO STAY: Built in the late 19th century, La Grande Maison has the appearance of a country villa and, thanks to owner Bernard Magrez, offers guests the pick of all 259 grands crus classés of the Bordeaux region. The six bedrooms are a heady mix of taffeta, tassels, and embroidered silk fabrics, floral motifs and swirled carpeting. Head down to the lounge for pre-dinner drinks, surrounded by purple velvet, Murano chandeliers and candlelight glinting off glasses of Veuve Clicquot. EATING IN: At L’Olivier you can order casual dishes such as crisp pizzas with Parma ham, purple artichokes and rocket leaves, or whole grilled sole with herb dressing, but the main attraction is Restaurant Joël Robuchon, which sees the stellar chef at full creative sparkle; a jewel-like starter of king crab, with lobster jelly and caviar, arranged in a perfectly choreographed sea of tiny droplets is a feat of presentation as much as flavour. Beetroot and apple with mustard sorbet and milk-fed lamb with silky mashed potatoes are equally impressive. Service is very formal: there are pouffes for handbags and a bread trolley wheeled by waiters. EATING OUT: Rustic regional cooking (roast rib of black pig, beautifully pink lamb) and a great local wine list at La Tupina (latupina.com). It’s so classic, though, that many of the diners are tourists – for somewhere with more local custom, head to Miles for small plates that blend local ingredients with global flavours – sous vide monkfish with miso-roasted aubergine (restaurantmiles.com). WHAT TO DO: Each year, Bordeaux’s Allées de Tourny is transformed into a Christmas market with wooden huts and stalls selling local gifts, many of them food-related. (Stock up on canelés from Baillardran, baillardran.com), and don’t miss Maison Darricau for handmade chocolates peppered with honey and spices (darricau.com). THE DAMAGE: Double rooms start at €315, room only (lagrandemaison-bordeaux.com). Return flights from a variety of UK airports to Bordeaux from around £50 (easyJet.com). MORE INFO: bordeaux-tourism.co.uk