{"id":365,"date":"2026-06-02T10:43:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T10:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=365"},"modified":"2026-06-02T10:43:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T10:43:12","slug":"this-new-french-moroccan-restaurant-is-set-in-a-secret-garden-near-washington-square","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=365","title":{"rendered":"This new French-Moroccan restaurant is set in a secret garden near Washington Square"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div><audio><\/audio><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>On Eighth Street, just off Washington Square, a wrought-iron gate opens onto one of Philadelphia\u2019s secrets: a stone courtyard, shaded by magnolias and dogwoods, behind a brick house built in 1787.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=363\">\ud83e\udd85 What did Brown do for you? | Sports Daily Newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>For two decades, Philadelphians have come to what is now the Morris House Hotel for events and dinner \u2014 first at Restaurant M, which opened after the house became a 17-room boutique hotel in 2006 and closed in 2020, and later at the Morris, which opened in 2023 and closed last year.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Now Christophe Mathon and Soufiane Boutliliss want to make the place feel less like a destination and more a spot Philadelphians can use all day, every day \u2014 for dinner before the theater, a drink after work, grab-and-go breakfast, and brunch and lunch in the garden.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The couple, who own the tiny, 18-seat Sofi Corner Caf\u00e9 five blocks away on Locust Street, opened Soufiane at the Morris last week.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<article><button><svg><\/svg><\/button><button><svg><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Soufiane is not just Sofi Corner replicated in a charming garden setting. It\u2019s a major expansion of the concept into a full French-Moroccan brasserie, with about 120 seats across the courtyard and indoor dining room, plus 12 or so more at the bar.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>For Mathon, a French marketing executive who built his career with Coty in Europe and New York, and Boutliliss, a Moroccan-born chef, the move to Philadelphia four years ago was personal as well as professional. \u201cIt\u2019s a very walkable, cultural city in different ways \u2014 food, sports, people,\u201d Mathon said, and it is close enough to Mathon\u2019s office in the Empire State Building. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Sofi Corner, which opened in fall 2023, is mostly a daytime place \u2014 serving baguettes, croissants, croques, brunch, and coffee \u2014 operating on the intimate scale of a neighborhood caf\u00e9. Sofi also offered dinners reflecting Boutliliss\u2019 upbringing in Tangier, notably his tagines and couscous. (His couscous royale won praise from Inquirer critic Craig LaBan.)<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>At Soufiane at the Morris, Boutliliss draws on the Paris bouillon tradition \u2014 unfussy, traditional cooking \u2014 with dishes such as bavette with shallots, duck confit, coq au vin, bone marrow, escargots de Bourgogne, p\u00e2t\u00e9 en cro\u00fbte p\u00e9rigourdin, and veau marengo. There\u2019s also a head-turning beef tartare topped with a quail egg and served under a clear glass cloche, perfumed by smoked lavender.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Moroccan flavors act as a through line on some dishes, including chermoula, the punchy herb-and-spice condiment, on seafood and vegetables. Soufiane is also where to find Boutliliss\u2019 couscous and tagines, since Sofi has moved to daytime-only hours, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Main courses are priced mostly in the $30s and $40s.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=362\">Trump reconsidering $1.8 billion fund as it hits roadblocks<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The dessert list reflects both cuisines. There is chocolate mousse, tarte citron, and caf\u00e9 gourmand, as well as a version of pain perdu flavored with orange, cinnamon, and pistachio that Mathon calls Moroccan French toast. It will appear on the brunch menu when daytime service begins in a few weeks.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Executing all of this is chef Henry McGuigan, a native Philadelphian who grew up on the German-French border in a military family. After eight years of service and a stretch in government contracting, McGuigan decided that neither suited him. What followed was a line-cook job at Zahav, a return there as house butcher, roles opening K\u2019Far and Laser Wolf, work at Lucky\u2019s Last Chance and Angelo\u2019s in South Philadelphia, and French training with Richard Cusack at June BYOB. Most recently, he was head chef at Tavern on Camac, where he offered a new American menu but cooked French specials on weekends.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Boutliliss was a regular. \u201cThen he offered me the job,\u201d McGuigan said.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>One dish McGuigan is particularly proud of is the mouclade \u2014 mussels in a cr\u00e8me fra\u00eeche, curry, white wine, and Cognac sauce from La Rochelle in southwestern France.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t really see it in Philadelphia,\u201d Mathon said, \u201cand even in France it\u2019s very regional.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The cocktail program, led by Parc and Little Gay Pub alumnus Kevin Castro, also draws on Morocco and France, with drinks flavored by orange blossom, pistachio, dates, and North African spices. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Most wine glasses are under $18, and there\u2019s a strong Champagne selection as well as Blanquette de Limoux, one of France\u2019s oldest sparkling wines. Low-ABV cocktails and nonalcoholic options are featured. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>For now, the kitchen runs from 4:30 to 10 p.m., followed by a bar menu served until 12:30 a.m. Daytime service \u2014 breakfast for hotel guests, coffee-cart service for hospital workers cutting through the garden, and a full brunch \u2014 is expected to begin within a few weeks.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Soufiane at the Morris, 225 S. Eighth St., 646-724-9667,  soufianeatthemorris.com<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=360\">The IronPigs will become the Rubber Duckies on July 9 for a good cause<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Soufiane at the Morris, from the couple behind Sofi Corner Cafe, aims to turn a historic hotel into an all-day gathering spot with French and Moroccan cooking, cocktails, brunch, and courtyard dining.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food","category-restaurants"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>This new French-Moroccan restaurant is set in a secret garden near Washington Square - 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