Marrakech
1112 is Morocco's first and only teahouse experience dedicated entirely to the
country's tea culture.
Located within a restored eighteenth-century riad in the historic heart of
Marrakech, opposite the Almoravid Qubba and the Ben Youssef Madrasa, 1112 explores
tea as a lens through which to understand Morocco's landscapes, craftsmanship,
hospitality, agriculture, and living traditions.
The experience brings together twelve regional tea ceremonies, botanical cuisine,
historic architecture, exhibitions, workshops, and a museum dedicated to Moroccan
tea heritage. Each space reveals how tea has evolved differently across the
country's mountains, coasts, cities, oases, and desert communities, preserving
rituals and recipes that have been passed from one generation to the next.
The name 1112 comes from the Hijri date carved into the riad's original cedar
ceilings more than three centuries ago, anchoring the house in its own
architectural history.
The Botanical Restaurant at 1112 celebrates Morocco's botanical wealth
through a menu inspired by regional food traditions and centuries of
domestic knowledge.
Many of the recipes presented here have gradually disappeared from
contemporary tables, surviving instead through the memories of
grandmothers, rural communities, and family archives. Working alongside
local producers and artisans, the restaurant reintroduces forgotten
ingredients, endemic herbs, heirloom varieties, and traditional
preparation methods that once defined everyday Moroccan cooking.
The menu highlights the country's geography—from the Atlantic coast and
the Rif Mountains to the Atlas, the oases, and the Sahara—revealing how
climate, landscape, and biodiversity have shaped regional cuisines.
Every dish reflects a wider story of Moroccan agriculture, seasonal
rhythms, medicinal plants, and the cultural knowledge transmitted through
generations of women.
TEA MUSEUM
The museum presents a series of permanent exhibitions drawn from the Aït
Ben Abdallah family's private collection, assembled over decades through
research, collecting, and the preservation of Moroccan tea heritage.
Among its principal displays is a comparative exhibition exploring two
distinct traditions of teaware craftsmanship: the refined British silver
tea service of Richard Wright of Manchester alongside the hand-crafted
Moroccan silver teaware of Maâlem Belaârbi, one of Morocco's master
silversmiths.
Presented side by side, the collection examines the contrasting aesthetics,
techniques, and ceremonial practices that have shaped tea culture in
Britain and Morocco, revealing how two nations developed remarkably
different objects around the same ritual of tea.
The permanent collection also includes historic Moroccan teapots, regional
tea glasses, ceremonial utensils, botanical archives, and objects
documenting the evolution of Moroccan tea traditions across the country's
diverse regions.
