Issam Rhachi

Issam Rhachi’s cooking is shaped by the old Medina of Marrakech, a place he describes as a working archive of scent, rhythm, and repetition. That grounding runs through a career built on progression, discipline, and continuity. He is now Executive Chef at Park Hyatt Marrakech and also works as a chef at Tfaya in Marrakech, bringing a style that stays close to memory without becoming static. His own shorthand for the work is clear: his story is primarily about family, heart, and intuition.

As craft language, that points to food built from inheritance, directed by feeling, and controlled by instinct. Kitchen discipline arrived early in his career, beginning as Demi-Chef de Partie at Le Meridien hotel chain. He then moved through the brigade as Chef de Partie to Second Chef at Barrière Group / Fouquet’s Marrakech, starting in 2008. This period sharpened the basics that matter in service: timing, control, and consistency under pressure.

From 2015, he managed kitchens at Mandarin Oriental, a step that widened the scope of responsibility. He later returned to Fouquet’s Marrakech in 2016, showing the value he places on continuity in a career built through steady advancement. From 2021, he curated Le Douar’s menu in Marrakech, shaping the offer with the same attention to balance that runs through the rest of his work. At Park Hyatt Marrakech, he works as Executive Chef, where leadership, organization, and daily execution meet the habits of a cook who still thinks in terms of source and memory.

Across these roles, Rhachi keeps his cooking connected to lineage without treating it as fixed. Tradition is handled as a working material, something to be used, adjusted, and kept active. He says, “In my kitchen, I believe in mixing old traditions with new ideas.” He adds, “I use traditional methods but add a modern twist to make exciting flavors and textures that satisfy.” Read together, those statements show a chef working in contrast, old and new, texture and depth, recognition and surprise, while keeping the dish legible.

His ingredient stance is equally direct: “Utilizing locally sourced ingredients as much as possible is crucial to me,” placing locality and selection at the center of the craft. Rhachi’s signature dishes include Chef Issam’s Moroccan snails recipe. It fits the shape of his cooking: specific, rooted, and tied to Moroccan culinary memory while still carrying his own point of view. It reads less like a statement piece than a condensed expression of method, place, and instinct.

His honors include Disciple Escoffier, Grand Chef of Tomorrow, Silver medal at Trophée Passion, Silver medal at Bocuse d’Or Maroc, Gold medal representing Morocco at the Dubai Hospitality World Cup, and First prize. Taken together, they mark recognition earned across different arenas and reflect a career built on consistency, ambition, and the ability to keep evolving without losing touch with the roots that formed the work.