Background
A culinary writing between transmission and haute gastronomie
Some trajectories tell not just a career, but a way of inhabiting the world. Meryem Cherkaoui's belongs to that rare lineage: a cuisine thought of as language, living memory and culture, in constant dialogue between the shores of the Mediterranean.
She began her training at the Institut Paul Bocuse in Lyon in 1997, in a class sponsored by Bernard Lambert, graduating from the École des Arts Culinaires et de l'Hôtellerie in 1999.
It is in the great houses that her first culinary grammar takes shape. In Cannes, alongside Bruno Oger at Villa des Lys – Le Majestic, then in Paris at the Hôtel de Crillon – Les Ambassadeurs with Dominique Bouchet, she discovers the demands of precise technique and the rigour of kitchens of excellence.
Back in Casablanca, she quickly crosses into creation. In 1999, she becomes chef de partie at Les Mouettes in Lorient. Two years later, she takes over the kitchen at restaurant Aéropostale, before opening her own address: La Maison du Gourmet. A first statement of a personal style, rooted in produce and memory.
Class sponsor: Bernard Lambert 1999 – 2000 ·Les Mouettes · Lorient · Chef de partie 2000 – 2002 ·Restaurant Aéropostale · Casablanca · Head chef 2000 – 2002 ·La Maison du Gourmet · Casablanca · Owner & Chef
Institut Paul Bocuse · Lyon
MasterChef Maroc · Jury · Joël Robuchon
2009 marks a turning point: she opens the Saveurs des Chefs workshops in Casablanca and receives the "Esprit Entrepreneur Bocuse & Co" award, recognising a vision already focused on transmission and innovation.
In 2011, she structures her entrepreneurial world with the creation of Meryem Cherkaoui SARL, dedicated to gastronomic consulting, and Dima Terroir, a fine food shop working alongside Moroccan women's cooperatives.
In 2012, her commitment extends beyond the kitchen. She takes part in creating the Mucem exhibition in Marseille, "Femmes de Méditerranée", a project she stays involved with for three years. That same year, she joins the jury of MasterChef Maroc, alongside Yannick Alléno and Joël Robuchon. The following year, she co-founds Slow Food Maroc with Zoubida Charrouf.
The great institutions of international gastronomy open their doors to her. In 2014, she becomes a member of the Bocuse d'Or jury, before signing a gala dinner for Maison Dior.
In 2015, she joins the jury of Top Chef France, confirming her standing as a recognised culinary voice, at the intersection of media and haute gastronomie.
Bocuse d'Or · Jury international
Mes'Lalla · Mandarin Oriental · Marrakech
2016 marks a founding step: she signs Mes'Lalla at the Mandarin Oriental Marrakech, a contemporary interpretation of Moroccan cuisine in the world of luxury hospitality.
Her footprint then goes international: in 2019, she signs the menu at Château de Maubreuil in Nantes. In 2022, she creates a prestige dinner for Hermès on the occasion of a perfume launch, continuing her dialogue with the luxury houses.
In 2023, she continues this writing in Marrakech with the menu signature of restaurant Les Palmiers, consolidating a recognisable culinary aesthetic between land, memory and modernity.
In 2025, her role shifts fully towards transmission. She becomes class sponsor at Institut Lyfe (formerly Paul Bocuse) in Lyon, leads a masterclass at Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique in Casablanca, and signs the opening of restaurant Le Dahbi at the Mövenpick Mansour Eddahbi Marrakech.
In 2026, her influence extends further into the international arena with a gala dinner in Dubai for an event linked to Fortune Global 500 leaders.
Le Dahbi · Mövenpick Mansour Eddahbi · Marrakech
For Meryem Cherkaoui, cooking is never a simple gastronomic gesture. It becomes a space of circulation: between cultures, between generations, between the intimate and the institutional. A precise, embodied writing that seeks not effect but accuracy — and in that accuracy, a lasting form of modernity.
