Food

When Chef Morou Ouattara opened up his own restaurant, he decided to go with the style of cooking he knew best. No, he didn’t opt for the Italian food he mastered as chef at Francesco Ricchi’s I Ricchi, one of Washington D.C.’s finest restaurants. He also didn’t recreate the menu from Mark Miller’s Red Sage Restaurant, where he was “introduced to new ways of thinking about food, using a new range of ingredients and cooking methods to create unconventional flavor combinations.” Instead, he depended on the flavors that came from his upbringing in West Africa.

Morou came to the United States in 1988 as a Computer Science student, but it was the love of cooking that would be his ultimate avocation. “Growing up on the Ivory Coast, my first inspiration in the kitchen came from my mother,” said the chef with his round, open face and engaging smile. One of many children and a larger extended family, Morou watched his mother whip up impromptu spreads for the 40-odd members of his extended family. His mother would make routine meals a cause for celebration by skillfully blending African, French and Middle Eastern flavors which heavily impacted the types of appetizers, entrees and desserts that Morou would later serve at his upscale Old Town, Alexandria eatery, Farrah Olivia (named for his first daughter).

Knowing that the culinarily adventurous would seek him out after a long and loyal following at I Ricchi, Red Sage and Signatures, his last posting before forging out on his own 18 months ago, Morou has created a niche for himself by offering up fusion foods with distinctly African flavors and ingredients.

And it is no small wonder that his own restaurant is wildly popular, following two back-to-back nominations for Washington’s Chef of the Year in 2000 and 2001 and a stint on Iron Chef, on which he was eliminated in the third round. He has also had the opportunity to work with guest chefs such as Zarela Martinez, Steven Pyles, and Jean-Marie Josselin and made guest chef appearances at charity events such as Share Our Strength in New York, Atlanta and Miami.

"Dishes that are considered traditional are new to me I see them in ways that perhaps the diner would not.  So, I twist them a little," he said.  "I appreciate the opportunity to express my creativity at my own restaurant.”

A typical evening saw a celebrity or two, a prom party and the curious eater wander in to a packed, tastefully appointed dining room where organically-shaped wooden circles dangled like mobiles from the ceiling. By far, the most popular offerings are the 5-course and 7-course tasting menus, which provide an appetizer, salad, multiple entrees and dessert.

But first, a tantalizing bread platter with intriguing spreads such as bok choy pesto, sun dried tomato puree and ricotta cheese opened up the appetite, followed by red pepper flan that was light as foam—something that the chef specializes in along with powders of bacon and palm fruit, and mint pearls. Next, a deconstructed caser salad came with crispy greens, a parmesan flan and fresh sardines, rather than the often-too-salty anchovies, with a rich cheesy dressing on the side of the plate. A perfectly grilled diver scallop surrounded by a fiery pepper sauce, melon seed milk and bacon powder in white and classical bacon-colored reddish brown came next. Just when we were about pleasantly full, the entrees emerged. First, a grilled salmon with crunchy toasted cassava appeared within ample time for the first three offerings to slide down. Then, a juicy baby lamb chop with collard greens and palm fruit powder came out, which was too good to pass up despite the growing satiety of the diners (myself and my West African husband, who heartily approved the flavors with no complaints about the relatively small size of the entrees). Finally, dessert came followed by a plate of tasty assorted chocolate truffles. Finding myself wanting the flavors of palm fruit barbecue and the chocolate to linger on my tongue, I took the dessert home only to be delighted by a light, airy cheesecake with a spicy mango-ginger sauce on the side with tiny slivers of mango imbedded in the thick, sweet surrounding syrup.

For only a few dollars more, Morou provides a wine tasting sampler to accentuate the dishes. The brave tackled the 7-course tasting menu, which included a deep fried soft-shell crab, though most diners split that particular tasting menu. The truly courageous (and hungry) can forge into the 14-course tasting menu, which is available only by reservation on Friday and Saturday, and also comes with a wine tasting menu to accompany the feast.

Farrah Olivia is located at 600 Franklin Street in Old Town, Alexandria., VA 22314. The restaurant (and Morou, who can usually be found hard at work in the kitchen) can be reached at (703) 778-2233 or at info@farraholiviarestaurant.com. It’s worth a trip to the Washington, DC area, where you can also see a couple of monuments and maybe a presidential candidate at the same time.