Restaurateur-to-the-stars Mourad Mazouz claims to have little interest in
luxury and would rather stay in a £25-a-night hotel than a five-star resort.
“Whether it is for business or pleasure, I want to feel that I am living like
a local person and absorbing the culture,” he said. “I once went with an
ex-girlfriend to Copacabana Hotel in Rio, Brazil. It’s a really luxurious
place and we were staying there for 10 nights at around £400 a night. After
two days I told my girlfriend I wanted to leave the place; I couldn’t stand
having the concierge saying hello to me every day, because I just wanted
some peace. So I checked us out and found a room in the house of a friend.
It cost £25 a night and we had a huge bedroom, with the sun coming in and it
was very quiet and beautiful. My girlfriend at the time was a little bit
posh but she admitted after a week that it was great.”
Mazouz, 46, is the outspoken Algerian-born restaurateur behind Momo and the
famously-expensive Sketch in London and Derriere in Paris. His guests have
included stars such as Madonna, Sting, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. He also has
other restaurants in Paris, a restaurant in Dubai and is planning to open
another in Beirut later this year. He travels frequently between the
different establishments.
Can you tell us anything about the stars you serve?
I’m afraid I cannot. I will not say anything good or bad about them. I will
never call the papparazi when they are here, just to get some cheap
publicity. I want to be proud of myself. I’ll tell you something funny,
though. A celebrity called me to say he wanted to go in Derriere, my
restaurant in Paris. I said “no, just say Derriere, not in Derriere.
Derriere means ‘behind’, because it is behind a bar and restaurant that I
own. In Derriere means in your backside, which is something quite different.”
Which other hotels do you use?
In Paris I sometimes I stay at my girlfriend’s house – she still has a place
there. If not, I rent a room, in the 10th district, which has a courtyard
and a gallery. Also there is a wonderful place in the 18th area of Paris
called Eldorado, which has a hotel for the equivalent of £40 a night with a
sloping roof. I like small hotels. I want a bed, nice sheets and pillows and
for the room to smell nice. Luxury for me is not what a lot of people think
it is. A shower that works with good pressure, that is luxury.
What are the hotels like in Beirut?
The rooms are huge and the furniture is terrible! I stayed in one hotel that
people called ‘the lover’s hotel’ and one morning I was waking up and I
thought I heard people making love next door. Then, as I started to wake up
a bit more, I thought they were on my terrace. I opened my curtains and down
below there were people chanting in favour of Hezbollah outside the UN
Embassy. It sounded like mass panting.
How do you travel to Paris?
I use the Eurostar and I hate it. Maybe hate is too strong a word, but I can’t
stand the train company. They are always charging different prices and I
understand that is business, but it is just too much. Everything is about
maximising profit and charging the most to people who need to go at a
certain time. How would it be if you charged £40, £80 and £120 at different
times in a restaurant? But the experience is good. I park my scooter
outside, it is easy and I arrive 15 minutes before departure. On the train I
email, I work and I don’t waste time. I use Eurostar sometimes twice a week.
How do you get around London?
