Shopping in Marrakech

The guide is divided into seven separate walks–and little bonus walks–that take you through the main shopping areas, using the author’s precise directions and visual landmarks. And, as a caterer and cookbook author, Simon can’t resist pointing out her favorite spots for everything from mint tea and pastries to fragrant tagines–many hidden behind innocuous entrances and set in ancient, verdant riads (traditional Moroccan courtyard homes) or on terraces overlooking the breathtaking city.

How to choose among the thousands of shops, stores, and souk stalls? And how to even find them in this labyrinthine city, where street names and addresses seldom appear on the city map? Let Susan Simon guide you through the winding alleys, hidden courtyards, and bustling markets to uncover the best of the treasures of Marrakech: luxurious caftans; bejeweled shoes and slippers; ethnic jewelry; handmade decorative objects for the home; beautifully embroidered linens; colorful ceramics; sequined antique shawls; gold-encrusted glassware. The stylish author and the photographer (who has appeared on the world’s best-dressed list) both have dozens of ideas of how to incorporate your exotic finds into every wardrobe and home.

The guide is divided into seven separate walks–and little bonus walks–that take you through the main shopping areas, using the author’s precise directions and visual landmarks. And, as a caterer and cookbook author, Simon can’t resist pointing out her favorite spots for everything from mint tea and pastries to fragrant tagines–many hidden behind innocuous entrances and set in ancient, verdant riads (traditional Moroccan courtyard homes) or on terraces overlooking the breathtaking city.

Susan Simon, a writer and event planner in New York City,  is the author of several cookbooks including Visual Vegetables, The Nantucket Table, The Nantucket Holiday Table,  Contorni, and Insalate.  She is a co-author of the James Beard Award winning cookbook, Pasta Sfoglia, and translator of Italy Dish by Dish by Monica Cesari Sartoni (The Little Bookroom, November 2010).   Susan writes a bi-monthly food column for The Nantucket Inquirer & Mirror and contributes to Nantucket Today. 

Italian-born photojournalist and stylist Nally Bellati was raised in England. She has contributed photographs and features to all major Italian magazines and has had columns in Harper’s Bazaar Uomo and L’Uomo Vogue. Today she works as a society photographer with fashion houses and design companies. Her candid party pictures are distributed to newspapers and magazines worldwide. Her book New Italian Design was translated into four languages.