A restaurant planning to open in an empty café has revealed its new name and look.
YorkMix reported in July that a new restaurant was set to open in the building formerly home to the Bell’s Of York Café on Low Ousegate.
MooMoo Steakhouse Ltd had applied for an alcohol licence for a “ground floor bar/ restaurant and a first floor restaurant”.
However, it won’t be a steakhouse that opens on Low Ousegate – but rather a Moroccan-style restaurant.
According to plans submitted to City of York Council, it will be called The Marrakesh, named after one of Morocco’s best-known cities.
Number 8 Low Ousegate is Grade II listed, and dates from about 1810 when Ouse Bridge was rebuilt. The rear ground floor buildings are a later addition.
“Our client’s intention is to convert the currently vacant premises to a Moroccan-style restaurant occupying the front areas of the ground and first floor,” says a planning statement submitted by Skipwith interior design company JMDA Ltd.
“Significant improvements will also be made to toilet facilities and back-of-house areas as well as improvements to the shop-front to reflect the business offer.”
An illustration of how The Marrakesh will look shows a frontage coloured in ‘Tuscan red’ with a ‘Moroccan-style fretwork arch in laser-cut aluminium’ and etched vinyls on the newly-glazed windows.
The statement goes on: “Our clients propose to make a significant investment in the business to ensure its commercial viability.
“The internal works are limited in terms of impact on the historical aspects of the building and can be seen as a positive in terms of restoring the original room format at first floor level.”
One of the directors of MooMoo Steakhouse Ltd is Wael Mikhaiel, who also co-runs three other restaurants in York.
He told the York Press that the original steakhouse idea for Low Ousegate was dropped after the Rio Brazilian Steakhouse revealed it is moving in to what was previously home to the Piccolino restaurant on nearby Bridge Street.
You can read and comment on the plans here.