Cafe Baba — The One and Only
A stone throw away from Amrh Square in Tangier lays the legendary café baba. Nestled in the heart of the kasbah, this mythic cafe has been visited by the biggest stars of this world. Keeping its original design and set up, the customary to tangier blue walls apparently also have been around since its founding in 1943. Café baba has remained loyal to its original set-up. Atop a steep hill, the little sign at the entrance isn’t what is most likely to convince you to walk through the doors. For some, the smell of the freshly roasted coffee might be sufficient to convince them, for others, it might be the scent of the Moroccan hash. Who knows?
Tangier is a beautiful city with many hidden jewels, but there aren’t many places where you can enjoy the cool breeze of the Mediterranean sea, sitting at the outdoor veranda of Café Baba indulging in one of Baba’s famous Turkish coffee. Or a Moroccan Whiskey of course, like everywhere else in Morocco — very sweet mint tea.
Since its opening nearly 80 years ago, this place has attracted quite a few celebrities over the years. The pictures hung on the walls not only witnesses their presence in the past but also serves as a prideful history for this cafe hung high in the coastal kasbah of Tangier. Cafe Baba was once the meeting point of worldwide celebrities.
But as I briefly mentioned earlier, everyone’s not only here to quench their thirst.
Amongst the long list of stars, you can find legendary Rolling Stones rock star, Keith Richards. His pictures show’s him on that famous veranda, smoking what seems to be hashish, using the traditional farmer pipe — Sebsi.
Like most café’s in Morocco, Baba tolerates the consumption of hashish as the farming of cannabis on the Rif mountains have been generating thousands of dollars to farmers in the region. The cultivation of cannabis has been an important commodity along with olive oil for farmers in the region, long before marijuana became a lucrative business worldwide. But unlike cities like Amsterdam or Barcelona where marijuana is legal or tolerated, the Moroccan drug policy is very strict when it comes to drug trafficking. With police checkpoint and random stops and every entrance and exits of towns the risk of getting caught and facing strong charges quickly dissuades many from following that route.
Attracting mostly teenagers during the day, the new and modern Tangier youth squats the couches in the back, getting high freely without the fear of being arrested. The owner M. Abdelghani Aoufi says he has refused the entrance to a great number of people, as he wants the “clients to be comfortable and not bothered by the hoodlums, trying to make a living from scamming tourists.” Aoufi says. “But these kids are good kids, I know them all” M. Aoufi proudly points at all the pictures around, displaying the importance of his world-famous, local gathering spot fearing that one day it might just become another “regular” coffee spot.
Very simply decorated, one can easily wonder why all of those famous stars chose to come here. You may also be asking yourself what is the key to the success of this tiny cafe. But once you’ve met the owner, you will quickly forget these questions and hope that this café will live on for generations to come. With a big smile on his face, M. Aoufi kindly starts explaining to us how to make a good Turkish coffee with a broken English. “This is the best in Tangier” he proudly states as he serves us our drinks.
In the 60s, M. Aoufi hired a so-called “Baba” an elderly man who only spoke his native dialect. Always dressed in a white djellaba, clients seemed to appreciate the service of this old man, and as they would often do to thank him they would say “ Shukran Baba”, Thank you, dad. “And that’s where the name came from” says M. Aoufi.
While Rolling Stones, Keith Richards enjoyed his afternoons at Café Baba; M. Aoufi didn’t only attract big names of the music industry. Indeed, he has rubbed shoulders with personalities like former Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Anan as well. The picture below Richards shows Kofi Anan and his wife, Swedish lawyer Nane Lagergren sipping the traditional mint tea.
Along with musicians and politicians, Tangier’s gem has also attracted many famous authors like Jack Kerouac, Jean Genet or even Tennessee Williams. The kindness, humility, and hospitality of M. Aoufi is definitely played a major part in his family’s business success. He has kept his cafe filled with excitement for decades, attracting an exclusive clientele while remaining original and authentic, just like Tangier has.
