WE WERE THERE Mohamed Cheikh (Top Chef) opens a new restaurant, Meïda, in Saint-Ouen: “It was destiny that brought me there”

WE WERE THERE Mohamed Cheikh (Top Chef) opens a new restaurant, Meïda, in Saint-Ouen: “It was destiny that brought me there”

A few weeks ago, Mohamed Sheikh has quietly opened its new restaurant called Meida. This is a Mediterranean brewery that, unlike its previous projects, will not be ephemeral! Indeed, the winner of Top Chef 2021 has decided to settle down for the long term in Saint-Ouen, in the 93. It is on the beautiful Place de la Mairie that it has found its location and that it hopes to delight taste buds on a daily basis. It is not for nothing that it chose Meida as a name, since it literally means ‘the table’ in Arabic, is the best image to represent sharing.

Meidaa brasserie with warm decor

Although he opened the doors of his establishment during the summer, Mohamed Cheikh only organized the inauguration this Thursday, September 19, 2024. For the occasion, 200 people were invitedof which Purepeople. We thus immersed ourselves in the sunny decor imagined by the chef and deployed on two levels. On the ground floor is the main room with the bar in the center and upstairs, we discover a more private and intimate lounge. But everywhere, the same warm decoration in ochre, orange or yellow tones reminiscent of a vacation home. Wooden tables, cozy benches, rattan lights, vases and statues arranged everywhere … Not to mention cacti and palm trees for an exotic touch. Everything is done to prolong the feeling of travel.

The map of MeidaMohamed Cheikh’s new restaurant in Saint-Ouen

On the plate, Meida offers refined dishes but the codes of the traditional brasserie are nevertheless respected. We were able to taste a hummus with zaat’ar, a potato tortilla, beets with sumac or even a merguez arancini, harissa remoulade sauce (star of the menu!). For the sweet touch, Mohamed Cheikh had the idea of ​​a pavlova, an orange blossom rice pudding and also a tiramisu. Everything is served by a team of attentive waiters with a simple but effective look: white t-shirt with the restaurant logo and cargo pants.

Mohamed Cheikh explains the choice of Saint-Ouen

At the inauguration, Purepeople was able to speak for a few minutes with Mohamed Sheikh. “I am delighted to see the restaurant filled with diverse and varied people, from all walks of life, of all ages, it is a bit the will of the place, to have a clientele in my image, family, smiling, who have the pleasure of being there“, he told us. And to explain his decision to develop in Saint-Ouen: “It was destiny that brought me here. Very sincerely, initially when I was offered this site, I immediately said no, not Saint-Ouen. I had the feeling that they wanted to stick an image on me, ‘still Mohamed Cheikh, 93, etc.’ and I was asked to come and visit the site anyway, I came, I saw this whole new neighborhood, people who look like me, because I come from a working-class neighborhood, from an immigrant background too… And I find that – I’m not a spokesperson – but if guys like me don’t try to change things a little in the suburbs, who will?“

Mohamed Cheikh joins Thierry Marx and Juan Arbelaez

Mohamed Cheikh is not the first to want to contribute to the renewal of the city of Seine-Saint-Denis. It so happens that on July 11, It was Thierry Marx who opened his restaurantA Broth located just a few meters from the Meida. “I knew that Thierry Marx had a restaurant that was going to open, that’s also why I accepted. That’s one of the things that made me make a decision. It’s a city in full expansion. Thierry Marx opened his broth, there is Juan (Arbelaez, editor’s note) who also has his restaurant behind (The Yaya, editor’s note). And rather than being the last in a long series who has opened a restaurant in Paris with the Parisian clientele who no longer go to restaurants in Paris, I told myself that we had to go to the outskirts. It’s not a less good image to be here, it’s not less good, it’s not super far, it allows us to reach everyone in the end” he told our microphone.

The mayor of Saint-Ouen, Karim Bouamrane, and Valérie Pécresse are proud

Mohamed Cheikh’s relatives did not fail to participate in the event, including the rapper Rim’K or even Fred Musaiconic Skyrock host. Valérie Pécresse, president of the Ile-de-France region, was also proud to celebrate the chef.Leaving the Champs Elysées to come to Saint-Ouen, that’s a bold move, and it really pleases us, it does us honor. (…) We missed gastronomy because there was a time when to find bistronomy, you had to go to the Puces“, recalled the politician in a speech, before presenting a medal to Mohamed. He also received as a gift a jersey of Red Star (the city’s football club) from the hands of the mayor Karim Bouamrane.

Speaking to us later in the evening, the latter expressed his enthusiasm for the realization of this beautiful project.For us it was important because we really wanted a place that perfectly embodies what we wear, that is to say good, beautiful and accessible for all with an ability to feel good. The place is beautiful, we eat well there and in terms of pricing, it is accessible for everyone. I really wanted it to be a place that gives the possibility to say ‘this is my home’. We want the best for everyone. The Bouillon, the Communal, Meïda, La Puce, Chez Huguette... what we are doing is establishing quality, beautiful and accessible restaurants” he told us.

So, to your address books: Meidait is open from Monday to Sunday, at 10 place de la République, Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine 93400.

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