Morou Ouattara is an executive chef and owner of the Kora and Farrah Olivia restaurants in

Arlington, VA Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

. Born and raised on the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

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in a family with 33 children, he combines French, African and Middle Eastern cuisines. He has appeared on

Iron Chef America ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, wh ...

, and was a contestant on

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, but was eliminated during the 'Resourcefulness' challenge. Unlike most chefs, he uses his first name professionally, preferring to be referred to as 'Chef Morou' instead of 'Chef Ouattara'.

Career

Morou moved to

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

in 1988 to study computer science. While at school, he worked as a dishwasher at Francesco Ricchi’s I'Ricchi. He stayed there for three years, and progressed through stations of the restaurant's kitchen. In 1991, he left I'Ricchi to work under Mark Miller at Red Sage, and rose to be executive chef. In 2002, Chef Morou moved to be executive chef at

Signatures A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

and revealed his own style, a combination of French, African and Middle Eastern flavors, though reviews said in retrospect he restrained himself at the location; one reviewer said, "Watching Ouattara at Signatures was a little like watching a talented filmmaker turning out commercials, the brilliance of his work confined to discrete bursts." He remained there until it closed in 2005. After consulting and appearing on

, Morou opened Farrah Olivia in the fall of 2006. Freed from the necessity of offering more conventional restaurant fare, Morou began to experiment and gained a reputation for being a brilliant, though inconsistent, chef. Farrah Olivia was closed in April 2009 (because of irreconcilable differences between Morou and his landlord). After a break Morou (together with his brother) opened Kora, serving trattoria style Italian food. Four days a week, Farrah Olivia is opened in the private dining room of Kora, featuring a more menu like in the old Farrah Olivia. He ran a restaurant, Lily and the Cactus, in NE Washington DC serving the same creative food he was known for at Red Sage. A gem in NOMA, tucked away between grocery stores and fast food chains, his style is much more rustic then prior restaurants but he has gone back to his southwestern roots inside the Hilton Garden Inn on First St. Lily and the Cactus was closed January 2022.

Jack Abramoff scandal

In late 2005, Signatures, the restaurant where Morou was executive chef, was closed in the wake of the

Jack Abramoff Jack Allan Abramoff (; born February 28, 1959) is an American lobbyist, businessman, film producer, writer, and convicted criminal. He was at the center of an extensive federal corruption investigation, which resulted in his conviction and 21 ...

scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way a ...

. Lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who owned the restaurant, frequently used his ownership of the restaurant to offer free meals and fancy fundraisers to sway lawmakers. Morou stated that Abramoff was a good boss who gave him a lot of freedom in the kitchen, but after the scandal was revealed, people with strong political ties did not want to be seen at the restaurant, for fear that people might assume they were being treated by Abramoff. The political 'scene' was more than fifty percent of the restaurant's business, and it was forced to close due to lack of revenue. The investment group Da Vinci Grou

started arrangements to take over the restaurant, however, in November 2005, Da Vinci pulled out of the deal, and the restaurant was closed.

Television appearances

Episode IA0315, Flay vs. Morou, 'Battle Frozen peas'
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References

External links

Morou.com
- official website

- Morou's restaurant {{DEFAULTSORT:Ouattara, Morou Year of birth missing (living people) American television chefs American chefs Living people Chefs from Washington, D.C. Ivorian emigrants to the United States