In a small dining room with Italian terrazzo floors, warm lighting, and earthy, distressed walls, every table is occupied. There are regulars from the neighborhood, couples on a quiet afternoon date, a father and small son giggling over pasta, and colleagues sharing plates at a long table in the corner. We grab the only seats left at the end of a long zinc bar.
Amid the hustle, we are warmly greeted by the restaurant’s owner, Benjamin Moro. Shying away from social media and publicity, Benjamin comes across as timidly confident, an unorthodox charmer. Hands-on, wearing many hats, there is a pulse in the air when he is in the room. His menu reflects this penchant. Combining his classic French training with inspiration from his Italian grandmother Vilma’s ragù, here he has created a maverick Franco-Italian version of the classic trattoria. Benjamin elaborates on formulating his menu: “I do what I want. I decided to open a restaurant so I would always have something on hand to eat.”
Benjamin’s stream of loyal customers return time and time again for his savory pasta sauces, pillowy ricotta-spinach gnudi in sage butter, and his signature saucisse fenouil-purée (sausage with mashed potatoes) made with roasted fennel-seed sausage from local butcher Au Grand Saint-Antoine at the Capucin market in Noailles.
À Moro’s menu includes the favored classics as well as daily specials. To start, we choose the prosciutto di Parma drizzled in olive oil and the vitello tonnato (veal in tuna sauce), made with Benjamin’s interpretation of the classic recipe, but with lots of extra anchovy. His take on this is dreamy. For our mains, we opt for the calamarata with ragu bianco di manzo (calamarata pasta with a ragu of beef, veal, carrots, onions, celery, garlic, rosemary, in a creamy, delicious Parmesan stock) and the saucisse fenouil purée.
Located on Rue Venture in a humble one-block locale and just around the corner from the luxury designer shops of Rue Paradis, À Moro is utterly unassuming. We ask Benjamin what the neighborhood is called. Is it l’Opéra, is it the Préfecture? He pauses for a moment and says, “C’est la venture!” (It’s the venture!) An apropos name for both the street and the start of his new business. Benjamin tells us the minute he saw the space that now houses À Moro, he knew it was the spot. Inspired by one of his favorite restaurants, the 150-year-old Trattoria Sostanza in Florence, he drew from the simple, classic interior to create an intimate setting for À Moro. There is no sign outside the door, save the temporarily painted window that says, “Non Saint Valentino!” Eschewing phone calls for the cliché romantic meal, there are no New Year’s Eve or Valentine’s Day dinners here. Instead, Benjamin is committed to honoring his rustic roots with no frills. Food is king at À Moro.
Born to a family living in Gémenos (just outside Marseille) and grandparents from Torre di Mosto and Arba (near Venice), Benjamin grew up in Provence and spent summers in Italy. He studied culinary arts here in Marseille at the Lycée Hôtelier de Marseille and then made his way to Paris to further his career as a chef. In 2020, Benjamin moved back to Marseille to be near his family and worked as the chef de cuisine at Ourea. In November 2022, he decided to open his own restaurant, and À Moro was born.
Benjamin is particular about the ingredients he uses in his dishes, which is reflected on each plate. He sources from local vendors, gets vegetables from the gardens of the Étang de Berre (a lagoon about 16 miles northwest of Marseille) and works closely with his sommelier and manager, Guillaume Maugain (who Benjamin insists is the boss), to create an impressive carte des vins with over 60 options of French and Italian natural wines.
Benjamin shares his memories of trips to Italy as a child and says he was teethed on a Parmesan rind. The trademark cheese became a favorite of his, as well as his mother’s lasagna. Time spent in the kitchen and cooking with his family was the genesis of his career and his dedication to those family memories. Benjamin speaks highly of his family and his staff. There is a sense that he is dedicated to those he holds close. Front and center behind the bar in À Moro is a small framed sign that reads, “Ébénisterie – Moro P.” An heirloom from his grandfather, Plinio, who moved to Paris in 1946 after the war and started a woodworking-furniture shop. The name À Moro is a combination of his son’s name, his family name, and a play on the Italian word for love. An avid OM fan (Marseille’s football team), he insists his staff is photographed together under the OM banner, shying away from any attention to himself.
Our lunch hour is winding down and while we are fully satiated, we cannot leave without trying one of the desserts, which are all made in house. We land on the panettone ice cream drizzled with olive oil. What could be better than creamy panettone?
As we steal our last bites, a customer next to us at the bar comments, “Everything is so delicious, how do they do it?” Without skipping a beat, Guillaume replies, “With love; everything is made with love.” Indeed, À Moro.
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