Al Maghrib Moroccan cafe is soon to open on Wagga's Fitzmaurice Street

Al Maghrib cafe is soon to open on Fitzmaurice Street, brought to the city by Moroccan expat Mustapha El Mourtazak.

Mr El Mourtazak has had a long career in hospitality and is excited to bring a piece of his homeland to the community.

"We're so excited, when I share with people the good news, people say 'wow, Moroccan food in Wagga'," he said.

"I've been away from my home for 15, 16 years ... being far away from home it's really hard.

"So, believe me, to have someone to share with me the happiness of having this Moroccan [cafe] here in Wagga, which makes me a step closer to my country, is really amazing."

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Al Maghrib is Morocco's official name, and also means 'the west' in Arabic. It also refers to all the Islamic North African areas beyond Egypt

But for the new cafe It is also the Arabic word for 'sunset', a term for when the Islamic day actually starts.

Mr El Mourtazak said Moroccan food will also appeal to the wider Arabic community in Wagga as it shares many of the same flavour profiles.

His wife Angela said hospitality is integral to Moroccan culture, and food is a central part of that tradition, something her husband is compelled to bring to his adopted home.

"The first time I met his parents they had milk and dates and figs and things to eat because that's so tremendously important, so I think it's in his blood to offer that type of hospitality to people," she said.

'Marhaba' means welcome in Arabic, Mr El Mourtazak said, and people can expect the warmest welcome at his new cafe.

"People are so, so welcoming in my country," he said. "Our family make us follow their kindness and their way of how to treat people the right way and the nice way."

The food will be simple, mostly gluten-free, wholesome fare the pair said, with tagines as their speciality, and as such they are having the tagine pots delivered especially from Morocco.

Mr El Mourtazak hopes to have Al Maghrib open from the first week of May.

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