An award-winning chef has opened a new Moroccan restaurant, taking over a building once home to a troubled bar.

Dev Biswal initially revealed plans to open a second business in Canterbury, in the former Cardinal’s Cap, previously known as the Limes bar, in July.

Four months on and the 47-year-old has now opened Cafe Marrakech in the Rosemary Lane unit.

Indian chef Mr Biswal, who is also the owner of The Cook’s Tale restaurant in the city centre, has now unveiled his newest venture.

The eatery is a curated mixture of Moroccan cuisine featuring slow-cooked tagines, charcoal-grilled meats and hand-rolled couscous.

Other dishes on the menu include freshly baked khobz and sweet delights like semolina basbousa.

Mr Biswal says he became inspired by North African cuisines after recruiting a Moroccan chef to join his team at The Cook’s Tale, before visiting the country himself.

Believing the site can “provide a high-end dining experience for the public”, he says the new space has been created with a heady atmosphere reminiscent of a Marrakech souk.

He said: “Visiting Morocco for the first time was a real eye-opener.

“I was amazed by the similarities in Moroccan and Indian cuisines - our food and cultures have more in common than I could have possibly imagined.

“I grew up thinking samosas were an Indian invention.”

Work on the building first got underway in February.

Previously, the site was known as The Cardinal’s Cap from 1820 before being renamed The Blind Dog in 2001.

It later became Limes, but gathered a reputation for drug-taking and unruly behaviour and had its licence revoked following a period of trouble.

It was reopened in 2023 under its original namesake after a £40,000 renovation.

However, this only lasted a matter of months, and the building has been empty since.

It becomes the second public house Mr Biswal has transformed in the city, with The Cook’s Tale – formerly known as Ambrette – filling the gap left by the Beer Cart Arms following its closure in 2014.

Since moving to England from India, where he was born, the chef has seen his career take off with a steady stream of accolades for his cooking.

Mr Biswal grew up in Orissa, in eastern India, before moving to Calcutta and training at the Dubai Sheraton hotel, moving to the capital in 2003.

Last year, he was crowned the best Asian cook outside of London and the second best nationally, in a prestigious ceremony at the House of Lords.

In 2019, he was deemed to be the best Asian chef in the country.

The Cook’s Tale has received recognition in the Michelin Guide in the past, while it also won a TripAdvisor Traveller’s Choice Award and is in the Harden’s 2025 food guide.