The big winner of Top Chef season 12, Mohamed Cheikh, opened an ephemeral restaurant in Paris for the summer: the Manzili, in the heart of the Jardin des Plantes.

A la carte, summer dishes of Mediterranean inspiration.

For Europe 1, he details his fresh and healthy recipe for a watermelon salad with feta and olives, seasoned with pomegranate molasses. 

After winning season 12 of Top Chef, chef Mohamed Cheikh set down his kitchen utensils at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris for an ephemeral summer restaurant: Manzili, "my house" in literary Arabic.

"I had a mad desire to make a very Mediterranean concept", he confides to the microphone of Europe 1. "And in the Mediterranean, the seasonal products are summer so that corresponded perfectly."

On the menu, oriental and Italian flavors mingle in a decor combining flowers, wood and wicker.

The establishment is very successful, with reservations taken by storm by customers.

A passion from his grandmother

Cook with several great French chefs throughout his career, from Yannick Alléno to Eric Fréchon, Mohamed Cheikh was first failed in the casting of Top Chef in 2015 before brilliantly winning the 2021 edition, within the brigade of the chef Hélène Darroze. The latter has also given her opinion on the Manzili menu and has already eaten twice in the establishment. A pleasure, for the ex-candidate, impatient to receive it again.

Of Algerian origin, Mohamed Cheikh derives his passion for cooking from his grandmother's recipes.

"This is where I started to take an interest in tastes, colors, and sharing recipes with her," he says.

Inspirations that he proudly displays on his menu, with dishes that smell like summer.

Like his watermelon salad with molasses, feta and olives, the recipe for which he delivers on Europe 1. "It's fresh, very healthy," he says.

A pleasure to consume without moderation.

Watermelon salad with molasses, feta and olives

Ingredients

  • A watermelon

  • Feta PDO

  • Taggiasca olives 

  • Red onions

  • Pomegranate molasses

  • Salt pepper

  • Olive oil 

  • Sumac

  • Basil 

  • Lemon juice 

Recipe

1. Cut the ripe watermelon into small cubes. 

2. Pit the olives and cut the red onions into thin strips, which will be raw. 

3. Prepare a dressing by mixing pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, sumac, salt, pepper and olive oil. 

4. Mix all the ingredients together, binding everything together with the dressing. 

5. Add sumac and fresh basil to refresh the whole