It was an unusual route which led to the establishment of Moro in the spring of 1997: two cooks, Sam and Sam Clark, shared a desire to discover the abundant flavours of the Southern Mediterranean. They married, bought a camper van and set off on a three month journey. They drove through Spain, Morocco and the Sahara, learning, observing and tasting along the way.

As they travelled, the two Sams experimented with local ingredients on their small gas hob, gleaning as much information as they could about different regional cooking, and the varying techniques used. Armed with stories, passion and ideas, they bought what they'd learnt back to Britain, and combined their new knowledge with their shared experience of working at London restaurants, the River Café and the Eagle, to create Moro with their partners, Mark Sainsbury and Jake Hodges. Jake has since gone on to open Bloomsbury restaurant, Cigala, whilst Mark remains the driving force behind the scenes at Moro.

To this day Moro continues to explore the nature of authentic Southern Mediterranean cookery, to share not only with its diners but also through the two Moro cookbooks, all that is intrinsic in this meeting of great Islamic and European cultures.