The patterns on our truck, and the craft behind them.

We wrapped the truck in the colors of Morocco: deep red, gold, and the green-and-gold patterns you'd see on the walls of a riad in Fes or Marrakech. Those patterns have a name, and a craft behind them that is centuries old.

What zellige is.

Zellige is mosaic tilework made from glazed terracotta. Each piece is chiseled by hand into a star, a triangle, or a strip, then set face-down into a pattern and bound with plaster. When the panel is turned over, the geometry appears: eight-point stars, interlaced bands, and rosettes that repeat as far as the wall goes.

The craft is centered on Fes, where the clay comes from, and it's still taught the old way: an apprentice spends years cutting the same shapes before moving on to the next.

An eight-point star, repeated until the wall ends. That's the pattern on our window.

On Greenville Ave.

You can't park a riad on a Dallas street, so we did the next best thing. The stars and rosettes on the truck are drawn from real zellige panels, and the green glazed roof tiles along the top are the same kind that cap the walls of a Moroccan courtyard. Look for the star tiles on the serving window next time you visit.