Abu Dhabi Food Festival’s debut
In February, the Abu Dhabi Food Festival made its debut in the capital. In years past, it was called Gourmet Abu Dhabi and involved dozens of visiting renowned chefs who shared their favourite dishes at upscale restaurants. But this year, the Tourism and Culture Authority of Abu Dhabi revamped Gourmet Abu Dhabi and made it one of three main events of the capital’s first Abu Dhabi Food Festival.
The Emirati Kitchen was one of the new events, held over one weekend on the Corniche. A handful of restaurants popped up to serve UAE cuisine and five Emirati chefs, including the country’s first female celebrity chef, Khulood Atiq, led cookery classes.
Also a first in the capital was Street Feast. A caravan of food trucks, including 10 that arrived from the United Kingdom by boat, and an array of pop-up restaurants dished up food in Al Ain, Al Gharbia and on the Abu Dhabi Corniche over the festival’s three weekends, capitalising on the street-food trend that has seen rapid growth in the UAE over the past two years. You’ll have to wait a bit for the festival’s next edition. The 2016 Abu Dhabi Food Festival will happen in December, in partnership with SIAL Middle East, a professional business platform for food, drink and hospitality industries.
Invasion of the stars
This year, the UAE welcomed chefs from around the world whose restaurants hold Michelin stars. While some just popped over to cook up limited-time menus at select restaurants, there were many who opened new restaurants.
April: Sergi Arola, best known for his two Michelin-starred eponymous restaurant in Madrid, made his restaurant debut in the UAE with P&C by Sergi Arola at the Shangri-La Qaryat Al Beri Abu Dhabi. The Spanish tapas restaurant is Arola’s 14th worldwide.
June: Jean-Georges Vongerichten, best known for his three Michelin-starred namesake restaurant in New York, opened two different eateries in the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach. JG Dining Room and JG Kitchen are Vongerichten’s 29th and 30th restaurants across the globe.
June: Heinz Beck, the executive chef of three Michelin-starred restaurant La Pergola in the Rome Cavalieri Waldorf Astoria, already had a restaurant in Dubai (Social by Heinz Beck), but this year, he opened a second concept at The Galleria Mall on Al Wasl Road. Called A Taste of Italy by Heinz Beck, the restaurant is the first casual eatery for Beck, who is known for his fine-dining restaurants around the world. La Pergola is the only restaurant in Rome with three Michelin stars and one of just eight restaurants in Italy with three stars.
September: Jason Atherton, known for his Michelin-starred restaurant Pollen Street Social in London, opened Marina Social in Dubai Marina. The restaurant is part of Atherton’s successful “Social” restaurant empire, a concept he refers to as deformalised fine dining. It’s his 17th restaurant worldwide.
Tom Aikens, who has a Michelin-starred namesake restaurant in the UK, opened his first restaurant in the UAE at The Beach across from the Amwaj Rotana. Pots, Pans and Boards features a quirky interior with crockery, utensils and appliances stacked on floor-to-ceiling shelves and a loaded kitchen cupboard in the middle of the restaurant. One of the unique selling points of the casual eatery: everything is served on a pot, pan or a board.
October: Michael Caines, whose restaurant Gidleigh Park in the UK has retained two Michelin stars for 18 years, opened his first restaurant outside the UK in Abu Dhabi in Jumeirah at Etihad Towers. Called Pearls by Michael Caines, the restaurant features an innovative menu with a casual fine-dining vibe.
November: Gordon Ramsay’s return to Dubai was one of the biggest headlines of the year. After closing his debut UAE restaurant in 2011, the culinary superstar returned in 2015 with a completely different concept. Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen at Atlantis The Palm offers diners an informal, fun dining experience in a casual setting. Ramsay’s highly acclaimed Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London has held three Michelin stars since 2001. Ramsay now says he wants to open a fine-dining restaurant in Dubai in 2016. We’ll be waiting.
Themed restaurants
One-of-a-kind openings this year include ROGO’s – the region’s first rollercoaster restaurant in Yas Mall, delivering diners their meals by way of winding rollercoaster tracks.
Ailuromania, launched on Jumeirah Beach Road, is the first cat cafe to invite diners to cuddle a live cat while dining on a range of casual dishes and desserts.
There was also a surge in motor-themed cafes, including Le Tresor Classic Car Cafe (Boxpark); Kawasaki Cafe (Sheikh Zayed Road); BikesNBites (Boxpark); Yamaha Cafe (Boxpark); and Intersect by Lexus (DIFC).
Expect many more of these themed concepts in 2016, including the first garlic-themed restaurant in the Middle East. Mad for Garlic is scheduled to open in the first quarter.
The booming coffee culture
A decade ago, most of the coffee you’d find in the UAE was imported, but now, local entrepreneurs are roasting high-quality imported beans. There are veteran roasters who were the first in on this trend, such as Raw Coffee Company and Coffee Planet, but new roasters are popping up more frequently. This year, Tom Arnel and Sergio Lopez, who made a name for themselves with their Al Quoz cafe Tom & Serg, continued with their commitment to offer fresh-roasted coffee to the masses. They opened The Sum of Us behind The H Hotel in Dubai – where they have an on-site roastery — as well as a third outlet called Common Grounds in Mall of the Emirates. The Espresso Lab Dubai, founded by Emirati Ibrahim Al Mallouhi, also made its debut this year. The cafe is housed in The Hundred Wellness Centre and serves up speciality coffee at one communal table in a serene space. This is one sophisticated trend we’re loving. The UAE’s coffee culture continues to grow and we expect many more home-grown roasteries to make their mark in 2016.
sjohnson@thenational.ae