INNOVATOR
Aubaine at Dubai Mall
Quality control Restaurateur Hani Nakkach on bringing London-based Aubaine to Dubai (and why he’s doing it himself)
“
W
e don’t franchisenever have, and never will.” That’s the response I get when I ask Beirutborn restaurateur Hani Nakkach about the strategy he used when going about the January launch of the first international location of his Londonbased French bistro, Aubaine, in Dubai. “We decided to open in Dubai when we found the right partner who shares the
26
Entrepreneur march 2016
By Aby Sam Thomas
same DNA and vision as us,” he explains. “We run every site ourselves, as we want to be sure the quality and brand ethos is always upheld. We managed to build a great team in Dubai, mixed with some veterans from Aubaine London to take care of Aubaine Dubai.”
“We managed to build a great team in Dubai, mixed with some veterans from Aubaine London to take care of Aubaine Dubai.”
And Nakkach himself is on the ground for his enterprise in Dubai- it’s easy to see that he’s a hands-on entrepreneur who is a stickler for
Aubaine at Dubai Mall
detail. “I split my time now between London and Dubai, but have put my focus more on Dubai, especially during the opening months,” he says. “We have The Dubai Mall location up and running now, with the second location set to open its doors in spring 2016 in City Walk 2.” While Dubai may be a