4 minute read
Going Global – Interview with Joey Ghazal on taking The MAINE Group global
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Going Global
Having dominated the F&B space in the UAE for the last five years with The MAINE Group, Joey Ghazal is going global. Here we discuss The MAINE’s expansion to London and all of the hard work that has gone into reaching this incredible milestone
Can you talk us through your career? I’ve been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to open restaurants all over the world – Montreal, Beirut, Dubai and now London. My career is the sum of all my experiences, all the people I’ve worked with and all of the concepts I’ve worked on over the last 20 years. I love to challenge myself and to challenge the people around me to dream bigger and to aim higher. Your career in the restaurant industry spans multiple regions over 20 years. What do you think it takes to create such a long-standing career in such a competitive industry? Perseverance and patience. Twenty years is a long time and it’s naive to think it was only filled with success. I’ve failed more than I’ve succeeded, but not being afraid to fail sometimes is a big part of competing. What first inspired you to relocate to this region? My family has been based in Dubai since the mid-70s and I myself lived in Dubai until 1995 before moving back in 2013. I have always considered Dubai home and I’m enormously proud to have contributed in small part to the dining landscape of the city. What sets the UAE F&B scene apart from the rest of the world? Dubai has one of the most competitive restaurant scenes in the world, with the highest amount of restaurants per capita than any other city in the world. It attracts the best brands, the best operators and the best chefs from around the world. You have to operate at an extremely high level to stand out. What inspired you to launch The MAINE Group? The MAINE is very much a homage to my childhood and the summers I spent on the East Coast, but it’s also a restaurant that I myself want to be a regular at. Each of theatre and discovery. The MAINE Mayfair will have all of the elements that people have come to expect from The MAINE - excellent quality brasserie favourites, warm service and ambience, with just the right touch of revelry and mischief – always resonating with a sense of event and celebration, ensuring it’s a mainstay in the dining landscape of Mayfair for years to come. Why did you choose Mayfair as the location? Hanover Square is the bridge between Soho and Mayfair and is quickly becoming a cultural hub with art galleries, Vogue House and the Mandarin Oriental residences that borders New Bond Street, Oxford Street, Regent Street and is a short walk from Berkeley Square. What’s the history behind the venue – 20 Hanover Square – you chose? It is the only surviving Georgian ‘Grade II’ listed building in iteration of the MAINE represents a di er- the area, much of which was dug up for air ent part of my personality and my journey raid shelters during the Second World War. as a restaurateur. The MAINE Mayfair is The townhouse, which dates back to 1720, the evolution of the MAINE into something was the former homestead of James Graham, bigger and more experiential. the Duke of Montrose. You now have three incredible venues here What would you say is the secret to success in Dubai. What has the journey to get to this when it comes to creating a brand which point been like? The MAINE feels like home stands the test of time in the restaurant infor a lot of people, so I feel an enormous dustry? Provenance, authenticity and qualamount of responsibility to protect the in- ity. Give your audience an experience. tegrity of the MAINE and strike the balance To date, what have been the biggest challengbetween growing the brand and staying true es The MAINE Group has had to overcome? to the ethos of the original brand. As if opening our first international outlet And now you’re expanding abroad, which is in the middle of a global pandemic was not an incredible milestone. How does it feel to be enough of a challenge, the travel restrictions, one of the first to take a Dubai homegrown con- the global supply chain crisis, the sta ng cept global? It is a big milestone and it’s quite shortage in the UK and the economic e ects humbling. Adapting the concept to this Geor- of Brexit have made this one of the most comgian townhouse in Mayfair was no small feat. plex times to be in the restaurant business. Can you talk us through The MAINE Mayfair This is The Timelessness Issue – how would in London? The MAINE Mayfair is located you define this? Being timeless is about alin a Grade II listed Georgian building on ways striving to be authentic. Hanover Square in Mayfair. Divided across This year we celebrate the UAE’s 50th Anthree levels with five distinct rooms and over niversary – what makes this region unique to 350 seat capacity – each part of the house you? There’s no other country that has achas been carefully designed to evoke a sense complished as much in so little time.
