The UAE Foodie Revolution The people, the passion and the palates shaking up the region’s dining scene Something is happening in the UAE. Once upon a time, eating out here typically meant a flash restaurant in a five-star hotel. Or, if you weren’t looking to drop Dhs500 a head on dinner, a midrange chain lifted wholesale from another corner of the globe entirely. Now, slowly but surely, an alternative scene is taking shape, where independent venues rule and once rarely seen words have become menu mainstays. Words like “organic”, “unprocessed” and (whisper it) “locally sourced”. From Arabic street food to artisan pizza, we meet the faces behind some of the most exciting new ventures.
Bill Johnson The owner of popular pizza joint Pitfire in The Greens says the restaurant owes its success to a combination of artisan style, attention to detail and value. Our pizzas are made with Italian flour (Caputo OO) but mixed to a New York style dough recipe, proofed for 48 hours, then individually hand-baked in a New York gas fired “deck” oven, for big, puffy charred crusts with lots of character that we funk up with non-traditional topping combinations. Value is very important to us. I’ve had numerous customers tell me they get angry when they order from Pitfire for the first time. They open that box and realize they’ve been getting cheated by chains, who ultimately care about two things; cost and volume. That formula makes for mediocrity. As passionate as I am about pizza I’d be reluctant to open in our hometown of Seattle, as there’s a great pizza joint (literally) on every street corner. The opportunity I recognised in Dubai was the current evolutionary shift from a chain food market to a city with a growing demographic demanding crafted, quality and great tasting food – we cater to this sector. During our time here we’ve seen the expansion of mostly US franchises, but also the introduction of a lot of grass roots brands and niche players giving it a go. Pifire is absolutely an alternative to the chain restaurants, and I think this “fast casual” sector will continue to grow. I’d like to see the gastropub scene that’s just booming in North America and Europe take root here, combining authentic, honest bars and atmosphere with exceptional food. facebook.com/pitfirepizzadubai
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Ziyad Ayass The simple Lebanese breads and spreads served up by Ka’ak Al Manara have seen snaking queues forming at Dubai’s weekly Ripe Market. Dubai’s food scene is bustling and emerging, I think the 2013/14 season of Ripe Market really helped to spur it into life. I was shocked during this current season to see the number of vendors had doubled from the previous. It’s absolutely amazing what creative energy this city harbours. This season has really blown up in terms of outdoor markets and opportunities for foodies to strut their stuff. Although I don’t think I am the most well travelled foodie there is, I’d be surprised if another city has witnessed as much growth in that respect as the UAE has recently. There are hard-working people in the market trying to introduce a centralised, organised mobile food movement in the country, which has, unfortunately, been stalled by bureaucracy. I really hope mobile food vendors start to get more freedom to operate around the city. I think it’s relatively easy to source good quality ingredients in Dubai. You’d be surprised at the variety of markets and shops you will find, especially in older parts of town like Deira. But then again my product is not the most sophisticated thing out there – we serve bread and spreads. There has been a huge element of surprise in how well our concept has been received by the market. In our first six times at Ripe, we had to double our team and equipment just to cope with the queues of people waiting to get their ka’ak. I’ll never forget the mini heart attacks I used to get when I’d look up from serving the customer in front of me and see the line extending behind them. We are truly blessed. facebook.com/kaakalmanara
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Eda Gundor The Turkish founder of One Café Dubai and urban retreat Life ‘n’ One says their healthy menu is “spontaneous” and “global”. We’ve only been open for five months but already it’s gotten easier to source organic produce in Dubai. We are more than 90 percent organic but we are still struggling with a couple of ingredients. The only problem is the cost – I wish buying organic was more affordable. Guilt-free gourmet is the future. A sugar-free diet is becoming increasingly popular as people learn more and more about the evil white stuff. I’m an advocate of eating seasonally too. It’s not rocket science, but there aren’t many who are continually creating new ways to use up fruit and vegetables at the right time of year. Hopefully this will change soon. In [my home town] Istanbul there are a lot of farmers’ markets dedicated to organic, free-range and crueltyfree produce. This year has seen a shift in the landscape in Dubai too. More restaurants have made organic produce and free-range meat available. On a chilled day I like to eat at Comptoir 102 (Café 102, Jumeirah Beach Road). I’m also in love with the food at Traiteur (Park Hyatt Dubai). Dubai offers easy access to a luxury lifestyle. After a while, consumers start searching for different options. facebook.com/lifenonedubai
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Claire Falconer Dubai is “open to fresh ideas”, says Claire, part of the Aussie team behind Love Food, a healthy meal delivery service that only uses organic, unprocessed ingredients. Stuart Walton and Richard Hannaby, the chefs and founders behind Love Food, have created something unique in the region. All Love Food meal plans are served in recycled, ecofriendly glass containers, and all our food is made with organic, locally sourced produce. Even in the past three years, the demand for good-quality, sustainable produce has increased dramatically. You can now see healthier options in cafés, farmers’ markets and organic stores popping up everywhere… it’s a great time to be in Dubai. Each year Dubai is improving its offering of healthy, local, organic produce. At Love Food we source all our ingredients from a local farm in Dubai, Organic Oasis, but free-range, grass fed meats are a little harder to come by locally so we’re importing the best quality from Australia. Australia lives and breathes food. On every corner you’ll find farmers’ markets, and there are original restaurants at every turn. Dubai still has a long way to go, but there are a lot of exciting new venues popping up everywhere. I love Tom & Serg, not only do the team make a mean coffee, it also feels like a little bit of Melbourne. I love that fact there is still so much to come and that there is so much room for Dubai’s foodie scene to grow further. It’s exciting to be part of this rapid expansion. lovefoodme.com
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Tom Arnel and Sergio Lopez The duo behind new café The Sum of Us, and Al Quoz success story Tom & Serg. We’d like to see independent restaurants opening up away from the big developments, the hotels and the malls. People need something in between all that stuff. Restaurants can be difficult to get into; there are lots of set up costs and red tape. We had major, major issues trying to find a location, as two young blokes that had just enough money to open our place. It took us two and a half years to set up Tom & Serg, and so many times we were close to giving up. If we had, it would have been the biggest mistake of our lives. Perseverance is key. Tahir from Moti Roti is doing good things on the food truck scene. He is what an entrepreneur should look like in the UAE right now; he’s ambitious.
We always knew there was room in the market to do lots of things with café culture and coffee and casual dining. The Sum of Us had to be completely different, we didn’t want to do things the same and just open another Tom & Serg, it would have been very robotic. With the look of Tom & Serg we were inspired by Al Quoz, it’s industrial and quite grimy. Again with The Sum of Us we’ve been inspired by the building. We don’t want to transport people away from Dubai [with our venues]. A lot of places are trying to take you elsewhere, to India or Italy or wherever. We thought, you know what? Dubai’s pretty cool. We don’t need to transport people out of here. facebook.com/thesumofusdubai
Elizabeth Stevenson The creator behind Jam Bar, a stand serving coffee, ice cream and good old-fashioned fresh doughnuts. I love doughnuts and grew up eating homemade, old-fashioned cake doughnuts as a kid. I wanted to replicate that feeling by creating something simple, tasty and heartfelt, with great ingredients and a nod to the older way of doing things. Independents are gaining momentum [in Dubai] and that’s hugely positive. There is healthy competition and a supportive atmosphere among the “homegrown” crew, but it’s still a fledgling scene in my opinion. Baby steps though. I’d like to see comprehensive support systems for food startups involving increased availability of food production spaces for rent, or small kitchens for hire at affordable rates. I’d like to see steps taken to promote urban agriculture programmes and incentives for hotels and restaurants, and desert greening programmes that involve community food initiatives. We need to grow more food.
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Fresh ingredients will always be a challenge in this country due to the unavoidable cost and waste of shipping from overseas. Saying that, the spectrum of local ingredients available has improved massively with the introduction of sustainable, locally grown produce into the market. I’ve always been very fond of Baker & Spice and how they are working with area farmers to promote local food. And they make a mean shakshouka. One to watch is The Sum of Us by Tom and Serg, and also the development of the new Al Serkal Avenue extension – some very cool things are about to happen there. I like to think of Dubai as the New Frontier in may ways – we are a city of trail blazers and risk takers, and it’s a neat place to be in the world. It’s also a very open minded and curious consumer market, which is great for start ups. facebook.com/jambarco
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Tahir Shah Tahir is bringing home-style Pakistani cooking to the masses with his Moti Roti food truck. With Moti Roti I felt really inspired to modernise curry, to make it cool, fresh and accessible as a quick lunch. I wanted people to know about the true home culture of Pakistani food, and not the typical biryanis, kebabs and butter chicken that you can get anywhere. Street food allows people to access very niche foods from different cultures. Home-style curries are not easily available in traditional restaurants. In fact, my mum had to teach our chef some of the more nuanced techniques for the roti. The casual dining scene is really starting to burgeon here. Before it was always about fancy restaurants and nice hotels. Nowadays people are more careful with their spending and have less time on their hands. There’s a lot of talent in this region, but it doesn’t have the same means or advantages as the bigger players. I would strongly encourage investors to focus less on importing trendy food brands from outside and foster potential concepts here in the UAE. The entire world is in Dubai, it follows that it can grow a wonderful food culture from within. Also, it would be great to see
entrepreneur-friendly business set-up costs. We helped to pioneer mobile street food in Dubai, as we started with tuk-tuk style pop-ups, and now we have a food truck. We’re now introducing more unique items that are inspired by home but modernised, like onion bhaji rings and Truck Driver’s Tea. Dubai is exciting because it’s unpredictable! The past three years have felt like constant problem-solving, but it’s exciting because you’re helping to shape the food start-up scene for others who will follow. Dubai is still a young city, so it’s inevitable that there will be challenges along the way. There will always be a market for five-star dining in Dubai, but the modern generation here are craving alternative experiences, as evidenced by events like Street Nights. There are some fantastic concepts starting up here. I’ve long been a supporter of Shakeism, a one man operation that is probably now the best hidden milkshake joint in town. Ripe has incubated some great talent, and in JLT, once you navigate those crazy clusters, there are so many gems. facebook.com/motirotime May_2015
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Karen McLean Australian food blogger the Secret Squirrel’s healthy recipes have made her a bona fide social media star, with 96,000 Instagram followers and counting. I decided to start a food blog a few months after I moved to Dubai. I’ve been cooking for years and, one day, I started putting my photos on Instagram and Secret Squirrel Food was born. I do most of my grocery shopping at the Organic Foods & Café. For Asian groceries I go to the Chinese cluster in International City, and the spice souk and Global Village for exotic spices. For fresh produce, you’ll often find me at the famers’ market at Emirates Towers on a Friday morning. My favourite healthy spot in Dubai is Comptoir 102, it’s a sophisticated café, serving wholesome food sourced from local organic farms. There’s a growing demand for healthy eating options and it’s getting easier to eat clean in Dubai. With the trend for using locally sourced ingredients and fresh organic produce, a number of amazing cafés and restaurants are now serving nutritious and wholesome food. I’m in love with Dubai’s foodie scene; it’s diverse, it’s fabulous, it’s charming, and there are always so many exciting places to dine. I have noticed a huge change to the independent food scene since I moved here. I love the up and coming local concepts popping up around Dubai. A noticeable change is the street food scene – I always encourage people to go outside and enjoy the outdoors while the weather is still amazing. Dubai is still in its infant stages, especially when compared to cities like Melbourne, where I grew up. However, this is the most exciting time for Dubai as it can learn and take inspiration from food concepts that have worked in other cities. secretsquirrelfood.com
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Neha Jamani Dubai born, California trained Neha Jamani is the therapeutic chef behind The Sacred Kitchen, which puts together whole food-based private dining events and personalised meal plans, and will even makeover your pantry to suit your individual dietary needs. When I was studying therapeutic cooking in California it was all about using local, seasonal produce. Out here it’s different. Our geographic position and demands allow us to source the same produce throughout the year – but the big concern is whether this is consistently high quality and ethically sourced. Most of the food I cook features the buzzwords you hear a lot these days, like vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, paleo and so on. But when I work with clients I refrain from using these terms. It’s simple food based on fresh and minimally processed ingredients. It’s normal now for a restaurant to have gluten-free or vegan options on their menu. There has also been a big spike in the availability of organic, natural and health food products in the market, so it’s definitely easier to eat healthier in Dubai now than even five years ago. I feel there is a big shift here towards more casual, independent, community-centric restaurants, which is great. I’ve been in Dubai for a long time, and previously it was all about bringing in franchises. But in the last ten years there has been such a boom in home-grown restaurant concepts. I think there is a reason why Tom & Serg have built a cult following; they got it right. Independent, with a small, frequently changing menu and a community feel. The diversity of the people who live here make it an exciting place to be. People out here are very well-travelled and have high demands, and restaurants are quickly waking up to fill those gaps. thesacredkitchen.org