The emergence of the Emirati restaurateur is much more than a trend. What was once considered happenstance quickly became a coincidental trickle and has now developed into a steady stream of new openings, original concepts and franchised operations.
Be it young lawyers or bankers, best friends with plans or housewives with talents, people paying homage to their grandmothers or pursuing gastronomic pleasures, the past few years have seen an increasing number of Emiratis entering the food business with neither formal training nor prior experience. From quirky food trucks to themed cafés, global restaurants and franchised chains, they are covering all bases.
This may be considered a slow cooker model — the change has definitely taken decades — but it seems to have a long-lasting flavour. The phenomenon has the undeniable stamp of home-grown entrepreneurial spirit and the ink is seemingly indelible.
As Dubai Food Festival opens, it is worth looking at this phenomenon in the emirate and some of its many success stories. One at the top is former designer Amal Al Merri who teamed up with her Saudi Arabian friend Deem Al Bassam to open Salt, the popular pop-up eatery inside a vintage Airstream parked at Kite Beach. Last year, when summer struck, they rented an air-conditioned indoor terrace and adroitly moved indoors.
As Amal explained then, “We are always looking for opportunities to evolve as a brand, to meet the needs of our customers and enhance their experience without compromising on our mission of simplicity, quality and choice.” Salt favourites include Cheetos chicken and a Lotus Softie ice cream, and such is its success that branches on wheels now ply Ajman Marina Promenade and Abu Dhabi’s Mushrif Central Park.
More recently, the duo introduced Dubai to Parker’s, a secret dining venue that can only be accessed by a key, clues of which are given out on social media. In mere months, Parker’s has staked claim as one of the most immersive social media campaigns the UAE has witnessed, as well as one of its most intriguing eating experiences.
Camel hot chocolate
Lawyer Maitha Al Shamsi and her investment banker brother Omar are owners and founders of Mama Tani Café at Town Centre, a place designed to take Emiratis back to their childhood. The menu features a fusion of traditional Emirati dishes with new ingredients and interesting twists such as pepperoni khameer, camel hot chocolate, and Vimto marble cake. Their patriotic toll-free number is 800-Emarati, and when the siblings launched online delivery services this month, the invitation was enticing: “Enjoy Emirati soul food delivered right at your doorstep.”
The love of food has certainly spurred some of this local action. “As an entrepreneur and a long-time foodie, it was just bound to happen, says Najah Al Muntafiq who established haute chocolaterie Coco Jalila on December 2, 2012. “I am passionate about chocolate and wanted to create a home-grown brand to bring premium, artisanal chocolate to the UAE. There is a lot of chocolate in the UAE, so it was absolutely crucial to stand out. We have succeeded by offering a superlative product and service that many others — especially the big players — just cannot match while maintaining a distinctive flair.”
Coco Jalila prides itself on personalised service and bespoke solutions for both private and corporate clients and serves its handcrafted chocolates by order. Based on demand, the corporate website will soon feature online ordering, says Najah.
Back-alley charm
“I have always been a foodie,” declares Salem Bin Dasmal. “It is always a foodie’s challenge to find the best places to eat, but the next logical challenge is to actually create a great concept of his or her own. This is what drove me into the restaurant business,” he says of his new venture Silver Spoon Investments, holding company of Atisuto and Ground Rush.
Atisuto, which means artist in Japanese, is based on the back-alley sushi restaurants of Japan’s big cities and is open at Galleria Mall and Al Ghurair Centre. The grab-and-go concept of Ground Rush is readying itself to offer fresh and healthy breakfasts, lunches and snacks to commercial towers across Dubai, while a portable, self-sustaining kiosk in the Jebel Ali Building is currently running trials.
“It seemed a foregone conclusion that I would get into the restaurant business,” says Bin Dasmal. He drew inspiration from his aunt, mother and mother-in-law who are great cooks. “Besides these ladies, my father had one of the first independent and original pub grub concepts in Dubai, White Oryx, which he established in the 1970s.”
In 1989, Khalid Sultan Mousa Al Halyan opened Al Fnaneen Coffee Shop and Restaurant in Abu Hail, but it’s his other venture, Local House at Bastakiya, that has won considerable attention for introducing the camel burger in January 2010.
Another name on the Emirati restaurateur list is Khalid Hussain’s Hamptons Café on Jumeirah Road — an unlikely but unique recreation of the posh peninsular getaway in New York. Located inside a villa, the café shares a lot with its namesake — shells and anchors, fish pie and buttermilk fried chicken — in the pleasingly beige ambience of the original. In contrast, when film-maker Nahla Al Fahad opened Local Bites Café, the distinct decor contrasted red booths with black-and-white murals of falcons, camels and Bedouins. Meanwhile Mohammad Al Madani’s Al Barza (gathering place), also on Jumeirah Road, has been serving contemporary Emirati food since December 2014.
Diversity rules
The offerings are astoundingly diverse in delivery, creativity and cuisine, making this niche in the UAE’s food world look more mature than it is, but food is still a new business for the natives of a country that is renowned for doing business.
“Owning a restaurant is just like owning any another business,” Bin Dasmal says. “While there is certainly a need for passion, you don’t have to be from the industry. Like all other businesses, it involves the constant need to be attentive to staff, customers, product, ambience, as well as keeping a keen eye on the numbers.”
Najah has a similar explanation: “As an Emirati start-up we were able to benefit from the invaluable support of the Khalifa Fund, which helps develop local enterprises. However, the operation and deliverables of the business must perform and sustain itself on its own merits.
“The food business is about professionalism in operating your business, and maintaining high standards. I don’t think it has much to do with being an Emirati — or not.”
