Food news: Boca launches a new sustainable, local menu

Dubai: BOCA is a home-grown modern restaurant that celebrates farmers, fishermen, producers, artisans and all things local and regional. Appreciating native ingredients and educating guests about local and regional produce is the philosophy behind BOCA. This week, the restaurant unveiled a new menu that features a list of new local and regional ingredients, and as always, the inspiration for the menu started here in the UAE.

All the tomatoes used in the menu come from Pure Harvest farms in Al Ain. You'll find them in dishes like Tomato Carnival Salad made with burrata and six different types of tomatoes Pure Harvest, Heirloom Margherita Pizzetta, Pissaladière with pickled Arabian Gulf sardines and even in a dessert called Tomato & Strawberry made with pink tomato, violet infused red fruit sorbet and strawberry tartare.

With each new menu, BOCA explores new ingredients from local, traditional, organic and hydroponic farms. This season Boca are bringing the native desert plant ‘Homaid’ and using it to enhance the Charred Lime & Crab with herring caviar, tomato powder, citrus gel and white radish. A new aromatic native desert plant called ‘Shih’ makes its debut on the menu. They've infuse oil with it and use it to finish off the Wagyu Beef Tonnato that was made with bonito tuna mayo, pickled watermelon skin, crispy black quinoa and pomegranate.

Also on the menu are Sea Snails poached in spiced butter, served on French toast, with avocado purée, pickled fennel salad, pistachio and Dijon vinaigrette and invite you to try Dibba Bay's Summer Oyster. Underrated fish varieties like Emirati Kingfish is served with lacto-fermented Lebanese plum, ajoblanco and spiced honey cake crumble, and Grilled Gulf Calamari with green pea purée, citrus gel and sautéed local green leaves also make the list.

Some of the exciting main dishes on the new menu include Fregola Pasta & Nile Crayfish made with lobster bisque, bottarga, home-made salted ricotta, and Parmigiano-Reggiano and Quail Fagottini Pasta made with local quail, oyster & porcini mushroom tea.

In this edition of the menu, BOCA dedicates a section for cheese. The restaurant introduces Ambarees, Sirdeleh, or 'Labnet al Jarra' a rare and ancient type of cheese produced in the Bekaa Valley and Chouf regions of Lebanon. Ambarees is made from fermented raw goat's milk in large terracotta vats that develops into a labneh with a creamy texture and a lingering acidic finish.

New desserts like Yuzu & Black Lime Cheesecake and Ruby Sphere made with Valrhona white chocolate, Amarena cherry, lychee & morello cherry sorbet, chocolate soil also make the list.

BOCA is offering a tasting menu of ten dishes recommended for sharing between two guests for Dh345 including water.

Key info

Location: DIFC
Cost: Dh345 for the tasting menu
When: Open daily from 12pm to 3am