Real tasty estate: Gingerbread houses galore
The UAE’s hotels are getting into the festival spirit this week and the battleground is gingerbread houses, attempting to out-do each other with bigger and better constructions. 600kg of flour and 60kg of spices have gone into the 11,000 slabs of gingerbread on the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai’s life-size house, which includes gift stalls and a roast chestnut cart.
You can have a festive afternoon tea inside, 3-6pm, Dh140 per person (Dh195 with mulled beverages). Over at the Waldorf Astoria in Ras Al Khaimah, pastry chef Christiane Trilck is building a six-metre gingerbread house in the lobby that weighs almost a tonne. Inside is a Christmas shop. If you’d rather make your own, today is Sheraton Abu Dhabi’s Gingerbread Factory, 4-6pm, Dh125++ per child and Dh99 ++ per adult. Call 02-6773333.
Pierchic: New decor and menu
Luxe over-the-water seafood restaurant Pierchic is back with new dishes, a new partnership and “over-water pods”. The outlet at Al Qasr, Madinat Jumeriah, is one of Dubai’s most romantic fine dining spots, being at the end of a piece with unparalleled sea views. Now they’ve gotten a Michelin starred chef on board, in the shape of Laurent Gras of L2O in Chicago, who has worked with Pierchic’s head chef Rosalind Parsk, formerly of Gordon Ramsay at The Connaught and Cavalli Club.
What about those pods? They are called Chic Bar and Chic Lounge, and are on each side of the pier, open 3pm-2am, serving drinks, ceviche, caviar and oysters. Feeling really romantic? Book the private terrace for two. Expect to eat dishes such as yellow fin tuna ceviche with preserved lemon and borsch consomme; grilled Loch Fyne diver scallops with tapioca pearl and vanilla and bergamot butter; or the shellfish platter of Gillardeau oysters, Mediterranean shrimps, Canadian lobster, Alaskan king crab and manila clams. For mains, try a whole fish of the day for two baked in a salt crust.
