Dubai Restaurant Week: Inside Reif Kushiyaki with Chef Reif Othman

Dubai: Chef Reif Othman is the Singaporean-born, Dubai-based, chef and the mind behind one of the city’s most-loved homegrown dining concepts, Reif Kushiyaki. 

“I think my favourite dish to make and eat would be Singapore chicken rice,” he says without hesitation. “It’s just comfort. As Asians, we love rice.” That word comfort keeps coming back throughout the conversation. It’s also what defines his approach to cooking. When asked about his inspiration for opening Reif Kushiyaki, his answer is just as grounded.

“Being Singaporean, I want to represent something from my tradition,” he says. “To showcase where I’m coming from a little bit.”

At the heart of his cooking philosophy is simplicity. Even his favourite ingredient reflects that. “I like when ingredients are simple and honest,” he says. “So I’d say salt. Just a pinch can change everything.”

There’s a quiet nostalgia when he talks about food memories, not fine dining, but family kitchens. “My earliest food memory is watching my mum cook,” he says. “She cooked with so much passion and care. I think I got some of that from her.”

That influence shaped his entire career. "The simplicity, the authenticity… that’s what stayed with me.”

If his childhood shaped his emotional connection to food, Dubai shaped his culinary identity. “I think what makes Dubai unique is loyalty,” he says. “Customers come, they love the food, they tell a friend. It keeps us alive. It’s community.”

And that sense of community is also what fuels his favourite moments inside his own restaurant. “It’s not about the busiest night,” he says. “It’s seeing customers happy, staff working together, everyone in sync. That’s what makes me happy.”

He’s equally clear about where he thinks Dubai’s food scene is headed.

“It’s not easy right now, but people are still showing up,” he says talking about the recent challenges in the region. “Chefs, staff, everyone, there’s a spirit of pushing through together.”

And in the long run, he wants more of what he represents himself: homegrown ideas. “In three years, I want to see more homegrown brands, more community, more concepts from here,” he says. “We need to champion local chefs and restaurateurs.”

And maybe that’s what makes Reif Kushiyaki work so well. Beneath the queues, the popular dishes and the constant buzz is something far simpler, and that is food that feels personal.

For Reif, it all comes back to comfort, memory and community, whether that’s a plate of chicken rice, a charcoal grill firing during service, or a team shouting across the kitchen in sync.