Summer Restaurant Week: 'THREE CUTS' founder Jason Bassili shares the recipe behind Dubai success

Dubai: For Jason Bassili, food has always been a family affair.

Long before he was behind the fire at Dubai steakhouse Three Cuts or running the smoked salmon brand Le Fumoir, he was a young boy spending summer holidays inside his father’s smokehouse, helping with vacuum machines and learning the craft behind the family business.

“It was our father-son bonding time,” he recalls. “I used to go and help my father in the smokehouse when I was about four years old.”

Today, that early connection to food has grown into a portfolio of homegrown brands that have become part of Dubai’s culinary landscape.

“Being a homegrown brand in Dubai means a lot to us,” he says. “We’ve been here since 2004, so we’re established here and we’re very proud of what we’ve built, whether it’s Three Cuts, Sal’s, or the Le Fumoir brand.”

“What means the most is having that connection with the community and diners who come through our doors. Knowing it was born here in the UAE and made for the UAE market makes it more special.”

Despite working with premium ingredients every day, Bassili’s favourite dish to make at home is surprisingly simple.

“Spaghetti bolognese,” he says with a laugh. “I like things simple, but I make it in a way where I add layers, lots of honey, spices and different flavours.”

When dining out, however, he gravitates towards Japanese cuisine.

“I love sushi,” he says. “There’s something about Japanese food that I really enjoy.”

And when it comes to his favourite ingredient, there is only one answer. “I have to be biased and say salmon,” he laughs. “It’s a healthy source of protein and it’s something I’ve grown up with since I was a kid.”

For Bassili, one of his most memorable meals in Dubai happened at his own restaurant, but not because of the food alone.

Three Cuts had been years in the making, with its opening delayed by the pandemic. When the team finally fired up the restaurant’s signature cooking method using oak, olive wood and charcoal, it marked the beginning of a new chapter.

“We were supposed to open before COVID, and we ended up opening a couple of years later,” he says. “There was so much work that went into it. “When we finally turned on the fire and cooked that first steak, it was a relief. It felt like, ‘Okay, it’s actually going to happen.’”

Another defining moment came during the restaurant’s first anniversary celebrations. “We were worried people wouldn’t turn up, but we had 500 people come,” he says. “There were hundreds of steaks coming out, lots of oysters. Seeing customers, friends and family show that support was a huge morale boost for me and my father.”

Having lived in Dubai since 2004, Bassili has watched the city’s dining scene transform dramatically.

One thing that sets Dubai diners apart, he says, is their global experience. “The cool thing about Dubai is that you get the crème de la crème from around the world coming into your restaurant,” he explains. “They judge you based on their experiences in New York, London or Hong Kong.”

“For the restaurant community in Dubai, I think we’ve done a great job because the standards keep rising.” With thousands of restaurants competing for attention, Bassili believes the key is not constantly surprising diners, but earning their trust.

“When people come to eat, they want to know what they’re getting,” he says. “It’s not about surprising them every time, it’s about being responsible for their expectations.”

“Consistency and always pushing to do the best we can is what keeps people satisfied.”

While Dubai has long attracted international restaurant brands, Bassili believes the future belongs to local concepts created by the next generation of entrepreneurs and chefs.

“I think there’s enough talent in the country and enough demand for more homegrown brands,” he says.

“We’re seeing younger generations filling gaps in the market, whether it’s hand rolls, cool cafés, or niche concepts. The focus is coming back to quality.”

He believes Dubai’s restaurant industry has faced challenges in recent years but continues to show resilience. “The restaurant scene over the past six years has taken a bit of a beating from all the challenges,” he says. “But we don’t stop. We never close. We keep fighting back.”

“We actually had one of our best Mays and Junes ever. The restaurant scene here is not just focused on tourists, it’s focused on residents and the support we get from them.”

Unlike many brands focused on rapid expansion, Bassili’s vision for Three Cuts is about longevity.

“In five years, I hope people are still coming,” he says. “The whole point of ThreeCuts was to create an old-school steakhouse that stands the test of time.”

“We don’t have dreams of opening three or four locations. We want this to remain a flagship, an establishment, something that’s here for the next 20 years.”

As Dubai’s dining scene continues to evolve, Bassili believes the basics will always matter. “Good food and something you can rely on will always be there,” he says. And after two decades of building businesses in the UAE, his focus remains unchanged: creating food experiences that bring people back.