Dubai a culinary capital in the making 

French chef Renaud Dutel serves a dish at STAY by Yannick Alleno restaurant in Dubai. (AFP)
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Updated 26 July 2023
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Dubai a culinary capital in the making 

  • Boasting about 13,000 restaurants and cafes, some of the city’s eateries are already making global waves

DUBAI: French chef Renaud Dutel never thought his career would take him to the UAE’s glam hub of Dubai, but has found there a culinary capital in the making.

Five years since he was offered a spot at a fancy restaurant in the Gulf financial and tourism hub — better known for its skyscrapers than its food scene — Dutel is delighted to have “taken the risk.”

“I believe Dubai is at the beginning,” he said as lobster cuts were sizzling on a skillet beside him at STAY, a Michelin-starred restaurant specialized in French cuisine on the city’s signature Palm Jumeirah man-made island.

“But (Dubai) is on the way to becoming one of the best destinations in the world to come to dine.”

Boasting about 13,000 restaurants and cafes, some of the city’s eateries are already making global waves.

Last year, 11 Dubai restaurants were awarded the Middle East’s first Michelin stars, with more joining the prestigious club this year.

Some like STAY by Yannick Alleno clinched two stars, but none made it to three — Michelin’s highest honor.

“Dubai’s gastronomy scene has transformed the city into one of the most diverse and dynamic food hubs in the world,” said Issam Kazim of the local government’s tourism and economy department.

The UAE, a five-decade federation of seven emirates along the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, lacks the rich culinary heritage of other Arab states.

The meat-heavy Emirati cuisine is strongly influenced by historic trade ties with present-day Iran and India.

But it did not see the “gastronomization” that culinary traditions in much of the West did, according to Loic Bienassis of the European Institute for the History and Culture of Food.

Still, it “can be done,” he said.

“And political will can play a role.” Instead, with expats largely outnumbering the local Emirati population, the city’s rich cultural mix has yielded a unique culinary identity.

Moonrise, a rooftop restaurant which offers a Middle Eastern-Japanese fusion and only seats 12 people at a time, is a prime example.

Solemann Haddad, Moonrise’s head chef and co-owner, described the food as one-third European, one-third Japanese and one-third Arabic, “but it’s 100 percent Dubai.”

Haddad, born in the city to French and Syrian parents, won a covetedMichelinstarlastyearat the ripe age of 27.

His dishes reflect the cosmopolitan spirit of Dubai, he said, combining elements such as date syrup with a chutney of saffron and pineapple.

Having established itself as a business and luxury hot spot, Dubai is now also attracting some of the world’s leading culinary names including Alleno and fellow Frenchman Pierre Gagnaire.

Britain’s Gordon Ramsay, Japan’s Nobu Matsuhisa and Italy’s Massimo Bottura have also joined therosterofcelebritychefswitha presence in the city.

But beyond importing top talent, Dubai is also fostering local stars, said Habib Al Mulla, an Emirati lawyer and culinary blogger who has reviewed more than 700 establishments worldwide.

“A new, young generation of homegrown chefs are coming up,” he said. “Many of them are winning ... worldwide recognition.”

Dubai’s rising culinary stars include not only chefs but also restauranteurs such as Omar Shihab, born and raised in the UAE to a Jordanian family.

The restaurant he founded, BOCA, was awarded the Michelin Green Star for sustainability this year.

Shihab sources a bulk of his produce from the UAE — a feat in a country that imports more than 80 percent of its food needs.

“Let’s face it, we live in the desert,” he said.


US believes Israel, Lebanon have agreed terms to end Israel-Hezbollah conflict

Updated 20 sec ago
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US believes Israel, Lebanon have agreed terms to end Israel-Hezbollah conflict

WASHINGTON: Israel and Lebanon have agreed to the terms of a deal to end the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, Axios reported on Monday citing an unnamed senior US official.
Israel’s government on Monday said it was moving toward a ceasefire in the war with Hezbollah but there were still outstanding issues.

Arrest Warrant: UK would follow ‘due process’ if Netanyahu were to visit – foreign minister

Updated 7 min 11 sec ago
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Arrest Warrant: UK would follow ‘due process’ if Netanyahu were to visit – foreign minister

  • ICC issued arrest warrants on Thursday against Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu
  • Several EU states have said they will meet commitments under the statute if needed

FIUGGI: Britain would follow due process if Benjamin Netanyahu visited the UK, foreign minister David Lammy said on Monday, when asked if London would fulfil the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister.
“We are signatories to the Rome Statute, we have always been committed to our obligations under international law and international humanitarian law,” Lammy told reporters at a G7 meeting in Italy.
“Of course, if there were to be such a visit to the UK, there would be a court process and due process would be followed in relation to those issues.”
The ICC issued the warrants on Thursday against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri for alleged crimes against humanity.
Several EU states have said they will meet their commitments under the statute if needed, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has invited Netanyahu to visit his country, assuring him he would face no risks if he did so.
“The states that signed the Rome convention must implement the court’s decision. It’s not optional,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, said during a visit to Cyprus for a workshop of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists.
Those same obligations were also binding on countries aspiring to join the EU, he said.

 

 


Turkiye man kills seven before taking his own life

Updated 25 November 2024
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Turkiye man kills seven before taking his own life

Istanbul: A 33-year-old Turkish man shot dead seven people in Istanbul on Sunday, including his parents, his wife and his 10-year-old son, before taking his own life, the authorities reported on Monday.
The man, who was found dead in his car shortly after the shooting, is also accused of wounding two other family members, one of them seriously, the Istanbul governor’s office said in a statement.
The authorities, who had put the death toll at four on Sunday evening, announced on Monday the discovery near a lake on Istanbul’s European shore of the bodies of the killer’s wife and son, as well as the lifeless body of his mother-in-law.
According to the Small Arms Survey (SAS), a Swiss research program, over 13.2 million firearms are in circulation in Turkiye, most of them illegally, for a population of around 85 million.


2 Palestinians killed in Israeli raid in West Bank: PA

Updated 25 November 2024
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2 Palestinians killed in Israeli raid in West Bank: PA

  • The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said Israeli forces entered the village on Sunday night

Yabad: The Palestinian Authority said two Palestinians, including a teenage boy, were killed during an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank village of Yabad.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said Israeli forces entered the village on Sunday night, leading to clashes during which soldiers shot dead two Palestinians.
The two dead were identified by the Palestinian health ministry as Muhammad Rabie Hamarsheh, 13, and Ahmad Mahmud Zaid, 20.
“Overnight, during an IDF (Israeli army) counterterrorism activity in the area of Yabad, two terrorists hurled explosives at IDF soldiers. The soldiers responded with fire and hits were identified,” an Israeli military source told AFP.
Last week, the Israeli army launched several raids in the West Bank city of Jenin, killing nine people, most of them Palestinian militants.
Violence in the West Bank has soared since the war in Gaza erupted on October 7 last year after Hamas’s attack on Israel.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 777 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to the Ramallah-based health ministry.
Palestinian attacks on Israelis have also killed at least 24 people in the West Bank in the same period, according to Israeli official figures.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.


Israel says hit Hezbollah command center in deadly weekend strike

Updated 25 November 2024
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Israel says hit Hezbollah command center in deadly weekend strike

  • The strike hit a residential building in the heart of Beirut before dawn Saturday
  • Since September 23, Israel has intensified its Lebanon air campaign

JERUSALEM: The Israeli army on Monday said it had struck a Hezbollah command center in the downtown Beirut neighborhood of Basta in a deadly air strike at the weekend.
“The IDF (Israeli military) struck a Hezbollah command center,” the army said regarding the strike that the Lebanese health ministry said killed 29 people and wounded 67 on Saturday.
The strike hit a residential building in the heart of Beirut before dawn Saturday, leaving a large crater, AFP journalists at the scene reported.
A senior Lebanese security source said that “a high-ranking Hezbollah officer was targeted” in the strike, without confirming whether or not the official had been killed.
Hezbollah official Amin Cherri said no leader of the Lebanese movement was targeted in Basta.
Since September 23, Israel has intensified its Lebanon air campaign, later sending in ground troops against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
The war followed nearly a year of limited exchanges of fire initiated by Hezbollah in support of its ally Hamas after the Palestinian group’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the Gaza war.
The conflict has killed at least 3,754 people in Lebanon since October 2023, according to the health ministry, most of them since September this year.
On the Israeli side, authorities say at least 82 soldiers and 47 civilians have been killed.