< Previouscaterermiddleeast.com October 2020 10 It seems like every few months a new area opens in Dubai promising to be the next hotspot for eating and drinking in the emirate. But with coronavirus putting the brakes on some major developments, Palm West Beach could nd a gap in the market. One of the rst of many restaurants set Koko Bay The new Bali-inspired venue at Palm West Beach in Dubai WHAT’S THE FUSS ABOUT... to open on the development is Koko Bay, a Bali-inspired restaurant from Royal Orchid Hospitality with a chilled out aesthetic and beautiful views. “We believed Dubai had a niche for a casual yet chic beachfront destination and there was no place more inspiring than Bali,” says Royal Orchid Hospitality director of operations Nikhil Mehra. “Staying true to the concept, we personally ew to Indonesia and sourced all the furniture and accessories to achieve the perfect look and feel.” The Far Eastern-inspired menu is rounded off with a wood- red robata grill, which Mehra says has already proved 11 October 2020 caterermiddleeast.com 3 There are three types of grilled skewers: chicken and leek teriyaki; freshly grilled tiger prawns, lemon, butter, and garlic; and beef, black pepper, and asparagus. “The menu is inspired by the flavours of the Far East” popular with customers. Diners can also enjoy the likes of Hokkaido scallop ceviche with a citrus granita, nasi goreng, and crispy sea bream with Thai coconut and young peppercorn sauce. Mehra explains: “The Far East has always been close to our hearts and the menu is also inspired by avours of the Far East, complemented with a grill and European comforts as you would nd in several venues on the beaches of Bali.” The dog-friendly venue is aiming to bring in guests who’re looking for myriad reasons to get out the house, says Mehra. “Koko Bay will grow to have a multi- faceted identity from offering great food and beverages to music and lifestyle and even health and wellness. Our activities and promotions will revolve around these multiple facets. He added: “We also plan on introducing music artists for sundown sessions and partnerships with lifestyle brands.” With Bora Bora cabanas and boat- shaped hammocks to enjoy during the day before using Koko Bay’s outdoor shower facility to prepare for the evening, it’s hoping to become an all-day escape for Dubai’s residents. Fresh from the robata grillcaterermiddleeast.com October 2020 12 Technology and F&B: Friend or foe? I often feel that F&B operators voluntarily enter the ve stages of grief (and sometimes get stuck in the denial phase) before accepting the inevitable fact that technological innovation is not only here to stay, but can in fact offer tangible bene ts to their business. A lot of ink has been spilled lately regarding the role of technology in F&B since the term “foodtech”, in particular, was bandied around by venture capitalists, and cloud kitchens started proliferating worldwide. From my little perch starting The Lighthouse nearly four years ago, one of only two licensed restaurants at D3, and investing in a number of food tech businesses, my advice to F&B operators (and their investors) can be summed up with four key points. Before worrying about how to activate their online channels, F&B operators should make sure they have a product that sells. If the product does not tick the three boxes of quality, differentiation and relevance to their target customer, they are dead on arrival. No amount of tinkering with omni-channels can revive a business that does not offer a compelling product to start with. So, rst and foremost, spend suf cient time working on your product (menu development, team, operations, design) and patiently re ning it before you even consider your digital distribution strategy. To borrow from the wise words of my virtual life coach (only half kidding) Maria Popova: “Expect anything worthwhile to take a long time.” Once you have gured out your game plan and are ready to launch, it might be helpful to think about technology as it relates to F&B in three discreet ways. Firstly, technology as a distribution channel that helps drive customers to your restaurant (or online presence if you’re a cloud kitchen). The key prerequisite here is building a robust CRM of existing and prospective customers that have expressed interest in your product. Those are the proverbial “low hanging fruit” and the most likely to convert from physical to online and vice versa. Accept that those two channels will be inevitably blurred and focus on harmonising them for your customer. Adopt a digitally native approach in managing your online channels and do not simply copy and paste your physical product suite online. A streamlined user experience (think Warby Parker) that’s uncluttered and has low friction (think Robin Hood) is a must. Secondly, think of technology as a way to enhance the overall customer experience. Quick xes here include introducing digital menus using a QR code and, in the case of QSRs, allowing customers to order and pay directly off their phone via social media, etc. This can be especially effective in a QSR environment where the menu is standardised and the customer values speed and ef ciency above all else. It not only elevates the customer experience but also allows you to reduce your operating cost and turn tables faster (i.e more revenue). Finally, technology is an opportunity to improve internal processes and therefore reduce costs. Introducing POS systems that link your front-of-house to your heart- of-house and your inventory management system is a good start and not only helps reduce food wastage but also eliminates the element of human error which can be very costly. By deconstructing goals into mini steps and applying technology to each one, you are more likely to achieve tangible long term results, than thinking about your strategy in overarching and abstract terms, which only serves to intimidate. So embrace your digital self and dive right in! By Hashem Montasser, co-founder and owner- operator of The Lighthouse at D3 and an early investor in food tech businesses. BIG TALK13 October 2020 caterermiddleeast.com Understanding kosher Circular 65, which was released by the Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT) - Abu Dhabi back in September, advised all hoteliers to include kosher food options within their menus in readiness for the anticipated new inbound tourism trade. But are F&B businesses here equipped and knowledgeable enough to be able to provide a truly kosher menu? The rules of kosher are extensive and intricate, and indeed there are varying levels of kosher observation and certi cation. The supply of kosher commodities and ingredients is readily available in the UAE and keeping a kosher kitchen at home is relatively easy today. But in our busy industrial hotel and restaurant kitchens compiling a dish from what we consider to be a list of kosher ingredients does not constitute a kosher meal and certainly for many orthodox visitors they would require a much higher level of certainty around the provision of the food and drinks that they consume. DCT - Abu Dhabi has announced that OU (the Orthodox Union), a kashrut authority from New York, will be the recognised kashrut (kosher supervision) in the UAE, but what exactly does that mean? The kashrut authority (in this case OU) is responsible for guiding, supervising, inspecting, and providing certi cation for all food that is produced in a kosher kitchen. It ensures that the kitchen uses only sanctioned ingredients, follows the correct principles of preparation whilst ensuring the correct segregation of various categories of unaccepted food or drink combinations. And it goes a little further… The laws and rules of kosher cover everything from where and when fresh ingredients are sourced, the selection and cleaning and preparation of fruits and vegetables, the slaughter, cut and preparation of the meat, the sh, the avoidance of mixing meat and dairy, the drinks and wines and of course the preparation and serving equipment. It would even matter who lights the stove tops. Additionally, holidays and the Sabbath need to be respected for when work can and cannot be carried out, all of which would need to be strictly followed to ascertain true kosher accreditation. So the big question is with all this process and need for regulation — how can hotels and restaurants ensure they can provide a fully kosher meal? One solution is to buy in chilled/frozen, fully sealed meals. These meals are prepared within a supervised environment sealed and labelled to authentic the process. Typically, these meals are reheated and presented to the guest with the wrapping and labelling intact for the guest to unwrap. At the moment this service is only available from outside the country, but soon one provider, Elli’s Kitchen in Dubai, will be offering this service under OU certi cation. The second solution which would only make sense for large events or to provide fresh kosher food for a period of time is to have the kitchen ‘koshered’ and to employ kashrut supervision within the kitchen. The challenge for now in the UAE is to ensure we are able to plan with con dence and that our teams have the right knowledge and understanding to meet the demands. “Keeping a kosher kitchen at home in the UAE is relatively easy today” Until 2019, Matt Rickard was the managing director of London-based luxury kosher caterer Food Story. He is now in Dubai with Absolute Taste and offers catering and consultancy throughout the region.caterermiddleeast.com October 2020 14 INSIDE THE INGREDIENT Richie Richards, head chef at Miss Lily’s in the Sheraton Grand Hotel Dubai, tells us about the spicy Scotch bonnet pepper DID YOU KNOW? The Scotch bonnet pepper was the rst Caribbean hot pepper to be known by a speci c name in the export market. As early as 1767 the chilli was named bonnet or goat pepper, the name goat resulting from its unique aroma, which was said to resemble the odour of the male goat. What exactly is a Scotch bonnet pepper? Scotch bonnet, also known as bonnet peppers, or Caribbean red peppers, is a variety of chili peppers named for its resemblance to a tam o’ shanter hat. Flavour Scotch bonnets are hot peppers (extremely hot) but they can have an almost sweet, vaguely fruity taste with a slight hint of apples and cherries underlying the spice. This can vary somewhat from region to region because of the soil conditions in which they are grown. One of the de ning features of this type of pepper is its sweet aroma and unique avor. Harvest Scotch bonnet is a tropical hot pepper variety that is grown in Latin America and the Caribbean, it can also be found in other tropical regions of the world. Depending on what area of the Caribbean you are visiting, these peppers may also be called Bahama mamas or Jamaican hots. In some regions, this pepper grows longer with less of a squashed appearance, but it is still the same, spicy hot pepper used in Caribbean cooking. The mature pepper measures between one-and-a-half and two inches in diameter. The color of the immature pepper is green, but the mature Scotch bonnet has an attractive range of colors: bright yellow, orange, or red. It takes approximately 60 to 90 days from the time its planted to when it is harvested. And because of the tropical climate of Jamaica, Scotch bonnet is grown all year round. The best time to pick is early morning or late afternoon when the sun is cooler Uses around the world Anyone that has ever tasted the unique and spicy avor of Jamaican cuisine will quickly become acquainted with the many uses of Scotch bonnet pepper. The unassuming pepper packs a powerful punch and is the pepper of choice for creating Jamaican dishes. Jalapeno peppers have a Scoville heat unit between 1,000 and 10,000. In contrast, scotch bonnet peppers have a Scoville rating of 100,000 to 350,000. Scotch bonnet is highly versatile. It’s colourful and provides spice to any dish, sauce or salsa, but also adds a sweet avor that makes it highly prized for seasoning some of Jamaica’s best-known specialties. Recipes In Caribbean cuisine, you rarely nd dishes or marinades without scotch bonnet pepper being used, but the two most famous and authentic dishes must be jerk chicken and escovitched sh. In most Caribbean, Latin American and African kitchens or restaurants, Scotch bonnet pepper is being used. Some use it for its ery avour and others use it for its fruity aroma and avour. Where to buy it? Real Scotch bonnet peppers can be found in the fruit and vegetable market and also in most major supermarkets across Dubai. 15 October 2020 caterermiddleeast.com Hilton Ras Al Khaimah Resort and Spa has appointed Arthur Timlin to the post of food and beverage director. Most recently working at Conrad on Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Road where he was responsible for overseeing the hotel’s entire F&B operations, including the launch and opening of Korean casual dining outlet Kimpo, Timlin has more than 16 years of experience in the industry. In his new role, Timlin will be responsible for the resort’s F&B operations including including its signature restaurants; Al Maeda, Piaceri Da Gustare, SOL, Pura Vida and newly renovated The Kitchen all-day dining. One of the main objectives in his new role will be to further progress the brand’s strategic goal of establishing the resort as a renowned culinary and lifestyle destination. Timlin said: “I’m really excited to be joining such a high pro le property and can’t wait to continue and develop the great work that the F&B team have been doing here. My focus is our newly renovated outlet, The Kitchen, and on cementing the resort as a food and beverage destination on the UAE map.” Timlin has previously worked for Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai for ve years, starting as GM for British gastropub Dhow and Anchor, before being promoted to oversee the hotel’s entire F&B department. Distillery Gastropub in Souk al Manzil, Downtown Dubai, has appointed a new head chef. Aman Modak, previously sous chef in the Lincoln Hospitality venue, has been promoted to the role and has launched a new menu. He said: “I am excited to take on this new challenge and elevate the menu at Distillery, keeping things fresh and invitin g for our customers. I’m grateful for the team I work with and the support I receive both in and out of the kitchen”. Modak has previously worked in some of Dubai’s most feted restaurants including The Loft at Dubai Opera, Le Cirque at The Ritz-Carlton DIFC, and Brasserie Quarter at The St. Regis Dubai. As well as having launched his new a la carte menu at Distillery, Modak will soon be revamping the Tuesday ladies night menu and Wednesday evening brunch menu. Lincoln Hospitality’s group executive chef, Brian Voelzing, commented: “Aman has been working by my side over the past two years and has shown initiative, talent and expertise in the kitchen. I am very glad to have Aman leading the Distillery culinary team and creating interactive dining experiences for our guests”. Aman Modak promoted to head chef of Dubai’s Distillery Gastropub CAREERS The former sous chef will launch a new menu at the Lincoln Hospitality Group venue New F&B director appointed at Hilton Ras Al Khaimah Resort and Spa Arthur Timlin moves from Conrad on Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed RoadA day in the life caterermiddleeast.com October 2020 16 9:45am: Arrive at work. After mandatory temperature checks I say hello to the Reservations team at the front desk. First things rst, updates on our covers for the night. It’s Thursday so we know we’ll be busy. Only 110 covers so far, but as the day progresses we’ll push up to 160. I must tip my hat to the reservations team, they do a great job at balancing and lling the venue but also to adhering to new rules and guidelines during these trying times. 10am: I meet with my fresh sh supplier; He updates me on the fresh sh we order from Japan. They need a forecast for the kinmedai we buy directly from there as there could be shipping delays. He also tells me he foresee there will be a variance in sizes for our sole that we use for our cha ca dish — some tough decisions will need to be made in the next few days. 12pm: I check in with my junior sous as he’ll be running the pass for lunch. All is well for a steady business lunch. I keep my eye on the pass from time to time. I see a lot of shaking beef going out today, I make a note to order two kilograms more of tenderloin. 2pm: As the lunch dies down, I meet quickly with my junior sous and senior CDPs to go over new menu items testing. With a possible brunch and new menu re-launch there is a lot to do and too much swirling around my head. Should I put crab on the menu? Maybe with some Kampot peppercorns and do it Cambodian style? Can I even get Kampot peppercorns here? So much to think about. 3pm: Our pastry chiller goes down… Again. Red alert! Great, this is the last thing I need now. We scramble to move everything into the walk-in chiller before it melts. We’re talking about expensive chocolate and house-made ice-creams and sorbets, and a soon to be very angry pastry chef if we don’t salvage them quickly. The equipment maintenance team is on my speed dial. I call them ASAP, but experience tells me this won’t be xed until tomorrow. 6:30pm: The entire team for the night gathers in a circle on the oor to game plan the night. The reservations team informs us that we’ve gone up to 168 covers. We always end our briefs on a positive team chant of “INDOCHINE, HUA!” that’s become somewhat of a tradition started by one of my cooks who had a military background. 8pm: It’s show time, the rst few tables start to show up. Then the chit machine starts spewing orders. I yell out the rst few tables: “Papaya salad, veg spring rolls, sea bream carpaccio, re, please!” “Yes, chef”, the chorus of cooks answer back. Now I’m directing to the food runners where the dishes will go: “Please take black cod, shaking beef and koji medium rare, to table 433.” “Yes, chef”, again they answer back. 12:30am: I pop my head out to check out the room. The vibe is great and it’s lled with beautiful people. I ag down the GM and beg for a last call. He’s got one last table coming in. I hesitantly acquiesce and ask for them to order in ve mins. Turns out they only want drinks. I give the signal and close the kitchen. A day in the life of Indochine Dubai executive chef Steven Nguyen Chiller down and orders upSally Whittam Commercial Director Mob: +971 56 104 0567 Email: sally.whittam@itp.com Tuesday, November 24, 2020 SPONSORSHIP ENQUIRIES Amanda Stewart International Sales Manager Mob: +44 7908 117 333 Email: amanda.stewart@itp.com Paul Clifford Group Editor Mob: +971 4 444 3337 Email: paul.clifford@itp.com Daniel Fewtrell Director of Awards & Marketing Mob: +971 4 444 3684 Email: daniel.fewtrell@itp.com Anthony Chandran Tables Sales Executuve Mob: +971 4 444 3685 Email: anthony.chandran@itp.com NOMINATION ENQUIRIESEVENT ENQUIRIESBOOKING ENQUIRIES #HotelierAwards www.hoteliermiddleeast.com/awards MEDIA PARTNERS MENU PARTNER GCC BOOK TABLES NOW JW Marriott Marquis Dubai Rebecca Lockwood Sales Director Tel: +971 55 484 8301 Email: rebecca.lockwood@itp.comFive minutes with... Panchali Mahendra caterermiddleeast.com October 2020 18 Panchali Mahendra Atelier House Hospitality’s managing director is set to take Indian street food concept Mohalla global while also elevating Emirati cuisine FIVE MINUTES WITH...Five minutes with... Panchali Mahendra 19 October 2020 caterermiddleeast.com Mohalla is set for expansion, will we see more in the UAE? Right now I don’t want to dilute the brand. For the time being I will just have one Mohalla in the UAE because I want this space to be a destination concept, and we have seen that happening. Over the weekend, when Dubai Design District is shut down for business, I have my restaurant packed with locals. They are driving down from different emirates to eat with us — the footfall is zero internally but it’s the external crowd. So that says I have a destination and I have my own crowd. So for the UAE, it will have just one Mohalla for the time being, but having said that, we are expanding globally, and the rst step for that is going to be in Riyadh in the second quarter of 2021. Why Riyadh? There is a similar kind of love in the entire GCC region for the food. The residents and the citizens of Saudi Arabia love Indian food so it makes sense for us to move there. After a year we had received a lot of interest and requests for opening Mohalla in different regions. We had somebody in Istanbul, Turkey that wanted it, but as my boss Ahmass Fakahany says: ‘First get your act together, make sure all the documentation, all the brand profiling is rock solid, then you should step ahead and you will be able to expand smoothly without any problems’. Now after two years we are ready to rock and roll in Saudi. And it’s so close by, it’s a region I can visit often. It’s an hour’s flight and it will be easy to monitor and control the brand. And then you plan to go to America? We are an American rm — we are part of Altamarea and the group has 11 to 12 years of experience in the United States. In F&B they know the deal, they know exactly what is happening. After travelling back to the US and being in certain cities, we realised there was no concept like Mohalla which is actually expandable, where you can take this concept in different sized forms and mass produce it in different cities while keeping the quality control. I did not nd anything as close to the authenticity in Dubai Design District. It’s going to be a catering kitchen, it’s going to be a cloud kitchen, it’s going to have rent- a-kitchen capacity, and they are also associating themselves with other strong ladies who own a coffee company so we have that collaboration happening as well. And we’re getting into making homemade chocolates and bars. It’s a lot of elements coming together, but it’s a lot of fun and I thought, this is something cool, this is something a little bit different, and we should de nitely do it. Women seem to be thriving in Dubai’s F&B sector now. There are so many women entrepreneurs in F&B, especially the locally-driven concepts, doing extremely well and I’m so proud of them. It’s the fact they are all well-travelled and the international exposure these local women are getting. They're seeing what’s real good food and great concepts and when they come back they are believing this is something they can do. levels in the United States, so we said with our experience together with the strong brand, it merges and we will take it to the States. What else do you have lined up? I have been a bit choosy about the projects that I want to do. As you know the F&B scene is inundated, we have over 12,000 restaurants, so I don’t want to just keep adding. Me being in the industry and complaining about how many restaurants there are then doing the same thing doesn’t make sense — I’d be a hypocrite. But this is the time. We’re launching the rst Emirati high end catering and culinary studio. This is launched and owned by six very powerful Emirati women, they have all come together, they are great friends, they are great business partners, and they realised that when they went for a wedding or had a gathering, the Emirati food was not given that much relevance or stature like other Arabic food has, Lebanese food has. So this is opening Mohalla at D3Next >