We asked for heroes, you answered the call. The Caterer Middle East Awards winners revealed in the spotlight JANUARY 2021 VOL 17 ISSUE 01 AN ITP MEDIA GROUP PUBLICATIONM AD E IN GER M A N Y QU ALITY ADAA RMR QIn this issue 3 January 2021 caterermiddleeast.com ON THE MENU Specials 20 Find out who took home the big prizes from this year’s 11th Caterer Middle East Awards 36 Reopened and refurbished at the Dusit Thani Dubai, we put Benjarong under the spotlight Who won? A new lookIn this issue caterermiddleeast.com January 2021 4 Mains 06 Trending 18 Five mins with... 42 Mix masters 50 Kitchen confi dential Asador de Aranda Jason Atherton Cocktails?Editor's Letter 5 January 2021 caterermiddleeast.com Hello, Now we’re in a new year it’s tempting to pretend that 2020 never happened and just look to the future, instead we’re celebrating those that made the most of a difficult 12 months and still managed to shine. The Caterer Middle East Awards took place on December 8 in extraordinary circumstances — with the attendance capped due to social distancing and plenty of sanitisation measures in place — but the spirit was the same. Across 16 categories, the industry united to honour the best of the best. On the night it was LPM Restaurant & Bar that took home a clean sweep of all four of its categories, but that’s only part of the story. We heard so many tales of resilience, innovation, and determination among the winners and highly commended nominees that it’s impossible to imagine the F&B industry will be down for long. Yes, be happy that 2020 is over, but take forward the lessons you learned and help make 2021 better than ever. Simon Ritchie, editor The publishers regret that they cannot accept liability for error or omissions contained in this publication, however caused. The opinions and views contained in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. Readers are advised to seek specialist advice before acting on information contained in this publication, which is provided for general use and may not be appropriate for the readers’ particular circumstances. The ownership of trademarks is acknowledged. No part of this publication or any part of the contents thereof may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without the permission of the publishers in writing. An exemption is hereby granted for extracts used for the purpose of fair review. Published by and © 2021 ITP MEDIA GROUP FZ-LLC MEDIA PO Box 500024, Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 (0)4 444 3000 Web: www.itp.com Offi ces in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, London & Mumbai ITP Media Group CEO Ali Akawi Managing Director Martin Chambers Group Editor Paul Cliff ord Editorial Editor Simon Ritchie Tel: +971 4 444 3550 email: simon.ritchie@itp.com Advertising Commercial Director Sally Whittam Tel: +971 4 444 3348 email: sally.whittam@itp.com Sales Director, Hospitality & Design Rebecca Lockwood Tel: +971 4 444 3268 email: rebecca.lockwood@itp.com Sales Executive James Sperring Tel: +971 4 444 3477 email: james.sperring@itp.com International Sales Manager Amanda Stewart GSM: +44 7908 117 333 email: amanda.stewart@itp.com ITP Live General Manager Ahmad Bashour Tel: +971 4 444 3549, email: ahmad.bashour@itp.com Studio Art Editor Gerald Du Designer Junemar Tulipas Photography Senior Photographers Efraim Evidor, Adel Rashid Staff Photographers Aasiya Jagadeesh, Ajith Narendra, Fritz John Asuro Production & Distribution Group Production & Distribution Director Kyle Smith Production Manager Basel Al Kassem Production Coordinator Mahendra Pawar Senior Image Editor Emmalyn Robles Circulation Distribution & Warehouse Manager Praveen Nair Marketing Director of Awards and Marketing Daniel Fewtrell ITP Group CEO Ali Akawi CFO Toby Jay Spencer-Daviescaterermiddleeast.com January 2021 6 TRENDING7 January 2021 caterermiddleeast.com “Every crazy thing we’ve done has done well, every safe thing we’ve done has lost money,” laughs Tony Habre, founder and CEO of Addmind Hospitality Group, speaking to Caterer Middle East ahead of the launch of his latest venture in Dubai — a 1,500 sq m Japanese restaurant on a DIFC rooftop. Imported from Beirut, Clap is aiming to complement DIFC’s well-established restaurants such as Gaia, Cipriani, and LPM, by offering something a little bit different and focusing on Addmind’s own strengths. “It’s very tough competition, but I think there’s need for more restaurants there because all the big restaurants have waiting lists,” says Habre. Clap’s cuisine will draw obvious comparisons with DIFC heavyweight Zuma, but Habre thinks the two can work well together. “People want to have Japanese food more than once and in more than one place. I speak for myself after 10 years in Dubai. I think Clap will create more people for Zuma and more people for us. In London there’s more than 40 high end Japanese restaurants, in Dubai you have three. So I think we’ll be an excellent alternative and the experience will be different, 100 percent.” Addmind is known for its rooftop spaces — White and Iris two popular examples — and Habre believes Clap, that sits atop DIFC’s buillding 11 which also houses Shanghai Me and L’Atlelier de Jeol Robuchon, could top them all if it manages to captures the public’s imagination. “The place is magical, really,” he says. “I’ve been opening rooftops for more than 15 years, I love rooftops. It’s diffi cult to have a rooftop in the middle of the city like this, with 360 views. It’s unbelievable. When you’re sitting outside and it’s dusk, you don’t want to leave.” Designed to have “a lot of action” going on, Clap DIFC features an open kitchen, sushi conveyor belt, a waterfall, and much more. It’s arranged to be entertaining, says the Addmind founder. “There’s always something moving. You’re going to have 25 to 30 chefs working in front of you, the bar is huge so there’s a lot of interaction happening. You can go there alone and not be bored. There’s not only excellent food — if you’re not going to have excellent food then better not to open in DIFC — but people are looking for more fun experiences, I think, now. People are really claustrophobic and bored, they want something new and they want to be have fun.” Adhering to all social distancing requirements, it will be similar to the original Clap in Beirut, but with its own distinctive style. “I like the sentence that ‘we Clap differently in each city’,” says Habre. “We need to fi ll the need in each place, that’s why I think so many franchises or places don’t work because you need to understand the culture of the city.” “When you’re sitting outside and it’s dusk, you don’t want to leave” An action fi gure chandelier ‘DIFC is the place to be’ says Addmind CEO ahead of Clap launch Tony Habre on opening a 1,500 sq m rooftop bar in the fi nancial centreTrending caterermiddleeast.com January 2021 8 NEW OPENING The upcoming Time Out Market Dubai, a culinary hotspot featuring 17 local restaurants, has revealed fi ve more of the homegrown chef-driven concepts that will be on the bill. Added to the roster are Reif Japanese Kushiyai, vegan café Little Erth by Nabz&G, artisan smokehouse The Mattar Farm Kitchen, and Scoopi Café. Time Out Market Dubai will also launch with locally renowned chai brand, Two Leaves by Project Chaiwala. These latest additions will join the eight previously announced outlets including Masti, BB Social, Folly by Nick & Scott as part of Gates Hospitality, Vietnamese Foodies, Pickl, Pitfi re, Brix and Nightjar. Didier Souillat, CEO of Time Out Market, said: “Each concept that is part of our culinary line-up has been invited to join Time Out Market with a very clear aim to support home-grown, locally loved independent businesses. After months of tasting the top cuisine from culinary talents of the city, we are delighted to reveal the latest additions.” Time Out Market Dubai will open in the fi rst quarter of 2021 in partnership with Emaar Malls at Souk Al Bahar. SUSTAINABILITY A new weekly farmers market has launched at Food District on Palm Jumeirah. The Pointe’s latest dining hub is welcoming the Emirati Farmers Souq every Saturday from 8am until 2pm from now until Ramadan. Located on the ground fl oor of the two storey Food District, it will allow young entrepreneurial UAE farmers to sell local fruit and vegetables from their stalls directly to the customer. Visitors can choose from local produce that is either conventionally grown, hydroponic farmed or organic – at very affordable prices. Vegetables and fruit aside, eggs and honey are also on sale. The initiative celebrates farmers, local ingredients and entrepreneurship in the Time Out Market Dubai reveals fi ve more homegrown chef concepts Reif Japanese Kushiyaki and The Mattar Farm have been added to the line-up The Pointe’s Food District launches farmers’ market The Emirati Farmers Souq will offer local fruit and veg weekly food production sector with the goal of enhancing food security and ensuring food sustainability. Sandy El Hayek, food and beverage manager, Nakheel Malls, said: “In line with Food District’s homegrown theme, a true farmers’ market was a priority for us from day one. So I am delighted that we have been able to partner with the UAE Ministry of Climate Change & Environment to make this happen on a weekly basis. This market is dedicated to selling vegetables and fruits — and therefore differentiates from the art and craft markets found elsewhere.” Customers to the market will also be able to pick up breakfast from two of Food District’s 13 vendors — Boon Coffee and Smol by The Lighthouse.Trending 9 January 2021 caterermiddleeast.com Bla Bla CEO and executive chef Mohammad Islam believes Dubai needs to be ready for something “totally different from everybody else” when the 100,000 sq ft project opens both parts of its two phase project. Comprising a beach club, 20 bars and three restaurants, the JBR beachfront property has direct line-of-sight views of the Ain Dubai (the big wheel) on Bluewaters and Islam told Caterer Middle East that it was this location that he “immediately fell in love” with. He said: “We were thinking about doing something like this for a long time, but never found the right location and accessibility. But with JBR, you look at the vicinity and the proximity of people — they don’t need to take a AED100 taxi from the other side of town, everything is here in walking distance. It’s all about the location.” Creating such a huge venue at a time when the industry has been hit by a global pandemic is obviously challenging, but Islam believes there has also been some benefi ts. NEW OPENING Bla Bla to provide something ‘totally different’ in Dubai, says CEO Mohammad Islam has created 20 bars, a beach club and three restaurants from scratch “During Covid-time people had a lot of time on their hands,” he said. “I had workshops six days a week with designers and architects from 9am in the morning until sometimes 7pm, 8pm straight through because all their other projects had stopped. In two and a half months we were done with all the elevation, BOQ, design, mood boards — it’s usually impossible to do that.” With every bar and restaurant created from scratch by Islam and his team, they got their creative juices fl owing to come up with more than 20 unique concepts. “It was really fun,” Islam admits. “We started throwing ideas at the white board — boom, boom, boom — yes, this might work. Will this work with the butterfl ies? Will this work with the lava lamp?” The butterfl y bar — featuring thousands of preserved butterfl ies hanging from the roof — made it through the process, but the fl oor-to- ceiling lava lamp idea did not. “We tried for a month and a half but eventually said no, too risky, too much, let it go. But we kept the idea and came up with something else in there.” While the bars will operate under Bla Bla’s oversight, some have been handed over to ‘partners’ to run with autonomy. Islam explained: “A bar manager or bartender who is very passionate about his drinks but can’t afford to pay AED3 or 4 million for his own brand, we’ll take on all the liabilities, the headaches, and all the legal issues and provide them with a home where they can benefi t and we can benefi t.” Bla Bla is set to open in two phases, with the beach club opening fi rst alongside the Bali-themed beach bar on the ground fl oor with the three restaurants featuring Japanese, Italian, and BBQ cuisine — Islam’s favourites. Another eight bars will open in this phase on the fi rst fl oor and there’s also a bar snack menu providing 26 options across the venue’s outlets. The venue will be the fi rst independent property in the area licensed for alcohol and shisha, and the remaining bars, which are located in a separate complex beside the pool with double height ceilings, are expected to launch in phase two.Next >