Gary takes to the mic, giving things a personal touch at the opening of Rhodes Twenty10 at Le Royal Meridien in Dubai.
On operating in the UAE
The great thing is the UAE attracts a very international market of foodies so it is a great pleasure to cook and provide for all. At the same time, this gives all of us the opportunity to discover many restaurants featuring other cuisines of the world.
How his restaurant compares to rivals
I don’t like to look at it in terms of what our restaurant has which others don’t, but I like them to be individual, while hopefully adding a new dimension to the more than successful culinary world that is developing, particularly within the UAE.
His worst meal
I certainly haven’t experienced anything of that nature in the UAE, and I’m a chef so I can’t say!
| Advertisement |
His favourite dish
I’m stuck between two — one is the very simple white tomato soup and the other is lobster omelette thermidor — two very longstanding dishes that we feature at Rhodes Mezzanine.
If he could be a chef at any restaurant in the world other than his own
I would love to be the head chef working under Guy Savoy in Paris, a three Michelin star culinary genius. I would also love to work with the Roux Brothers in London.
The biggest challenge with operating a restaurant in Dubai
It’s trying to keep up with the British ingredient seasons and also recognising the seasonality of ingredients from other parts of the world, making sure we are always buying the foods at their very ripest and best.
On the future of British cuisine
It’s quite incredible how over the last 20 to 30 years British cuisine has become a cuisine with status. I’m hoping this will continue to grow and strengthen so we can stand tall amongst the French, Italian, Indian, Chinese and, of course, Arabic cuisines — all of which have such long heritages.
If he could do any other job in the world
I would love to be either a test driver for Ferrari or Porsche, or to play for Manchester United. Or perhaps Marilyn Monroe’s personal cook!
His favourite piece of kitchen equipment
A coffee grinder — it’s great for so many things including grinding spices to make pastes.
Search our database of more than 2,700 industry companies
Mar 31, 2011 , United Arab Emirates
Interesting to note the comment about English cuisine since 20 to 30 years ago. I recall in 1980 that cuisine minceur arrived in the UK and people assumed that this was in fact nouvelle cuisine rather than one version of it, (using one or two of the 10 principles). It was also known as Lean Cuis...