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RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR:
Okku Dubai

Co-founder Markus Thesleff reveals why Dubai’s home-grown luxury Japanese restaurant and lounge has been such a success

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Okku Dubai was the only outlet to score more than one Caterer Middle East Award this year. In fact, it took home a record three gongs for Graziella Nieto, Bartender of the Year; Hugh Sato Gardiner, Chef of the Year — Standalone Restaurant; and the ultimate prize, Restaurant of the Year.

The judges couldn’t put the Restaurant of the Year nomination down, so transfixed were they by the achievements recorded: launch of a new à la carte menu in 2010 with 50 new creations; staff growth of 41%; significant reduction in food costs; massive increases in gross sales; and a 15% rise in average spend per person.

But what really set the restaurant apart was Okku’s commitment to its employees and its relentless efforts to ensure it is at the forefront of Dubai’s social scene, while also raising the bar for quality dining in Dubai. This is one restaurant you can’t ignore and the vote was unanimous.

We asked Markus Thesleff, who opened Okku in early 2009 with business partner Ramzy Abdul Majeed, to further reveal the reasons behind the brand’s growth...

Staff has grown by 41% this year — what is your approach to recruitment and training, and how has this impacted on Okku’s success?
Our approach to recruiting is the same as it has always been since we opened. We not only look for people who have a certain skills set, but more importantly we look for the people with the right attitude and personality that reflect the brand and the team. It is vital that they fit into and believe in our corporate culture.

Training is a real buzz word in the industry, but it is redundant unless you empower the staff in order to let them make decisions and develop their personalities and confidence, which results in a more effective and dynamic team. In turn, both our guests and our business benefit greatly from this.

Okku Dubai had record months for revenue in April, May and June of 2011 — what are the reasons behind this continued success?
We are a young brand and strive to grow and develop further to promote the reputation of Okku. We have always tried to maintain quality service and standards by investing back into our staff and brand, and the success of this is evident.

Too many people focus only on the bottom line, but we believe we must drive the top line as we can always control and manage the bottom. Without a top line there is no bottom line to manage.

What is coming up at Okku?
We have more than 50 new dishes being added to our menu (replacing some older ones) in the next couple of weeks followed by a brand-new beverage menu a month or so later. It is key for the whole team that we continue to grow, innovate and develop otherwise the brand will go stale.

F&B development aside we are going to implement some great CSR programmes while we continue to grow the business one meal at a time. We are taking the brand outside of the UAE for the first time with some fantastic new projects both within the region and in London. And as always we have a few surprises…

Okku is flying the flag for home-grown brands — will we see some more new brands from the company?
We have a number of new projects on the horizon, Sophie’s is a new brand that focuses on natural and healthy home- cooked food (wherever possible we try to go organic), which will be launching shortly. We are working on the launch of an exciting beach club concept that will house a great Italian restaurant, all aimed at Dubai residents for a change, as well as several more projects that we are in the process of finalising.

What is the latest news on the O by Okku brand?
O by Okku is a diffusion concept that is slightly more focused on the family-dining element, whilst still retaining the Okku edge on food, fashion and fun. The idea of sharing will be a big part of O and will appeal to families and groups.

It will be launching in 2011 in a great location by the Park Hyatt in Jeddah, followed quite quickly by Riyadh. O will have a greater focus on Robata-yaki and cooked dishes.

Okku won three awards — what does this mean to you?
It’s great to get that sort of recognition within such prominent industry awards as it acknowledges and reinforces all of the hard work that the team has put in from the start to make Okku what it is.

This year the competition was very fierce with great peer brands like Zuma etc. It is great to see that as a local homegrown brand we can compete with some of the best international brands in the world.

What advice would you give to aspiring restaurateurs in the Middle East?
On an emotional level be real and follow your dream and vision for the concept. On a practical level remember that there is no room for egos, it’s a business like any other, and you have to run it as such.

Also make sure that the business is not undercapitalised as this is one of the biggest killers. Finally, remember that in an industry with an over 90% failure rate internationally, management is absolutely key.

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