The Spanish company will bring its passion for great quality service to the historic location of Bur Dubai, setting it apart from five-star competition elsewhere in the emirate, reports GM Gilles Longuet.
The product
While the service is what Longuet hopes guests will remember — and return for — Meliá Dubai itself has been designed to draw guests to the Bur Dubai end of the city.
Most significantly, the hotel is relying on its two signature restaurants to establish a reputation as a culinary destination — critical for tapping into the Dubai residents market, known for eating out several times a week.
The offering includes Titanic by renowned British chef Marco Pierre White — the youngest chef of his time to be awarded three Michelin stars and the first British chef to win this accolade — and Signature by Sanjeev Kapoor, an Indian masterchef whose cuisine, according to White, is on a par with that of Vineet Bhatia of the highly acclaimed Indego restaurant at Grosvenor House in Dubai.
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Titanic promises to deliver a cuisine inspired by the “sunshine flavours” of Spain and the Mediterranean, says White — thus perfectly complementing Meliá’s heritage.
Menu highlights include carpaccio of scallops, fresh ginger and coriander to start; Magret of duck Marco Polo, white peaches and Sauternes roasting juices for main course; and hot raspberry soufflé for dessert.
But while the food is important, for White, it is the total package of the dining experience that matters most, and his aim was to create a space diners would be happy to spend an evening in.
“I’ve been to some great restaurants in the world but actually I’ve not enjoyed sitting in them and that’s why I’ll never go back to them. Food is not enough. It’s about the package and what’s very nice about [Titanic], is you come here, you can sit down, you can eat in the lounge if you wish, you can have a cigarette here, just chill.
But then you go through and have your dinner and, after, you can come back through and chill again. You can go downstairs to the club [Mansion] if you wish to and extend your evening. I like things which are multi-dimensional,” says White.
Ultimately, he wants his diners to enjoy themselves. “For me it’s all about having fun, enjoying yourself — that’s what’s important. How many times have you been to a restaurant where the food’s very nice but actually it’s quite boring, you don’t want to be there and you leave.
We’re in the business of selling fun, we’re in the business of selling a night out, that’s what it’s all about really and I think the more dimensions you can add to that, the better,” he asserts.
As with most ‘celebrity chef’ restaurants, while White has been involved in the planning and concept of Titanic, and in training the chefs, Longuet is in charge of the recruitment and management of the outlet.
Going back to the subject of service, however, and the pair share a common goal.
“For me the most important aspect of service is a smile. It’s friendliness. Nothing is too much trouble,” explains White.
On the choice of restaurants, Longuet explains: “In Bur Dubai there are so many restaurants and we wanted to be on top of all of that. Sanjeev Kapoor [will] create a new identity of Indian culinary experience — something that is quite unique.
“Sanjeev is the master of the master in India today. He has taken the essence of Indian culinary from different areas and redesigned it [with] a kind of fusion adapted to the continental and subcontinent tastes he developed specifically for the hotel. [It will be] the first of this line of restaurants,” he adds.
White backs this up, adding: “Last night I had Indian food downstairs which I have to say was without question some of the finest Indian food I have ever eaten in my life. My friend is Vineet Bhatia who was the first Indian chef to ever win a Michelin star — and it was as good as his food,” — praise indeed.
Of the partnership with White and Kapoor, Longuet explains: “The chefs established the menu, they give us all the training needed and then we run the operations and they come to make sure that everything is as per their guidelines”.
As well as offering the big name celebrity chefs to attract guests initially, Meliá Dubai also has a range of in-house F&B options including all-day-dining restaurant Azalya; an American bar with cigar lounge called Alfonso X; a rooftop Spanish tapas restaurant and bar called Estrellas, still under development; Quantum Sports Bar; and the aforementioned nightclub Mansion.
“I cannot describe it. It is exceptional. Cavalli would be envious. We run it in-house,” says Longuet.
Leisure facilities are also a high priority at Meliá, with the hotel offering the brand’s signature YHI Spa experience. The seven-treatment room facility features a spa boutique offering a large range of Meliá selection spa products, a salon, a Moroccan bath, separate male and female sauna and Turkish bath, and a water circuit, not to mention the health club and rooftop swimming pool.
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Jun 13, 2012 , Kuwait
Very nice article, Wishing all the best of success to the hotel and to Gilles Longuet the GM. It is good to have new hotel and new brand in Dubai market. More competition indeed but also more opportunties at the end, Well done for the opening as well! Bruno