Ten bar and restaurant teams from some of the Middle East’s top hotels and clubs will go head to head on June 23 in the fourth annual Russian Standard and MMI Bar Academy Platinum Fusion competition.
The finalists in this year’s competition, which will be held at The Living Room at Grand Hyatt Dubai, include Calabar, The Address Downtown; Cavalli Club; Gaucho; and Wheelers of St James, all based in Dubai.
Cin Cin, Cigar Bar & The Exchange Grill at Fairmont Dubai; Watasumi at Le Meridien Mina Seyahi; Icho Japenese Restaurant and Bar, Radisson Royal Hotel and soon to open Supperclub Dubai also made the final, while Ray’s Bar & Quest, Jumeirah at Etihad Towers, Abu Dhabi and IHG’s Hotel Phoenicia / Vendome, Lebanon, completed the shortlist.
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Teams of three — one chef, bartender and maître d’ — will be challenged to showcase and serve their most creative drink and food combination to a panel of seven judges.
Each team must use Russian Standard Vodka as the key ingredient and inspiration and at least one other shared ingredient. The dishes and drinks must be created and served within eight minutes.
MMI Bar Academy head Rebecca Sturt said: “Platinum Fusion is a competition like no other in the region, and this year is set to be our most exciting and creative display of talent to date”.
The judging panel includes two experts from the UK; Ross Clarke, development chef at Heston Blumenthal’s world renowned restaurant The Fat Duck and mixologist Jake Burger, owner of Jake’s Bar and Grill, The Neon Cactus and The Portabello Star.
They will be joined by Humoyun-Mirzo Hafizov, general manager of The Ivy Dubai; Tatyana Petrakova, Russian Standard Vodka brand ambassador; Felix Hartmann, F&B manager of Mina A’ Salam, Dubai; Sudeshna Ghosh, editor of BBC Good Food ME; and Louise Oakley, group editor — hospitality at ITP Business.
The teams will battle it out for an all-expenses paid trip to Russia, including a trip to the Russian Standard distillery in St. Petersburg.
Cash prizes of AED 12,000 will also be up for grabs for outstanding individual performances from a chef, bartender and maître d’.
In 2012, the team from Toro Toro at Grosvenor House took first prize, followed by Amwaj Rotana and Zuma as runners up. Individual honours went to M Syarief Aip, Diego Fernando Sanchez, and Aloice Masuku for best bartender, chef and maître d’ respectively.
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