Etihad Towers launches new Asian fine dining

Chef de cuisine Benjamin Whatt at Quest restaurant, Jumeirah at Etihad Towers, Abu Dhabi, has launched an entirely new menu and culinary concept under the title of 'Inspirational Asian Fine Dining'.

He said in a statement: "My passion and goal is to provide true dining experiences where people feel just as they might at the end of a great play or film, concert or exhibition.

"My dishes are a composition of drama, intrigue, comedy and fantasy on each plate, with plot and sub-plot. I want guests through my cuisine to remember what it was like to see things again through the eyes of a child, where imagination and interpretation sparkle and shine, innocence is rekindled and frolics in their minds and on their taste buds. Through my cuisine I want people to reminisce, regain a youthful outlook and feel alive."

Some of his new menu highlights include the California Maki, which is based on the Japanese international favourite. The dish is presented as an edible wafer thin card depicting an image of a maki roll.

Another dish is 'Breakfast at Tiffany’s', a dessert inspired by the movie of the same name, providing an illusion of being served a sachet of muesli cereal, egg and ham croissant and a cup of café latte.

Vegetarian options feature heavily within the new menu because of the challenges it presented. Whatt explained: "To come up with a vegetarian dish that can create the same sensation and level of satisfaction for both a meat eater and vegetarian is a serious challenge that immediately attracted me. Choosing the obviously tougher option is in my nature."

One of the new vegetarian dishes is 'Aubergine', which provides the illusion of being served charcoal over a bed of hot ash, complete with its own heat flavours.