The Ivy Dubai snagged the Restaurant Team of the Year - Independent trophy at the Caterer Middle East Awards.
Having witnessed a 34% increase in cover count and 32% increase in revenue year on year, the Dubai outpost of the London restaurant has become a strong player in the UAE market.
This was The Ivy Dubai's second win of the night - Ben Tobitt won the Head Chef of the Year earlier in the night.
The restaurant's ecstatic restaurant manager Nicola Robinson told Caterer: "This is the most proud I've ever been in a work environment. I don’t know where you go from that. It’s amazing and it’s a huge testament. It’s been a massive struggle; a fun one, but we've been lucky we've found some of the best people ever so it’s an extraordinary experience."
Since its opening in 2011, the restaurant has undergone several brand and management changes, and seems to have finally found its voice. Explaining the various challenges, head chef Ben Tobitt said: "We've had good times and we've had bad times. I've been at The Ivy since the very first day and it would be fair to say we didn’t have the best of starts but the change in the people, the team, the effort, the restaurant team award gives me more heart and gratitude than anything."
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Similarly, adapting The Ivy formula for the UAE market was no easy task for the team. Robinson explained: "We had a massive institution to follow in The Ivy London. It was massive pressure on anyone to try and emulate that success and to try and create our own individualism thereafter. The place in London is a hive of activity, it’s all about theatre. And then our location - albeit beautiful - is in the business district.
"So it’s the antithesis of where we started in terms of a brand. What we had to do was rethink it and reimagine it. So Ben and I went back to the drawing board and realised we almost have to become the theatre. So we have to surround ourselves with people who are fundamentally theatrical, who are fun."
It was a tight race for the category, and Bushido Bahrain was highly commended by the judges for its improvement year on year.
Other nominees in the category included: Maki Bahrain, Pantry Cafe, Dubai, and Roberto's DIFC
The category was sponsored by TSSC, and brand executive Leith-Kevin Bahar presented the award to the team.
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