Heinz Beck to give casual diners a Taste of Italy

Chef Heinz Beck [image: heinzbeck.com]

Chef Heinz Beck, whose La Pergola restaurant in Rome holds three Michelin stars, has chosen Dubai to launch his first ever casual gourmet dining concept.

The chef, who earlier this year opened Social by Heinz Beck at Waldorf Astoria Palm Jumeirah, is collaborating with retail and hospitality operator Marka on the new venture, Taste of Italy by Heinz Beck.

The first branch is set to open in February 2015 in The Galleria on Al Wasl Road in Dubai and will serve a range of dishes from across Italy, including beef tartare with while truffle, linguine with lobster, zucchini and tomatoes, lamb in olive crust and tiramisu.

Speaking to Caterer Middle East at the unveiling of Taste of Italy, chef Beck explained why he finally came round to the idea of putting his name to a casual dining concept.

“I was approached many times for different concepts,” he said. “But for me it’s not to make business. For me it is about the right connection between people who believe in what they are doing; people who have feelings and want to make the difference.”

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He also insisted that there will be no rapid expansion of the concept, with quality the priority for the fledgling concept. “In the contract it is written that if I’m ready for a second or third branch, then it will be done,” he said. “If I am not happy, then it will not be done.”

Marka managing director for hospitality Ravi Chandran also spoke to Caterer about the genesis of the collaboration with Beck, who has fine dining establishments in Tokyo, London, Algarve and across Italy.

“We were very inspired by his culinary accomplishments around the world and we wanted to bring in this real traditional Italian food, which is prepared in a professional way, to the heart of Dubai.”

Arriving with a bang earlier this year with the first flotation onto Dubai’s main stock exchange since 2009, Marka is looking to use its AED500 million (US $136 million) of capital to make its mark on the retail and hospitality sectors.

“Marka Hospitality is pursuing an ambitious growth strategy in the GCC and we are targeting the mid to high segment of the market,” explained Chandran. “We are trying to bring in franchises of big brands and also trying to create in-house brands, with well-known global brands joining us as partners.”

He added that the company had three other home-grown brands and one franchised brand in the pipeline for next year and that, while the UAE will be focus for the next two years, it would then look to expand into Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.