Interview: ADNH's Julide Ozbilge Nuss

Julide Ozbilge Nuss at Venetian Village, Abu Dhabi, which will have all six restaurants open this year [Photo: Grace Guino/ITP Images].

Nuss started from scratch, worked on finalising brands, and engaged in negotiations and contracts. She says that with her hotel and F&B background, setting up the division wasn’t in itself challenging. However, valuable lessons were learned along the way.

“We take hotels with all its supporting departments for granted. When you’re setting up something from scratch, even if it’s just one restaurant, you have to follow the same procedures, though on a smaller scale — so you need all the HR and IT procedures, finance policies, back-of-house systems like cost controlling and receiving, and marketing, under one roof.

“I’ve learned different things along the way. The most interesting has been the construction — seeing everything from design to execution. In the hotel business we don’t get that involved with construction or building, so it has been most fascinating to see it come alive after you’ve done everything on paper.”

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As an hotelier and restaurateur, Nuss acknowledges the importance of learning from both streams of the hospitality sector.

She says: “I hire people combined out of the hotel and freestanding restaurant business because they both give you something important. The hotel business will give you the structure, standards and quality you need in restaurants. Freestanding restaurants give you marketing, the focus of the business of really driving the restaurant. The way we’ve set it up is getting those two together.”

ADNH’s primary focus is to complete this project, though with new CEO Ignace Bauwens on board, Nuss says the next step for the company will be announced shortly. She does not confirm what this might be, and whether ADNH will look beyond the UAE capital.

However, she does say this is the right time to be in the Middle East’s F&B industry, and that the developments are moving along to the trajectory taken by cities like London or Las Vegas. “I love how the F&B scene in Abu Dhabi and Dubai has developed. This is a very interesting environment to be in.

“We are not like the old restaurants where it didn’t matter — serve the food, get the drink, and it’s over. Expectations have changed and it’s very good for the region, and for the visitors. I have come to see that it adds to the value of the city with everything that is going on. I think that it’s a very positive change.”

She admits that Dubai and Abu Dhabi does have differences in terms of market segment and residents. Nuss explains: “Dubai has established itself a bit earlier, and lifestyles are different in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. In Abu Dhabi, the going out scene is a lot slower-paced. But it’s changing — with Reem Island, Sowwah Sqaure, Yas Island and so on, I’m sure that Abu Dhabi will be as hectic as Dubai.

“One of the things about Abu Dhabi is that it doesn’t forgive, so everything has to come together. What we have over here with so many brands and the quality, I know it’s going to set us apart.”

Venetian Village restaurants:

- Al Fanar Restaurant & Café: home-grown Emirati restaurant; first to open in March 2014
- Inakaya: Japanese robatayaki and sushi restaurant; opened in October 2014
- Brasserie Flo: French cuisine concept; opened December 2014, on UAE National Day
- Olives: a Todd English restaurant; to open by summer 2015
- Barfly: from the creators of Buddha Bar, Georges V Entertainment; to open by summer 2015
• Punjab Grill: fine dining Indian restaurant; to open by summer 2015