Stefan Viard, general manager, Manzil Downtown Dubai. Stefan Viard, general manager, Manzil Downtown Dubai.

JAS Group’s Dubai-founded F&B concept Fümé is to open its second outlet at Emaar Hospitality Group’s newly opened Manzil Downtown Dubai.

The first Fümé opened at the Pier 7 tower in the Dubai Marina neighbourhood last May.

Manzil Downtown Dubai general manager Stefan Viard told Hotelier Middle East that he would like to see the second Fümé outlet open “before the summer”. It will be spread across two floors of the 197-room hotel, and will feature an outside terrace.

“I think is a good addition to our portfolio, not only running F&B by ourselves but getting good partners in,” said Viard. “They will benefit from us and we will benefit from them. It’s a very nice design I have to say, it will be interesting.”

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The restaurant will have upstairs and downstairs seating, and the upstairs area will contain a licensed bar, and a large terrace with outdoor seating, which according to Viard will be the main differentiator to the Pier 7 location.

He also said that the “whole space will be a little bit more sophisticated than what is on the Marina side”.

Having successfully run La Serre restaurant in sister property Vida Downtown Dubai, Viard is confident that a home-grown concept is the perfect fit for Manzil Downtown Dubai.

“It’s a local brand; that’s the key. There are enough talents here in Dubai and you see more and more good home-grown concepts, so you don’t necessarily have to buy the big names from other parts of the world and hope that they work.

“I think the home grown concepts are very strong, people know what they’re doing here and they have a good following, and expectations are very high here. We have seen that with La Serre, which has been very very successful.

The original 140-seat Fümé at Pier 7 was designed as a neighbourhood eatery with rustic beams and barrel floors.

Fümé’s ‘360-degree menu’ features dishes from around the world and mixes European flavours with those from North and South-East Asia.

The restaurant also smokes its meat and seafood onsite with coconut husks used in place of coal.