Before the summer, Viard looks forward to welcoming another home-grown concept to Emaar Hospitality Group’s portfolio: Fümé, which has a ‘360-degree menu’ featuring dishes from around the world, mixing European flavours with those from North and South-East Asia.
The Jas Group’s Dubai-founded concept, which opened first at the Pier 7 tower in the Dubai Marina neighbourhood last May, will be spread across two floors where Boulevard Kitchen currently stands. With 200 covers, the restaurant will feature an outside terrace, unlike the Marina outlet, and the top floor will have a licensed bar.
According to Viard, the “whole space will be a little bit more sophisticated than what is on the Marina side”.
“I think it’s a good addition to our portfolio — not only running F&B by ourselves but getting good partners in. They will benefit from us and we will benefit from them.
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“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. We have seen that with La Serre, which has been very very successful,” he says.
In addition to its restaurants, Emaar Hospitality Group’s Vida food truck has been a hit so far, so much so that the company has ordered a second one, which will be slightly bigger, and mobile rather than stationary.
“Vida food truck is a great concept; I’m very proud of having it now and it took a long time for us to get it. Feedback has been extremely good so we have been asked to keep it positioned there for the moment [in front of Vida Downtown Dubai]” Viard explains.
The original idea for the food truck was to provide a mobile catering service with Vida Catering Division for clients looking to entertain up to 100 people at their own venue.
With the second truck, Viard says: “we definitely want to be at polo events, product launches etc. We can go anywhere we want. It’s a good addition to the brand because Vida Hotels & Resorts is a quirky lifestyle brand and this is just the perfect fit.”
In addition to a rather unconventional F&B offering, Viard is proud of the features that set the hotels apart from the crowd. With a strong focus on technology across both properties — from one of the fastest WiFi networks in Dubai, to Apple computers in the lobbies, iPad check-in and media hubs in guest rooms — the hotels are staying ahead of the game.
Other in-room differentiators include self-stock minibars, and a complete absence of collateral, with everything controlled through the media hub, including room service, since there is no department allocated to this.
Another unusual offering is the “mood menu”. The guest selects an emoticon on the TV screen that best reflects their mood, and a food selection reflecting this is suggested. If a guest presses the sad face, a member of staff will call to find out what the issue is. If on the other hand, they press the happy face, a ‘happy cookie’ is delivered to their door.
One major advantage the company has over its global counterparts is the ability to skip lengthy approval processes when introducing these new ideas. “You don’t have to go through corporate office in Chicago; the corporate IT manager doesn’t do a big survey. Is it on brand? Yes, it’s on brand. That’s what we do,” Viard explains, admitting that “the creative minds behind the success are really the team”.
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