While Petrus takes care of the floor and Othman controls the kitchen, Khoury is the one in charge of making sure the concept is aligned with his team’s original idea.
“The challenge with any new project is you always have in mind a certain concept that you want to reach. Sometimes during the operation, people can forget the goal and they divert. Our goal is to always remember.
“It is not easy to make people feel relaxed and at home — it takes a lot of effort— but the reaction of people leaving so far has given us such a good feeling. Everyone is going away satisfied, and I’m talking about foodies who love to go to Zuma, La Petite Maison and Coya. Those brands are mature and already guests are comparing us to them. Without Reif I don’t know how we could have done it. We got so lucky to have all the team together to build this place.”
Competing with Dubai’s big hitters is not for the faint hearted. Reiterating the Play team’s collective experience and confirming that he has done his homework ahead of branching out with a new concept, Khoury says: “We have studied the market for over 10 years and we are evolving with the market. We believe, first of all, [you need to decide] who is your database and who are you targeting? If you know, then it will be much easier to create a concept. Some competitors just launch a concept not knowing who’s going to be there.
“Our whole concept is about having good food, good location, beautiful venue, and a great team. This makes us strong.”
No doubt the venue offering guests views from both sides of the restaurant, so that they take in the city skyline from one side and sea views from the other, was a factor in choosing this location. Asked what else contributed to the team choosing the H Hotel, Khoury notes that “the whole strip of Sheikh Zayed Road is easy to reach from anywhere in Dubai” and makes the point that had they focused on a specific area, such as Dubai Marina, they would attract mostly people who live in that part of Dubai.
“We all use Sheikh Zayed Road in our daily lives, so wherever you live you feel this is a close by area — people can feel comfortable reaching us. Dubai has a lot of new people coming and it is growing so fast, but it’s always easy to find Sheikh Zayed Road,” he asserts.
In the interest of creating a comfortable base, Play opens at 6pm to tap into the post-work market, with Khoury stating that part of Play's concept is being “an early place to relax, that feels like home”.
This means, of course, that Play will have a captive audience to dazzle with food, cocktails and music, with the aim of enticing them to stay until the early hours.
Khoury smiles: "People don’t want to leave a nice atmosphere with music they don’t hear every day and nice people around them. You cannot find this everywhere.”
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