Reflecting on this, Özkanca remarks: “Dubai is a really fierce market. Every five-star hotel has 10 or 12 outlets, and there can be 15 five-star hotels within walking distance of each other. For me, every new restaurant I open is like a new baby, bringing new excitement. I have always built new concepts from scratch, rather than buying restaurants, and this one is particularly special as it’s the first one I am opening abroad [outside of Turkey] and because it is my dream is to make Rüya an international brand.”
Clague thinks the local market will embrace Rüya’s menu. He elaborates: “When we opened Zuma London, we knew the Japanese were going to hate it but look at the success it’s had, and now I’d say the Japanese love it too.
“I thought Qbara would be the same — that the Emiratis might have a problem with us playing around [with their cuisine] but, on the contrary, they embraced Qbara. That says a lot about Dubai, how forward thinking Emiratis are, and I think Emiratis are going to do the same here [with Rüya].
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“There are some Middle Eastern elements and something for everybody — salads, grills, breads, even a few vegetarian dishes — making up a big menu. We’ll have about 50 dishes, not including desserts. And it is all going to be real food — there definitely won’t be any foams or any molecular gastronomy.”
Özkanca thinks the Turkish expat community in Dubai will also welcome the restaurant, as its menu retains the DNA of their homeland’s cuisine, and adds that on Saturdays, Rüya will even serve “a typical Turkish breakfast”.
At the time of going to press, the fit-out was nearly finished, ready for a September launch — followed fairly quickly, of course, by the next Rüya. Özkanca is excited to see his dream become a reality, not least because, by going global, the brand will be blazing a trail.
“No similar restaurant that has a Middle Eastern base has survived internationally; there are no restaurants from Lebanon, Syria or Turkey, for example, that have become brands like Zuma, Nobu, Hakkasan or Coya.
“Ours will be the first one in the market and, if we do this well and provide a product that is accepted by an international palate, the sky’s the limit,” Özkanca concludes.
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