Caterer Middle East takes a look at Ten Street's BOH and FOH design details
Front of House
Ten Street opened in July, offering a Canadian and American-inspired menu that changes every 10 weeks. Located in Oasis Tower, on The Walk in Dubai’s Jumeirah Beach Residences, and with interiors inspired by the New York subway, the home-grown concept is operated by RMAL Hospitality. The company’s chief operating officer, Toufic G. Khattar, tells Caterer that Ten Street was designed foremost to create a fun environment.
“We have pool tables, the wheel, a karaoke room, our ‘red light rush’ and flaring bartenders, to excite people. JBR is a very discount-led area and we wanted to give people value for what they have in a fun way,” he says.
Explaining the red light rush and wheel ideas, he continues: “When the DJ puts the red light on, a list of drinks becomes 50% off, so people rush to the bar. The DJ can decide to keep it on for as long as he chooses. Our wheel gives customers the chance to spin to win one of 10 prizes, such as a signature cocktail.”
Next to the three pool tables is a bar where original cocktails are made by flaring bartenders.
“Our cocktails are created by us and you cannot find them anywhere else. Flaring is extremely hard and we handpicked five from 200 people we interviewed,” Khattar comments.
In keeping with the subway theme, the outlet features a graffiti wall by Rami Mouallem, who is due to add some artwork to other walls. A sound-proofed karaoke room adds another fun element and next to this is a Bacardi-branded “first class lounge”, created from aluminium sheets “to give it the feel of subway kiosks,” Khattar explains.
The company tasked with bringing the vision for Ten Street to life for RMAL is Studio M and the furniture was sourced locally by Studio M, apart from the pool tables, which were imported from the UK.
Discussing how Ten Street fits into the area, Khattar says there is “nothing like it on The Walk” and that despite not advertising its presence yet, the outlet has been very busy through word of mouth.
“We compete with Q43 and Lock, Stock and Barrel — this is the sort of clientele we are looking for.”
He describes Ten Street’s staff, who hail from all over the world, as outgoing and motivated. “We want the waiter to be the customer’s friend; we don’t want the interaction to be ‘sir, ma’am,’ — instead they ask your name.”
On the topic of expansion, he says: “Ten Street has a big future. We have already had people approaching us from different areas in the UAE. We are holding off to strengthen the brand where it is for now, but definitely later we will want to look at different areas within the UAE. There is big potential.”
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