Outlet 360: Ten Street

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.”

Back of House

The Ten Street kitchen has a young chef at the helm: South African Sake Van der Wal. Speaking about his culinary background, he says: “I started showing some interest in being a chef when I was 16 years old and I learnt in South Korea for five years. I trained for a few months in an Austria deli, and that’s when I really decided that this was the career I wanted. Then we moved back to South Africa and I enrolled in culinary school, did a two-year apprenticeship and practical training in a few different establishments to get some hands-on experience. I got my first job under a chef who was on the South African culinary team, so he was a good mentor.

“I worked my way up through the ranks and became a sous chef at a restaurant in Victoria, South Africa, where we did 250 covers a night. I then decided that I wanted to pursue international experience, hence moving to Dubai in March 2016.”

Revealing details about the menu he helped create, Van der Wal says: “We want to stand out from the crowd, hence our menu is quirky, especially the names for the burgers. We smoke all of our meat in-house, using a smoker from Alto-Shaam, and although it’s a small menu, the flavours really speak for themselves.”

Some dishes have already stood out as popular, he says, stating: “Burger wise, our chicken and waffle burger ‘I’m a Beliebar’ is one of our best sellers, as is ‘Little Swiss Bunshine’. Our apple pie is also getting good feedback.”

Fish and chips is another menu staple and the chef says he is using pale ale for the batter. He comments: “The flavour that the beer batter adds to the cod has made some English people tell us it’s the best fish and chips they’ve had in Dubai.”

The restaurant’s intention to refresh its menu every 10 week poses challenges. although Van der Wal is excited as “chefs are always thinking about new dishes” and for the first menu change, he will add slider-style burgers and more finger foods.

Asked about the supply stream, he says that at first “it was a struggle to source the quality of ingredients” needed, but adds that everything is now at “the standard that we want”.

Khattar agrees, revealing: “We were very choosy; for the ribs we tried out 15 different types.”

He adds that as RMAL Hospitality has been in the market for a long time, Ten Street benefits from established relationships with local suppliers, who look to various countries to meet Ten Street’s needs, including South Africa for its beef and wagyu.

The kitchen is staffed with six people from different backgrounds, and Van der Wal says it didn’t take too long for the team to gel.

“I am really proud of what we have accomplished so far. We have three Sri Lankan guys, a Filipino, a Chinese guy and myself, so it’s diverse.

“It’s important to bond together and be a family, as you spend more time with each other in the kitchen than you do with your own family at home. It’s vital to click and understand the way each other works,” he remarks.