Water lot of pukka projects

Jamie Oliver is known for undertaking culinary missions - so what was the appeal of designing kitchens for homes in the Water neighbourhood of Leisurecorp's element-themed Jumeirah Golf Estates? Here the celebrity chef explains the appeal of the project and reveals plans for his two new Dubai restaurants.

You're known for championing 'good causes', such as your campaign to improve school dinners in the UK and your pledge to teach the fast-food generation to cook; what was the appeal of this project?

It's far more selfish; this is about basically having permission to create a food network, which is quite socially based.

There are going to be 50,000 people living within the perimeter (of the Water neighbourhood). So I've basically got a free reign to do what I want on this project, which is really exciting.

There's not really one thing that would have made me do the job - it's not just doing the kitchens in conjunction with the brand Poggenpohl that's the big appeal, because frankly I'm very busy. I only work with a small handful of people and all of them I've worked with for several years now.

Part of me feels like I should be apologising for coming to an incredibly rich place and doing something that isn't about charity or poor people or neglect, but this is actually something for me to really sink my teeth into and try to express myself without any boundaries.

But education is always at the heart of anything I do. Water will also feature a 'Kitchen Library', a sort of lending space for culinary equipment and cookbooks for budding chefs, as well as a ‘Grab and Go' retail concept offering residents lovely nutritious meals to enjoy at home.

It's also about sourcing proper, good, local produce. In a place like Dubai a lot of stuff is imported - does that mean that the food you get here can't be incredible, sourced to perfection and sold to you by someone who is an authority on it? I say no.

So we'll have the restaurants; the ability to service all of the apartments with cooking lessons in their home or in the school we're having there; we're going to offer meals that are half-prepped for you to finish off cooking yourself - all sorts really. So whether you're a beginner or a good cook, we'll be helping people to up their game. And that, I think, is really sexy.

Tell us about your upcoming restaurant concepts.

Restaurant number one is Jamie's Italian. We have two open already in the UK and there will be another before the end of the year. They're average price - our margin structure's totally different [to a normal restaurant]; you can't do stuff cheap that's really good.

We manage to, but only because our business requires us to be very, very busy all the time and have more than one restaurant. That's the only way it can work.

But I absolutely love it; all the pasta's made on site, beautiful meat's grilled in our grill section - we've brought in new technology to cook the meat there. We have these plates that sit on the grill getting screaming hot then you put that on top of the meat.

In Italy they call the method ‘al mattone', which means ‘under the brick'; they used to just get a brick and wrap it in foil and sit it on top of spatchcocked chickens, but we've made our own one. It's a really dynamic and quick method - you can cook a steak evenly in three-and-a-half minutes.

Then the barbeque restaurant concept is still being worked on, but basically it's delicious, medieval cooking, but done sexy. So think Nobu but then think barbeque.

We're going to do Halal meat, of course. But it will also be meat of wonderful providence as well - and not just steaks and posh cuts. We're going to be doing cauldron cooking, pit cooking, whole spit-roast animals, all with really delicious flavours - hot smoking, cold smoking, coal and wood fired, plus we'll have our own butchers there on site.

We'll be working the team up in England, then everyone will come out here when we launch it. It'll be the first time we've ever done this concept, so it's really going to need a lot of preparation.

What do you think of the food scene in Dubai?

You've got some good names here, that's for sure. I think it'll be nice though to come out here and create something unique - if I don't achieve that I'll be gutted.

What I'm trying to do is almost the complete opposite of the big-name chefs out here. I'm a great believer that it's about the little details. I could say you know what, there's so many well-off people here - I'll charge 100 quid a head and I'll be booked solid for the next five years', but that's not what I want to do.

I want to do a good job, offer a fair price - Jamie's Italian is wonderfully good value. I'm not sure how getting the ingredients is going to affect the price but I don't think it'll be horrific. Anyone will be able to come in and eat there.

Barbeque will be a bit more pricey, because we're using more prime cuts and other bits and pieces, but I don't want to take the piss.

Basically we should be able to create something special here and really unique.

I'd much rather be in a lower bracket of spend with people happy to come in once a twice a week, either for breakfast lunch or dinner. And if you're not caning their wallet, they're happy.

The only complaint I've heard about Dubai, from people who've been on holiday here, is the price of dinners, so I don't want to go anywhere near that. And we certainly won't be doing any four-hour eat-and-drink-as-much-as-you-can brunches, or any buffets. I don't like bargain barrels; that's the kind of thing you get in Magalouf.

But if you want a top meal that's well priced, plus a bit of an experience, then we'll definitely look after you.

Will you be coming back to the restaurants regularly once they're up and running?

Of course; this isn't a job, it's a relationship. I've already been on the phone to the missus - I struggle having holidays because I'm always getting bothered. But this is an interesting option; if you're hyperactive like me you can go sand-boarding or skiing and it's actually a decent place, it's safe. Plus the paparazzi get locked up - I love it!