RESTAURATEUR OF THE YEAR

M. Oliver Zeitoun, Maki Group

The judges were impressed with the mark that M. Oliver Zeitoun and the Kuwait-based hospitality group that he founded have made on the regional dining scene.

The restaurateur lives in and “lives” his restaurants. Thus, both back-­of­-house and front­-of­-house staff are constantly motivated to create, improve, and do their best to live up to his vision. Zeitoun treats his staff like family, listening to their suggestions, and working with them on a personal level.

Unfortunately, Zeitoun was not able to attend the awards ceremony but Maki Group operations manager Toufic Salloum was on hand to collect the trophy which was presented  by Gavin Dodd, managing director of A. Ronai.

Upon being united with his award shortly after the ceremony, Zeitoun was asked by Caterer Middle East if he had any advice for budding restaurateurs in the region: “Be yourself! Do not try to copy others. Instead, get inspired, research, and work hard on your concept(s). Endeavour and strive to come up with new, original ideas, and be open-minded to accept criticism and rejection. Build on it. Be ready to be ‘married’ to your concept. Place a lot of time into it, and you will reap the rewards sooner or later. Achieve financial prosperity through happiness and not the other way around!”

Cedric Touissaint of Coya Middle East was highly commended in this category and other shortlisted nominees included: Jonathan Vercoutre and Julien Pilard concept developers for Bistro Des Arts and Publique; Kunal Lahori, CEO and founder of Create Hospitality; Bhupender Nath, MD and founder of Passion F&B and Umut Özkanca, founder of concepts including Masa, Borsa, Parle and Rüya Dubai.

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