Arabian knights

May 15, 2010

Crowne Plaza's Danny Kattar.

According to chefs, Arabic outlets are wide-spread in the region, suggesting past calls for greater representation of traditional fare have been heeded.

Crowne Plaza’s Kattar notes that many hotels in the UAE now feature an Arabic restaurant in their portfolio, while numerous standalone restaurants can also be found serving up authentic food.

But Diwan L’auberge’s Charaf points out that certain countries are more strongly represented than others under the generic ‘Arabic food’ banner.

“Arabic cuisine is a big label and it includes a lot of sub-cuisines. One of those is Lebanese, which seems to be the most widely represented,” he observes.

Lebanese fare is definitely recognisable in the majority of Arabic cuisine, while some other national cuisines — such as Emirati — maintain a significantly lower profile.

On a recent visit to Dubai, Michelin-starred chef Vineet Bhatia said he felt an Emirati restaurant was the one element missing from the UAE’s F&B portfolio.

“I would love to see something focusing on Emirati cuisine launched,” he told Caterer Middle East.

“It has a lot of similarities to Indian food, which can of course be done at a high level — and I’m sure there are people who can cook great Emirati food and would be willing to take it to that level.

“The initiative has to come right from the top — from an Emirati chef, ideally,” he continued.

“I think such a venture could be extremely successful and a great source of pride.”

Whether one of the region’s few Emirati chefs will take up this gauntlet and open a dedicated restaurant for local UAE fare remains to be seen.

Nevertheless, the steadily-growing popularity of Arabic cuisine with consumers around the world means that chefs, suppliers and outlets serving up traditional regional food will continue to flourish.

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