Life
Located in The Grosvenor House, is a newly opened venture by restaurateur and celebrity .
Housing four distinctive dining experiences under one roof, it offers a blend of European and Japanese flavors: City Social (a dining venue inspired by City Social in London), Jazz By City (a lively entertainment concept), 7 Tales (a Tokyo-style speakeasy bar), and Row on 45 ( a soon-to-open exclusive dining experience).
Here, chats with the mastermind himself to discuss creativity, his career journey, and why he keeps coming back to Dubai.
Talk us through the first 30 minutes of your day, your morning routine.
I wake up at 7:00 am, run for 40 minutes, come home, shower, relax, have a coffee, and catch up on news, and then go through emails from overseas.
When did your love for food begin?
It started at the age of 10.
You’ve had an incredible career and have earned plenty of accomplishments. How did you get your start?
I moved to London at 16 and worked at Boyd’s Glasshouse and washed pans. I learnt on my days off until I became a proper chef.
You’ve clearly worked incredibly hard to get where you are today. As a highly accomplished Michelin-starred chef, is there pressure to constantly create?
Always. You learn to keep moving forward and reinvent yourself. You cannot stand still for a second when you are working at this level.
You had a stint working with Gordon Ramsey. What did you learn during your time there?
It was like finishing school. He trained me to become a complete chef, a restaurateur. He taught me all I needed to know about finance, ambience… Everything I know, I learnt from Gordon, and I thank him for being the chef that I am today.
Is there anything you do to spark inspiration and creativity?
I read a lot. I follow chefs on Instagram, and keep my finger on the pulse.
What keeps you coming back to Dubai?
I simply love Dubai. Dubai has been very kind to me. I feel like an official ambassador for Dubai. I love its people; I love the restaurants. It’s just great.
City Social adds to Dubai’s growing scene of Michelin Chef-led restaurants. Can you tell us more about the vision?
I want to inspire others who were once just like me at 10, 16 years old. We now have Michelin in Dubai and I think that is great. We want to be benchmarks for chefs coming in, I want to show them that you can dream, you can achieve, but you must work incredibly hard. You cannot sit for a second when you are working at this level.
What sets City Social apart from your other concepts?
Modern European menu inspired by Japanese flavours, the fact that we have great music, fantastic views, amazing terraces.
To you, what are the must-try hero dishes at City Social?
Wagyu trolley with Wagyu beef flown in from Japan, the ice-cream game which adds an element of fun whilst enjoying the unique flavours we’ve created, and the Beetroot Fujiko Salad… It does not sound much but will blow your mind!
