Life
asks 6 top chefs from the best dining destinations in Dubai to share their dreamy culinary escapes for the summer.
Chef Yannick Alleno
STAY BY YANNICK
In my new restaurant, Pavyllon London, because we worked a lot with local producers to create the menu. I would also love to go to Paris and try a hot spot from a young talented chef, Mallory Gabsi.
Chef Ariana Bundy
ARIANA’S KITCHEN
This summer, all I want is to savour fresh seasonal dishes in Iran. Summer in Iran is all about being by the Caspian Sea. As you drive from Tehran on a long treacherous road carved out of the edge of the mountains, you suddenly see the vibrant blue coastline. You leave the dry city air behind and arrive at a completely different microclimate. Everything suddenly becomes greener, from the lush rice paddies to the olive and orange orchards. Here, life slows down and everything is more vibrant and tastier. Grilled fish stuffed with wild forest plums and local walnuts with a squeeze of Narenj (Valencia orange), olives macerating in pomegranate molasses and unusual fragrant herbs, smoked rice dotted with creamy butter and saffron. Naps are always long and delicious after such meals, and almost always followed by something sweet such as sour cherries sprinkled with hogweed powder or rice cookies with poppy seeds and rosewater… washed down by hot freshly brewed samovar tea from nearby tea plantations. The perfect summer escape, for me.
Chef Adriano Cattaneo
LA PETITE MAISON RESTAURANT & BAR
I would love to go back to Restaurant La Vague d’Or in Cheval Blanc Saint-Tropez, where Chef Arnaud Donckele serves traditional Mediterranean high cuisine. The restaurant’s location overlooking the city makes it a perfect option for an al fresco summer dinner. Or go to Paris to have the truffle and foie gras macaroni from Nomicos restaurant, both a comfort food and a guilty pleasure!
Chef Burcu Cracknell
JOSETTE
My favourite restaurant in Dubai for summertime is Alici. You get a beautiful view of the Dubai Marina skyline and the freshest seafood in the city. Although it is a concept from South of Italy, it reminds me of my childhood when I spent the summer in Bodrum. Feels like home away from home. The colours and the hand-made potteries recall that simple marine lifestyle, also typical of my country. One of my favourite dishes is homemade fusilli with tuna. My grandmother used to make a similar pasta when we came back from the beach.
Chef Tom Allen
DINNER BY HESTON BLUMENTHAL
I would love to eat at a little restaurant in the UK. It’s in Dorset in Lyme Regis, and it’s called Hix Oyster and Fish House. It’s one of my favourite restaurants to go to. It’s not technical, but it’s tasty food in the most beautiful location. It’s situated on the hillside overlooking the harbour and Cobb and the view is just magnificent. Whenever I go, I’m always with my family, either my wife and my two daughters, or my parents, so it has that emotional connection as well. Every time I go, I have the same thing, which is a whole cooked crab, chips with mayonnaise and homemade sourdough with lots of salted butter. I get the little tweezers and I pick all the crab meat out from the claws. And I always have a local Somerset cider that they serve in a little locally handmade terracotta beaker, which is also charming. It never disappoints from an experience point of view.
Chef Iker Zapata Errasti
TAGOMAGO
This summer, I would like to go eat at Mimi Kakushi. And, of course, I will order the baked bone marrow, beef tartare with pickled onion and fried buns. This small dish has an incredible combination of flavours and tastes, balanced to perfection. All topped off with the texture and slight sweetness of the fried buns.
