lifestyle and culture

With Dubai being the reigning food haven, there’s a wide variety of delectable food offers in the emirate that can be enjoyed when you dine-in with your friends and family.As we approach Ramadan, Emirates Woman has curated an exceptional edit of the best Iftar deals at the very best restaurants in Dubai.GAL Restaurant & LoungeEnjoy uninterrupted views of the Burj Khalifa during Iftar at GAL Restaurant & Lounge, formerly known as ‘The Galliard’. This Ramadan, enjoy GAL’s Iftar set meny which includes a soup of the day, followed by classicssuch as Aegean mezze selections, spicy arrabbiata meatballs, fresh calamari, homemade Maltagliati Bolognesepasta and delicate seabass fillet guazetto. To end the evening on a sweet note, enjoy GAL’s moreish date cake ordip your fancy into warm churros lathered with molten chocolate. The Iftar menu is available throughout Ramadan for Dhs285 per person from sunset to 7.30pm.HuqqaFrom sunset, guests may enjoy a myriad of Middle Eastern and Turkish‐inspired specialties at Huqqa at Fashion Avenue in Dubai Mall. Dishes include Mixed Mezze Platter of Sarma, Sogurme, Aci Ezme, Haydari, Mutabbel, paired with freshly baked bread, olives and hummus. Followed by a host of appetizers such as homemade soup of the week, Coban Salad, and Dynamite Fries. Fresh from the wood-fired oven comes the signature, warming Cheese Pide, followed by Wagyu Adana Kebab, Keşkek – a barley risotto with pulled lamb and spices, and special Vegetarian Saç Kavurma – cast iron cooked vegetables in a tomato and red pepper sauce. The set Iftar menu is Dhs189 net per person.NetsuEnjoy this unique Iftar at Japanese restaurant Netsu, cooked in style on Dubai’s only Warayaki grill. The three-course menu – available for Dhs265 per person, including soft beverages and mocktails – offers diners a taste of Chef Ross Shonhan’s Japanese creations for a dining experience like no other. The Iftar deal is available from sunset until 8pm daily throughout Ramdan. Shanghai MECurated by Shanghai ME’s Head Chef Shane Macneill, enjoy Iftar at this DIFC hotspot this Ramadan with your family and loved ones. Hero dishes on the Iftar menu include Roast Chicken and Black Cod, Prawn Toast, Vegetable Spring Rolls, Cucumber and Avocado Salad, Dim Sum, Rice and Broccoli. Priced at Dhs245 per person, this Ramadan menu is available daily from 6.30pm until 8.30pm at Shanghai ME in DIFC.ScaliniIndulge in Scalini’s Iftar and enjoy a whole host of the restaurant’s signature dishes including Gameroni Fra Diavola, prawns flambeed with chili, garlic and served with steamed rice, Piccatina Limone, veal escalope with a signature lemon sauce, Lasagne, Chicken Milanese, Penne Arrabiata, Ravioli with Spinach and Ricotta, classic Spaghetti Bolognese and more. Priced at Dhs345 per person, this Ramadan menu at Scalini is available daily from sunset until 8.30pm at the Four Seasons Jumeirah.Bella Restaurant & LoungeWith a delicious spread of Antipasta’s, Piatto Unico and Dolce’s, Bella is offering the perfect amalgamation of Middle Eastern flavours presented in an exotic manner, such as Baba Gunush served with pilaf, hummus with chickpea, camel milk ice cream and much more. Priced at Dhs250 per person, this Ramadan menu at Bella is available daily from sunset until 1am at Grand Millennium Hotel in Business Bay.For more information visit belladxb.comCÉ LA VIBreak your fast in style with picturesque views of Dubai’s skyline including mouth-watering starters, a selection of beautifully prepared mains and a healthy spread of fruits. Relish a three-course meal for Dhs250 per person or three-course accompanied with shisha for Dhs350 per person at the pool deck, with both packages inclusive of dates, water, tea and coffee as you celebrate with friends and families, from Iftar until 8pm.For more information visit celavi.comBounty Beets at Le Meridien Mina SeyahiIf you’re thinking of opting for a healthier option this Ramadan, you can nourish your body and soul with a selection of light options that are both delicious and nutritious. Featuring a special Ramadan four-course menu, it includes a choice of soup, sharing appetizers, main course, a dessert accompanied by a set of detox beverages from April 1 to May 15 from sunset to 10pm for Dhs129 per person.For more information visit mariott.comEat & Meat at The H DubaiGather with friends and family as you enjoy an exceptional Iftar at Eat & Meat with a sumptuous set of sharing dishes including traditional bites featuring both Hot and Cold Mezze and flavoursome Arabic sweets in a traditional environment with guests also receiving a special early-bird offer of 20 per cent off when booking before April 12, 2021. Available throughout Ramadan from sunset to 10:30pm, prices for the package start at Dhs159 per person with a selection of juices. For more information visit hhoteldubai.comMarea, DIFCThis luxe hotspot in DIFC filled with Italian favourites is fused with authentic Arabic flavours, with Marea’s best-selling dishes including melt in your mouth Italian Burrata, Rigatoni pasta’s and an explosion of chocolate delicacies. Located at Gate Village 7 in DIFC, the Iftar set menu is priced at Dhs249 per person and will be available from 6:30pm.For more information visit marearestaurant.comBallarò restaurant at Conrad HotelEnjoy a selection of lavish Arabic favourites and international delicacies in the beautiful outdoor terrace which overlooks the lush green hidden oasis. Priced at Dhs175 per person from sunset till 9:30pm, guests can avail a 20 per cent discount when bookings are made before April 12, 2021 to enjoy this beautiful spread for Iftar.For more information visit conraddubaihotel.com LPM Restaurant & BarOffering guests a French-Mediterranean style Iftar, the menu includes a Ramadan welcome drink, soup, dates, two starters, one main course and a dessert, all of which is priced at Dhs240 per person. Guests can indulge in a host of fusion signature dishes along with the seasonal special dessert. Located at DIFC, Gate Village 8, the menu is available during the holy month of Ramadan from 6pm to 8pm with a minimum booking of two people.For more information visit lpmrestaurants.com/dubaiAlso read: We’ve found the most luxe and extravagant UAE Iftar package everHutong, DIFCThis contemporary Northern Chinese restaurant embraces the spirit of Ramadan with an elevated selection of fiery dishes that are ideal for sharing with friends and family as it draws inspiration from the heritage of the Silk Road, presenting a memorable immersive Iftar experience this season. From an abundant selection of delicious starts such as Wild Mushroom & Truffle Bao to Yu Xiang Crispy Eggplant with sweet exclusive desserts to top up your palette, guests can enjoy the entire bespoke experience for Dhs198 per person for a minimum of two people available from sunset to 8pm.For more information visit hutong-dubai.comRamadan Majlis at Ritz-Carlton, DIFCFor an impressive experience delve into the spirit of this special occasion in the luxurious Ramadan Majlis, which offers a lavish Iftar served in a family-style at your table. With delicious cold mezze Lebanese options accompanied by a traditional Arabic sweet station, from sunset to 8:30pm starting at Dhs219 for an adult and Dhs110 per child.For more information or to make a booking visit ritzcarlton.comAll the necessary health and safety measures have been implemented to ensure customers have a safe experience when they enjoy their meals.– For more on luxury lifestyle, news, fashion and beauty follow Emirates Woman on Facebook and InstagramImages: Supplied More

How has this community scaled in growth since its inception?
Alserkal Avenue is an inclusive space, a cultural inventory assembled from various industries and disciplines in art, design, architecture, literature, film, performing arts, lifestyle and food, all in the context of the industrial area of Al Quoz. The Avenue’s grassroots evolution was spearheaded by risk-takers driven by tenacity and creative ambition in a city that has always embodied potential. While we might be just over 10 years old, we have, individually and collectively, contributed to the cultural ecosystem of the UAE and beyond, reflecting our polyphonic identities, artistic commitment, and diverse knowledge paradigms. As a collective of over 70 creatives, cultural thinkers and makers, we have always been driven to challenge the conventional and see the boundless possibilities of the work we do.

What have been the biggest hurdles to date and how did you overcome them? What key lessons are you grateful for in business?
It is never easy to be the ‘first’ or a pioneer because there is no model or playbook you can follow. I take comfort in ad- vice someone once gave me—‘don’t be afraid of uncertainty, it means you are innovating’. To be honest, when we started, I feel like the West didn’t know what to do with us because we didn’t fit any of their ‘boxes’, in terms of art paradigms. We began as an arts neighbourhood in the Al Quoz industrial area, then through Alserkal Avenue’s expansion in 2015, we extended our platform to welcome a curated community of entrepreneurs across various industries, acting as a building block for the creative economy locally and through our commitment to artistic production, residency programmes, scholarship and research we evolved further as an institution, forming the Alserkal Arts Foundation. It created a context-specific and organic model that responds to our city, our history and public. Alserkal and its initiatives are everyone’s community commons: collaborative, open, experimental and flexible by nature.

Why do you think Alserkal Avenue has holistically grown as a centre for the arts and design?
How has the concept of culture and heritage in Dubai grown over the last few years? Despite the rapid commercial growth that Dubai has seen, our arts and culture scene is still young, and the potential that it offers to young artists is immense. We need only to look at the growth that has taken place over the last decade to realise that the momentum will continue to pick up the pace. Dubai’s arts ecosystem, which started with just a few commercial art galleries a decade ago, has grown to become a holistic art scene. We’ve witnessed the development of robust education programmes, not-for-profit spaces with active community programming, and the emergence of new collectives and homegrown concepts within the creative industries. Locally-based talent is more eager and more able than ever to develop their artistic practices locally now that there is the infrastructure to support that; the Alserkal Arts Foundation space was a big step in further enhancing the Alserkal family’s commitment to the arts. The next step, as our founder Abdelmonem Alserkal always reflects, ‘Is not about physical expansion, but about legacy building through nurturing artists, not-for-profit programmes and research endeavours.’
How does this cultural district continue to celebrate homegrown talent?
We grew to become the region’s most influential arts and culture destination over the last few years, and for that we are indebted with gratitude to the home-grown art galleries and the new international spaces that have chosen Alserkal Avenue as their home. With our expansion in place, it was essential to protect our cultural integrity by creating an environment for knowledge-sharing amongst the best talent. We are continuously building an arts infrastructure with many ‘firsts’ along the way. In order for the ecosystem to flourish, it was essential to create a space where culture is produced and consumed and driven further through artistic discourse. I cannot help but remember an old TV interview of Leo Castelli’s (the famous collector and gallerist in New York in the 70s), where he was asked on what basis he selected his artists and his answer was ‘I pick them not because they are good, but because they are the leaders of a new movement’. I think the same applies to our community members at Alserkal. We take the risk on the risk-takers and through our collective efforts further grow the impact of the arts in the city and beyond. Alserkal Arts Foundation forms an important pillar of our public promise at Alserkal. As a non-collecting foundation, we are committed to artistic production, residency programmes, research grants, and alternative learning through colloquia and other forms. Supporting a new generation of thinkers to challenge the conventional leading to new forms of knowledge is what lies at the heart of our mandate.

This is ‘The Gratitude Issue’ – what are you grateful for?
Community. The erosion of boundaries through shared compassion is something I will carry with me from this pandemic. Over the past year, the aspects of collectivity, togetherness and giving back that are an intrinsic part of our community ensured that we never felt alone. More

April’s – ‘The Gratitude Issue’ – Download Now Sheikha Latifa Al Khalifa is transforming the way children learn and live in Bahrain and the wider GCC one incredible sacrifice at a time.Can you talk us through your career?I’m a two-time STEM certified professional and educator. Prior to co-founding Clever Play, I worked in Government for a few years, in Research and Security. I did my undergraduate degree in Melbourne, Australia with a double major in Politics and International Studies and a postgraduate degree in International Relations from the UK. All my life it seems I have been learning how to serve. Schooled by life experiences and educated in Global Politics and International Studies, I sought the big picture – global problems – aspiring to be an ambassador for my country [Bahrain] and found my special space in the company of children – transforming the way they learn and live, empowering them to serve the future with their best.What inspired you to launch Clever Play?My nephews, Ali and Mohammed. They were six and four at the time and we wanted a space for them to be able to explore their interests and discover their passions outside of the conventional classroom. A space that would celebrate their curiosity, spark their creativity and value hands-on learning by giving them the opportunity to try new things, build valuable skills, and take control of their own learning. We didn’t find what we were looking for, so we decided to start one!Can you talk us through the initiatives on how you give back to the community?As a socially-driven startup, giving back is very much in our DNA. We believe that companies can and should do more than just make money. They should also serve others in the process. We are a proud member of Pledge 1% – a network and movement of companies committed to making giving back a priority. My colleagues and I pledged one per cent of our time to volunteering opportunities. For example, I help young entrepreneurs with diverse backgrounds gain skills and experience through mentorship. My colleagues are very much involved in their own communities and look for opportunities to give back and be of service. We also recently ran a Girls for Tech Camp to teach and train 1,000 young Bahraini girls between the ages of eight to 14 years coding and digital skills with the support of Zain Telecomm and the Supreme Council for Women. Additionally, in 2020, I was selected as one of only 100 Meaningful Business leaders worldwide for our efforts combining profit and purpose to help achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal #4 (Quality Education) by Meaningful Business in the UK.You’ve achieved so much throughout your career – what are you most proud of?I am most proud of what we were able to achieve for our biggest source of inspiration: children. To us, children are the most important people in the world. We know that when children are educated, encouraged and empowered, they have the power to change not only themselves but their communities and the world at large. Championing children is one of our core values at Clever Play and being in the business of empowering them through foundational STEAM skills early on is key to unlocking their promise and potential. Despite overwhelming evidence in support of early childhood education, high-quality, playful STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) programs have not yet been incorporated into early childhood education. We are slowly but surely changing that. I am proud of the progress we have made on that front, and for making STEAM accessible to over 14,000 children to date.Who would you say your mentors are in life?My sister and co-founder, Muneera, is my biggest mentor. She has allowed me to see the hope inside myself and provides me with direction, encourages me when I am down and pushes me when I need to be challenged. She has given me the tools I needed to navigate the challenges I was faced with at each stage of the business journey. She is a constant source of inspiration and support but also challenges me to grow in new and very uncomfortable ways. I continue to learn from her every single day. My gratitude for her contribution to my success personally and Clever Play’s business success is immeasurable!What does it feel like being a woman in this region that is paving the way for others?I am beyond thankful to have strong female role models in my family from my grandmother, to my mother and sisters. They taught me that “real success” is not defined my financial wealth, or status, but by becoming the person you have the potential to be and serving others in the process.I am thankful for the brave, trailblazing women who went before me and inspire me to embrace ambition and push for more.So often I get contacted by women who praise my journey- I’m so grateful to them for elevating me and giving me the confidence to continue. But I also want to say that to every woman who thinks they can’t do the same, I’m here to tell you that you can.What are your hopes for women in the future?I’ll quote T.E. Lawrence who said, “All men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake up in the day to find it was vanity, but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes and make it possible.”My hope for women is to be dangerous dreamers of the day, who act on their dreams with open eyes and make it possible. My hope for them is not to break someone else’s ceiling, but their own!How do you want to inspire others?Through my personal story and everyday actions. I stumbled into entrepreneurship very reluctantly. I didn’t have a formal business or education background when I started. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever done at that point in my life, and yet, I didn’t let that stop me. I started before I was ready, I surrounded myself with a great team, and I committed to embracing a white-belt mentality – learning as I went. I am living proof that you don’t need to go to college for business to start one. I want to inspire others not only to do more, but to be more.What have been the biggest hurdles launching throughout your career?As an entrepreneur, I’ve faced a lot of hurdles. The biggest ones are wrestling with bouts of doubt, uncertainty, instability and balance. I doubted myself and my capabilities at the start because I never saw myself as a “businessperson” and I didn’t have the formal qualifications or experience to fall back on. In fact, it took my co-founders and I almost two years to finally take the leap and launch Clever Play. At the start of our business, uncertainty was around every corner. It was definitely a roller coaster ride – and sometimes still is!What have been the key milestones?In our short business life so far, we have had plenty of milestones that we are proud of, namely: receiving local, regional and international recognition for our work, and also preparing Clever Play to be franchised across the GCC. This has been a milestone we were working towards ever since we started, and now we are happy to say, almost three years later, that we are ready to expand to the region! We are excited to offer our top-notch STEAM programs to pre-schools, schools and individual partners who believe in our mission and want to help us change the face of education in the region by making STEAM education a fundamental part of early childhood education!This is ‘The Gratitude Issue’ – how do you practice gratitude in your life?I keep a gratitude journal and write down three things I’m grateful for every morning. I also handwrite letters to individuals who have had an impact on me whom I’ve never properly thanked. I actively look for gratitude in any challenges I am experiencing and I try to do random acts of kindness as often as possible.April’s – ‘The Gratitude Issue’ – Download Now – For more on luxury lifestyle, news, fashion and beauty follow Emirates Woman on Facebook and InstagramImages: Supplied More

With the incredible algorithm that TikTok has, it’s easy for a new trend to go viral overnight.One such trend which has recently been popping up everywhere is in the health sphere, with many users of the social media platform raving about the benefits of liquid chlorophyll.With bountiful transformations being posted on TikTok, users showcase that the liquid chlorophyll liquid drops are either bought in-store or online and then mixed with a glass of water to have every day for a minimum period of seven days to start seeing its benefits or ready-made chlorophyll water bottles can also be purchased.
@elenaaa.sofiathis has to be a joke♬ Heat Waves – Glass Animals
Found in plants, chlorophyll gives them a green tone while allowing them to convert sunlight into nutrients, via a natural process termed photosynthesis, this plant pigment actually comes with a host of benefits from providing cleared skin, reduced bloating and weight loss.As per NBC News, a 2001 study from John Hopkins done by Thomas Kensler in his PhD., claimed that taking chlorophyll in or eating green vegetables that are rich in chlorophyll is a “practical way of reducing the risk of liver cancer and other cancer caused by environmental triggers,” with an added claim that there still might not be enough data to support the benefits.Meanwhile, Healthline suggests that this natural technique of intaking chlorophyll supplements dates back to the 1940s to overcome any body issues such as body odours to neutralize the smell, with this ancient technique making its way back now as a popular fad.Similarly, in a recent video, Steph Grasso, TikTok and clinical dietitian, suggests that there’s still limited research to support its benefits, highlighting that the intake of green vegetables is better as one cup of spinach is equal to 24mg of liquid chlorophyll, while you also receive a myriad of other benefits such as vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fibres.
@stephgrassodietitianSee comments for my OPINION on liquid chlorophyll #liquidchlorophyll #chlorophyll #dietitian #learnontiktok♬ Happy (Instrumental) – Happy I’m Me
Also read: The viral TikTok ‘honeycomb pasta’ we all need to tryIf you might need some validity on these TikTok claims, it’s always advised to receive some expert guidance from a professional before hopping on the bandwagon yourself.– For more on luxury lifestyle, news, fashion and beauty follow Emirates Woman on Facebook and InstagramFeatured image: Unsplash More