Fancy joining me for dinner on the 5th December?
An invitation-only seafood dinner. Plus my opinion on the global Best Chef Awards which recognised seven Dubai-based chefs.
Fancy joining me for dinner on the 5th December? I am hosting an intimate, invitation-only seafood dinner paired with wines, including a favourite Champagne of mine at one of my go-to licensed restaurants in DIFC. I would love to invite annual subscribers. If you’re available, and not already a paid (including founding) annual subscriber, you may like to upgrade by this coming Thursday 14th November, before I email the details the following morning (Friday 15th).
Once that email lands in your inbox, the first six annual subscribers to respond will be confirmed on the guest list - with a plus one, should you wish. Consider this invitation a festive thank you for supporting my newsletter. And, for once, I get to sit at the table with you, whilst we wine, dine..and chat!
The Best Chef Awards
On Wednesday evening, in Atlantis’ Asateer marquee, for the first time, Dubai hosted the eighth global edition of The Best Chef Awards. Groan…more awards, you might rightly ask. So what’s at play here?
Launched in 2017 by a Polish neuroscientist (?!) Joanna Slusarczyk and Italian gastronomist Cristian Gadau, this international list is dedicated to chefs, as opposed to restaurants like 50 Best and Michelin. Up until now, The Best Chef followed a traditional top 100 ranking, however a new voting system now awards one, two or three knives based on the following levels of merit. Clearly inspired by my long-standing restaurant review knife rating 😉
Voting is down to an anonymous judging panel comprising 348 chefs, plus 220 culinary professionals and food writers across 63 countries, UAE included. Needless to say, chefs are not permitted to vote for their own restaurant/s or any with a commercial affiliation - but am sure there’s bundles of “I’ll scratch your back, if you scratch mine.”
I was invited on Dubai Eye on Friday to discuss. Tune in here from the 21min 39sec mark should you like to hear my voice!
And if reading is more your thing…
How did Dubai chefs shine this week? And what do I make of these awards and their inclusion? Have a read here for my no-holds-barred opinion and commentary.