You're invited to a dinner I am hosting.
One month today on the 10th April, as a thank you for supporting my newsletter. Plus new cafés, Meghan's Netflix gig, a culinary travel guide, and a Palestinian food illustrator.
One month today! I am hosting an invitation-only dinner on the 10th April, paired with fine wines, Champagne included, at a licensed restaurant in Dubai Hills Business Park. I would love to invite annual subscribers as my guests. If you’re available, and not already a paid annual subscriber (including prime/ founding), you may like to upgrade by this coming Thursday 13th March, before I email all details the following morning (Friday 14th).
If you’re on a monthly subscription plan, and keen to upgrade to annual, here’s how.
Once the invitation lands in the email inbox of annual paid subscribers, the first 12 to respond will be confirmed on the guest list - with a plus one, should you wish. Absolutely zero cost to attend. Consider this invitation a thank you and perk for supporting my newsletter. And I get to sit at the table with you over good food, wine and chat!
I’ve been dining…
A Normal Day: I am a sucker for cafés serving all-day breakfast. I adore eggs, but as I intermittent fast (and never hungry in the morning), I want to eat my brekkie for lunch. But we don’t have a wealth of choice in Dubai. New opening, A Normal Day has taken over the ex-Myocum spot in Dar Wasl mall and ticks this box. It’s a shame the menu is not online. Try the eggs Benedict with mortadella on hash browns, and a shakshouka with flatbread for mopping up the umami-laden tomato sauce - pictured above. Reasonably priced too. Note: you’ll have to wait until after Ramadan, as currently opens at 5.30pm.
Alica Bakery: Another relative newbie on the block and a goodie for breakfast. Over Ramadan, brekkie service only runs until 1.30pm, and then re-opens at 4.30pm with dinner/ iftar specials. At Port De La Mer, which, whilst picturesque, feels like a never-ending drive for the likes of me who reside on the other side of town. Next to chef Akmal Anuar’s FunkCoolio. The folded eggs are cooked with, am pretty sure, chopsticks, making them pillowy light. An in-house bakery, and as hoped, the accompanying charred sourdough (with whipped butter) is of stellar quality.
CQ Brasserie: Couqley in JLT has rebranded to CQ Brasserie, making it officially a homegrown concept now - and therefore bags a mention in this newsletter. A much-needed lick of paint, and a few new dishes on the menu. But I always order the trademark steak and frites. Oh, and the endive Roquefort salad. A great value restaurant.
Iftar inspiration: Ramadan Kareem! I’m not a fan of any kind of buffet, iftar included, but as a Board Advisor to the UAE Restaurants Group, this year’s iftar was hosted at Mandarin Oriental Jumeirah, and I was super impressed. The ballroom has been transformed into a pretty majlis-style setting, and the traditional Middle Eastern fare is both prolific, as expected - however also well executed. At AED395, it doesn’t come cheap though.
I’ve been watching…
Meghan Markle’s new Netflix gig…or Meghan Sussex as she pointedly reveals on air. I had to watch the eight-episode series last week, just to report back here for you, of course. It’s mostly food content, after all. With Love, Meghan has received quite the bashing in the mainstream press, as expected in the UK, and, surprisingly, also in the US. The royalist in me was so looking forward to watching the actress return to the screen, however I too was disappointed. She is pitching herself as a modern-day Martha Stewart - but the dialogue between her and her well-to-do ‘friends’ is sycophantic, stilted and scripted. All filmed in a dreamy hired mansion down the road from her own abode. Quite understandably, she didn’t want the 80(!)-strong crew invading her family life.
From a foodie perspective, in the first episode, she demonstrates how to make a one-skillet spaghetti dish à la TikTok. But since when does spaghetti go by the name of noodles? With multiple references. She even describes plump paccheri (in a pasta salad) on episode four as noodles. Highly irritating.
Should you only want to watch one episode, I recommend number three. If I was the producer (Meghan also takes that role on, by the way), Netflix should have kicked off with this one. It’s the most educational and entertaining of the lot with fellow LA-dweller, Korean chef Roy Choi cooking up KFC and kimchi with Meghan in the rented kitchen. Interestingly, they didn’t really know each other before he got the Netflix call. So perhaps down to mutual respect, the conversation comes across as genuine.
Food sustainability chef legend Alice Waters pops into the show kitchen for the last episode. Sadly, more of a cameo appearance, with Meghan taking the cooking lead. I wonder what she makes of Meghan’s prolific use of single-use plastic. Harry also makes an appearance in the finale, albeit looking rather awkward.
And if you’re not drawn to watching even one minute, then here are the recipes for the majority of the ‘dishes’. Minus the one-pan pasta. But you can figure that out for yourself.
With Love, FooDiva.
I’ve been travelling…
At the end of January, I was desperate to escape Dubai’s winter for a few days (I struggle with temperatures below 25C!) and jetted off to Sri Lanka. My sixth visit, and a second home, after Cyprus. Once again, I picked the nine-room, beach-fronted boutique hotel outside Galle town centre, Arabella on Boosa, owned by an Aussie couple who run an interior design and events business in Dubai. So the aesthetic is on point - as are the egg hoppers, my daily sustenance 😋 I’ve updated my culinary travel guide HERE.
Supporting Palestine…
Zain, who hails from Palestine, is an Abu-Dhabi based food and drink illustrator, with a day job at the Louvre. She is available for private freelance commissions, whether trade or consumer, and can be contacted via her Instagram here, where you can also see some of her gorgeous illustrations, like LPM’s iconic tomatini above.
In the press…
Apparently ‘newstalgia’ is a thing. What’s that you may ask? Katy Gillett’s definition and report for The National here, with my musings included. Incidentally, she’s just launched her own Substack - Desert Prose.
You may have missed…
The home page shows tabs for Restaurant Reviews; Where Restaurateurs Eat Columns; Culinary Travel Guides; News Bites; and FooDiva-curated events.
My 2025 Dubai restaurant guide to where I dine out. A record 47 homegrown concepts. Paid subscribers also receive a PDF of this guide and a private Google maps link with all restaurants mapped out.
My ten-page story celebrating Dubai’s homegrown restaurant scene, my favourite subject in the print issue of Conde Nast Traveler USA - and also repackaged for both the UK edition, and the Middle East.
I update My Little Pink Lifestyle Book with new finds every month.
A private one-hour Zoom call with me to pick my brains. More info here for F&B industry enquiries - and here for foodie/ diner queries.
Looking for a gift for a foodie friend? Perhaps consider an annual subscription to this newsletter with the added bonus of restaurant reviews, breaking news, advance notice of my dining experiences, invitations to special events, and direct message access to moi. You’ll have my forever love.
With Love, FooDiva. x
I’m refreshing my inbox like a mad person 😂