Zoom chat. The Wine Market. Culinary travel guides.
A new licensed Neapolitan pizzeria. Plus more dining adventures.
On the first of every month back home in Cyprus, we wish friends ‘kalo mina’, essentially a happy month to you all 😋 Please keep yourselves safe with tomorrow’s forecasted rains.
If you’ve recently joined me on this Substack journey, the last section further below links into past newsletters, guides and reviews.
It’s time for our next group Zoom chat, where paid subscribers can ask me restaurant and broader food-related questions. Mark Monday 27th May in your diaries at 6pm UAE time for one hour. If you’re able to join, please drop me an email so I have an idea of numbers, and I’ll send you the Zoom link nearer the date. If you’re not yet a paid subscriber, there’s still time to upgrade now.
Six months into Substack, I am finally getting to grips with the platform and its many social media tools. Farrah Storr’s masterclasses have been instrumental. The ‘Chat’ function is a little like a Whatsapp group, where we can all chit chat together, share tips and pose questions, so feel free to use it here.
For Orthodox peeps celebrating this weekend, cheers to a delicious Easter. The good thing with our Easter typically following the Catholic celebration, are the abundance of discounted Easter eggs! I’ll be cooking for friends from London-based, Cypriot food writer Georgina Hayden’s new cookbook - Greekish.
The Wine Market…
As the hero image proclaims, “life is too short for bad wine”. And that’s why I am delighted to bring you The Wine Market in partnership with Time Out Market Dubai for the third consecutive year. 21st to 23rd May, 7pm - 10pm. What can you expect?
A record 450 wines and Champagnes across 24 wine producers showcasing premium, fine and rare tipples from A&E.
In addition to Premium Wines, 80 Fine & Rare Wines will be available to taste at the winemakers’ stations, as well as a dedicated, cordoned-off table - across all three days.
The stage area is dedicated to Sustainable & Organic Wines. On the odd occasion that I do indulge in alcohol, when I drink sulphite-free, natural wines, I sleep like a baby and wake up headache-free. So you might just find me in this section 😉
The Wine Club Exclusive Experiences: 25-minute themed wine tastings at the Editor’s Table for solely ten guests at a time - scheduled on all three evenings at 7.45pm (World of Bubbles), 8.45pm (Down to Earth) and 9.45pm (Old vs New World).
Tickets can be booked directly on this Platinumlist link HERE.
I’ve been eating…
You can count the number of licensed pizzerias in Dubai in one hand. And by that I mean restaurants dedicated to the art of perfecting pizza with a pizza-only menu - as opposed to all-encompassing Italian restaurants. Add to that, a licensed Neapolitan pizzeria, and you’re really struggling. Until Franky’s came along by Tom Arnel’s EatX stable. With a rooftop location in his Park JLT complex. Over dinner last night for a friend’s birthday, I ordered the classic from Napoli loaded with anchovies. With a request to add more of these delightful umami-laden creatures - a staple in my pantry. Like a true Neapolitan wood-fired pizza, whilst the cornicione was charred and bubbly (pictured above) - the base was soft, supple and elastic. So much so, you can fold it in half - in contrast to crisp Roman pizzas that are cooked at a lower temperature, and for longer. The ‘broken meatball’ and pepperoni pizzas that friends ordered also looked the real deal. I would go as far as rating it on a par with the pizzas from pizzaiolo maestro Franco di Pepe of Pepe in Grani just outside Naples who applies a scientific approach to pizza baking, and has set the global gold standard for Neapolitan-style, in my book. Talking of books, I was the UAE contributor for Phaidon and Daniel Young’s Where to Eat Pizza Book published a few years ago. I sure wish they would re-publish a second edition. Mind you, my own pizza guide is in dire need of an overhaul. Would you welcome a round-up for ‘Where to eat pizza in Dubai’?
Spanish restaurant cum beach club TagoMago on the Palm has added a sexy new pool. For age 16+. With sunloungers overlooking the sea. And a balmy breeze the weekend before last. Ample choice from the poolside menu, served straight to your lounger. Mandatory dishes are the orange-stuffed olives; blue fin tuna Gilda; roast beef and quail egg salad; runny tortilla; and padron peppers, of course.
En route home, we popped into Ibn Al Bahr for a quick dinner. Goodbye ceviche. Here it goes by the name of fish tabbouleh. What a giggle.
Whilst we’re talking seafood, Al Fannah beats next-door neighbour Bu Qtair any day. Far superior in quality and cleanliness. ‘Prawn fry’. Grilled sheri. Warm parathas. I love that they can tone down the spice for my sensitive gut.
According to my research, there’s only one restaurant in Dubai to serve ravioles du Royans. Odeon. Teeny pasta parcels stuffed with Comté cheese, and a sauce of salted butter and chicken stock. The delicious power of simplicity. I’ve even been known to order it for delivery. Travels far too well. I also adore the asparagus, in particular as it’s in season now (also with Comté!); tuna Niçoise salad; and steak tartare.
I’ve been travelling…
To London, Guernsey and Cyprus for family reunions and my birthday.
Here are my top London picks, with the majority of restaurants reserved online a couple of months in advance:
I chose Welsh chef Tomos Parry’s latest restaurant, Mountain in Soho for my birthday meal, a few minutes stroll from Moulin Rouge, which is also a must. I always question restaurants that are awarded Michelin stars a few months after opening, but the one star accolade here is definitely well deserved. Request a table on the ground floor overlooking the buzz of the vast open plan kitchen. Open fire cooking and a wood-fired oven inform the cooking style here, as it does at Tomos’ OG, Brat in Shoreditch, which we also dined at on this trip. With six of us sharing plenty, I can easily give you my top three dishes: grilled sobrassada sausage with charred, pull-apart loaf of dreams (so good, we ordered seconds); spider crab omelette twirled with chopsticks (mesmerising to watch); and beef short rib. An exceptional, well-curated wine list with grapes flagged for EVERY wine, old world included. I wish all restaurants would follow suit. This Westwell English sparkling wine made with the traditional Champagne method was a stellar choice, even if I say so myself.
One of London’s hottest openings this spring is restaurateur Jeremy King’s Arlington that replaced his long-gone restaurant Caprice in Mayfair. If you love industry gossip, London restaurant critic William Sitwell’s review in The Telegraph pens the history and fallout succintly. Simple brasserie fare. My three dishes excelled - endive, walnut & Roquefort salad; steak tartare with frites; and rhubarb crumble with my request for clotted cream to replace much-disliked custard. However, from our party of seven, not everyone was as impressed with their food. Another gem of a British fizz made with the traditional method - Herbert Hall. Ironically, around the corner from his ex-restaurant The Wolseley which we popped in for a cuppa prior.
Mr S is forever drumming on about The Ned in the City and his business lunches at this glorious hotel conversion from a banking hall. With umpteen restaurants to pick, quite unusual for London hotels, we booked Millie’s, the British dining room. The Montgomery cheddar cheese soufflé was sensational. Next visit, I am trying out the guest rooms.
On the subject of hotels, I picked Shoreditch this time and the Mondrian (under the Accor umbrella). My motto: pick a hotel with a good restaurant, hopefully. In this case, Bibo by Andalucian chef Dani Garcia. We dined here twice - tapas for a casual lunch à deux hibernating from the rain, and a late lazy dinner en famille. Must-tries: the runniest of tortillas with chorizo and peppers; Iberico pork rib paella; and pork presa. Clearly to appease pork withdrawal symptoms. For balance, ALL the ‘Veggie Time’ dishes. The bar is a centrepiece with a well-versed bartender and an excellent Cava.
I asked Substackers for breakfast spot recommendations in Shoreditch and picked New Zealand-owned Ozone Coffee, recommended by Jeannette Hyde of Nourish with Jeannette Substack, a nutritionist who lives in East London. I’ve chatted to her online over the last few months including a Zoom session, and am impressed with her science-based gut advice, should you have a need. The eggs Benedict on bubble & squeak cakes with crisped bacon is my kind of brunch, and the ideal way to kick start my birthday. My sister’s lamb mince and fried egg on ciabatta also had me drooling.
Other restaurants we enjoyed: Ottolenghi is always a good idea for THAT Welsh rarebit. Yauatcha for our Chinese fix of prawn toast and Peking duck. The Spitalfields outposts for both. Another theatre highlight was my dream dinner party guest and idol, Sarah Jessica Parker and hubbie Matthew Broderick’s Plaza Suite play at the Savoy Theatre. Two and a half hours of non-stop giggles. Digressing from food, but the reason for the mention is the Beaufort Bar at the grande dame Savoy hotel, which makes a decent pre-theatre pitstop for its mini Yorkies with roast beef.
What are your London gems? Please share.
Meanwhile, my most popular culinary travel guide ever, unsurprisingly, is to Cyprus. Updated bi-annually with every visit. For the first time, I have included a link in the guide to my Google Maps list of 87 restaurants and boutique hotels on the island of love…for food 😜
I don’t expect many of you are planning a trip to Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands off the UK’s south coast, a short flight from Gatwick or City airport. In fact, closer to Brittany in France, that both share award-winning dairy industries. Its rich golden butter now sits in my fridge, along with a version of cheddar. We visited my step-gran, and it’s hardly changed since our childhood holidays! I won’t take up much word count and will simply list three of our dining highlights. Feel free to message if you’d like more.
Afternoon tea at the OGH, Guernsey’s grande dame hotel which my grandad used to own - see framed letter below. We even popped into the room my dad lived in for a while.
Brasserie lunch of classics done well at Christie’s.
Easter Sunday roast lunch at the Leopard restaurant in the Duke of Richmond hotel.
In the press…
If you’re heading to Arabian Travel Market next week, you’ll find me on a panel session discussing culinary travel trends. Thursday 9th May at 1.30pm. Please say hello, if you do. More info here.
Grateful for the inclusion in the UAE’s Raemona magazine 40 over Forty list - an annual curated guide of influential impact makers. All women who happen to be over 40. Does it still count if you happen to be over 50? 😉
You may have missed…
A special edition newsletter in support of all things Palestinian.
Past newsletters: November; December; January; February; March; April.
My 2024 guide to Dubai’s top restaurants. A record 45 homegrown concepts. Paid subscribers also receive a PDF of this guide.
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, breaking news and the added perks. You’ll have my forever love.
A bientôt,
FooDiva. x
St John's on Marylebone Lane.
Fallow on Haymarket - rich and unctious beef ribs!
Polpo (opposite Mountain) for spicy margaritas while watching the world go by (and the barman is easy on the eye too ;).
And the Shoryu franchise for the most divine ramen - and amazing when feeling sick!