Malouf in the Middle
The Melbourne-born chef is back in Dubai serving “cool Lebanese”.
In Dubai’s heady hospitality scene where Middle Eastern food plays second fiddle to European cuisine, Australian-born chef Greg Malouf admits he’s swimming against the tide. But it’s this ambivalence towards quality Middle Eastern food that’s fuelled his next challenge in the desert city: a new restaurant serving “cool Lebanese, if that’s possible”.
“Good-quality Middle Eastern food with value doesn’t really exist here,” Malouf says. “So many restaurants are pitched at the high end – and if you don’t have entertainment, you don’t really cut it.” This was the fate of Cle Dubai – “it was turning into a nightclub” – which he joined following his Michelin-starred success at London’s Petersham Nurseries. Malouf left Cle Dubai last year after his contract expired and has spent the past year consulting and working on a cookbook with former wife Lucy Malouf; their eighth release is an exploration of the vegetarian food of Beirut, due out later this year.
Set to open in April or May, his new venture is called Zaahira, a 130-seat restaurant and bar in The H Dubai hotel. The menu will include Malouf’s take on bisteeya – most likely a duck version – as well as plenty of mezze such as wagyu basturma with housemade shanklish. Other dishes might include lentil tabbouleh, Gulf prawns with green chermoula and Egyptian-style pigeon.
His edge in Dubai, he explains, comes with his name. “The name Malouf is very strong in this part of the world,” he says. “It comes from a town in Lebanon famous for its food, so people immediately associate you with good food.”
Born in Melbourne to Lebanese parents, Malouf is best known in Australia for the various iterations of his Melbourne restaurant MoMo. His latest venture means he’s likely to remain overseas for the foreseeable future. Zaahira Restaurant,
The H Dubai, 1 Sheikh Zayed Rd, Dubai, UAE, h-hotel.com LARISSA DUBECKI