Culinary corner
Networking, dealmaking or just plain schmoozing – whatever the end goal of your business meeting, here’s where to head in Dubai with your associates
Whether you’re networking, deal-making or schmoozing, here’s where to head for food with your business associates
Cipriani
The Cipriani concept dates back to 1931 when Giuseppe Cipriani set up Harry’s Bar in Venice. It’s there where the famous Bellini cocktail was invented, as was the perennially popular beef carpaccio.
Cipriani today is present in several cities around the world from London and Monte Carlo to Hong Kong and New York City. Here in Dubai, the franchise comes under Bulldozer Group, which has already imported international concepts like London’s celebrity-friendly Novikov and Monte Carlo’s Sass Café to the city.
Cipriani, with its white tablecloth service, Murano glass chandelier and nautical theme with veneered wood surfaces is fittingly upscale for the DIFC Cartier-cufflink and Prada-heeled office crowd that does business in the area during the day.
The zucchini crisps arrive while we wait for our scampi and calamari fritti, which includes fresh and crisp seafood with only the slightest amount of citrus, required to elevate the flavour. While you could stick to Italian and order a pizza with buffalo mozzarella made in-house, you can’t go wrong with the baked green taglioni with veal ham.
If there’s just one main course dish that Cipriani could claim as its own – much like carpaccio or the Bellini – then it has to be succulent, tender scallops served with lemon and capers and a side of pilaf.
For dessert, don’t skip the Cipriani vanilla meringue – a restaurant that prefixes one of the desserts with its own name is confident that it will be its signature option– and it doesn’t disappoint.
Gaia
With Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum among its patrons, this Greek restaurant in DIFC has the royal seal of approval.
The driving force behind Gaia is Chef Izu Ani – a familiar name on the culinary circuit of Dubai owing to his association with other top-tier restaurants including La Serre, La Petite Maison and The Lighthouse.
We are told by the staff that Ani has his own piece of land in Greece from where the olive oil that is served at the table is sourced. And there’s plenty of it to go around. Start with the Greek Salad – highly recommended by the staff. The vegetables are farm-to-table fresh and the feta is covered with capers. The cheese pie that follows has more feta cheese and goat cheese in the middle, while the top of the pie is covered with parmesan cheese and black truffles. Need even more cheese? Opt for the sweet peppers, which comprise grilled bread covered with marinated red capsicum, again enveloped in goat's cheese.
For the mains, try the lobster pasta that is served on the base of a lobster tail, while the baby goat is a succulent wood oven-preparation where the meat slides off the bone. The restaurant also offers the service of a ‘fish sommelier’, who will advise you on the fish of the day and offer to have it cooked in the spices and method of your choice – grilled, roasted, raw or salt crusted.
If you have room for just one dessert, settle on the millefeuille that has layers of flaky wafer thin pastry with fresh and light cream in between. It’s the sort of dessert that makes you want to book your next reservation before you are on your way out.