My first attempt at dabbling with AI to create an image 😋 I had so much fun playing around with this hero pic. All in aid of my new #OneNightOneDinner on the 20th November. Please note, only humans have developed this dining experience 😜 And only humans can book via the link in bio 🔗

🪿 Join me on a culinary journey through Central America, a core component of Latin American culture at the new @girl.and.the.goose by chef @gabriela.chamorro505 in Anantara Downtown.

🪿 Vintage Champagne to kick us off, specifically Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage 2016 followed by Rosé Impérial – paired with canapés.

🪿 A seated dinner ensues by Nicaraguan chef Gabriela Chamorro, who turned her sell-out supper clubs into a bricks-and-mortar restaurant reimagining Central American cuisine, a first for Dubai. Expect a flurry of off-menu dishes exclusively developed for this evening and served sharing style across starters, main courses and desserts, with Gabriela explaining the dishes.

🪿 All courses are paired with fine wines from France and South America, finishing with Moët & Chandon Nectar Impérial for dessert by @mmidubai - and presented by @stephen_towler_ms_dubai MMI Wine Academy Manager. He holds a WSET Level 4 Diploma, as well as the prestigious title of Master Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers – one of only 300 people worldwide and the first person in the Middle East to achieve this distinction.

🪿 A complimentary nightcap cocktail to wrap up the evening.

🪿As always @monvisowater keeps us hydrated.

Who will you take? Tag your foodie friends. Gracias 🙏🏻

#UAERestaurantsUnite #FooDiva #DubaiRestaurants #DubaiFoodies ...

Thanks to your poll feedback on that other much-adored platform, here’s what I have plated for you this month:

🔪 @middlechildmiddlechild by Lynn Hazim aka @_nosoupforyou at @alserkalavenue reviewed as the lead story. Is it worth the queue?

🔪 I don’t run reviews of new branches, however I’ve included a peek of my dinner at the third @lanalusadxb outpost. Licensed at So Uptown Hotel in JLT.

🔪 A new Sunday roast at @bullandbear.difc - Waldorf-Astoria DIFC.

🔗 Have a read via the link in bio.

Any new restaurants on your radar that you would like reviewed? Please feel free to share 😋🙏🏼

#UAERestaurantsUnite #FooDiva Dubai Restaurants ...

I am trialling something new and would love your opinion pretty please. My latest newsletter (link in stories/ bio 🔗) that landed in subscribers’ inboxes yesterday showcases concise restaurant reviews of three new openings, rather than focusing on one dedicated longform review every month. Take ‘concise’ with a pinch of salt, as I am a woman of many words!

Typically each review that you’ve read from me so far encompasses four days work - the advance research on the concept and menu; the dining out itself; writing; fact-checking and editing; photography; publishing; and social media promotion. Yes that’s a helluva lot of time.

So whilst visiting more than one opening each month is even more time-consuming, let alone expensive, the writing element can be consolidated, and you get to read about these newbies promptly.

When you have a moment, I’ve included a poll for your feedback in the newsletter. It’s getting bundles of traction - and looks like we already have a consensus. This first ‘trial’ run with restaurant reviews of @yubidubai @threebros_kitchen and @piehaus.dubai is free for everyone to read. Enjoy, I hope 😜 And where would you like me to check out next? 😋

[ #UAERestaurantsUnite #FooDiva Dubai Restaurants ] ...

Happy new month! I have some exciting news that I’ve been desperate to share with you, so I’m glad I can finally spill the beans 😋

My sell-out Three Chefs Dinners (sometimes four, and once even ten!) have been running for six years now, so time for a change…before we hit the seven year itch 😜 Whilst this experience will continue for corporate and private clients, I’ve been busy cooking up a new ticketed dinner concept just for you, my foodie tribe.

My new #OneNightOneDinner event will celebrate a different new homegrown restaurant every time, with off-menu dishes exclusively developed for this evening, whilst the chef introduces each course.

Expect a pairing of vintage Champagne and fine wines from @mmidubai - presented by @stephen_towler_ms_dubai - MMI Wine Academy Manager who holds a WSET Level 4 Diploma, as well as the prestigious title of Master Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers, one of only 300 people worldwide and the first person in the Middle East to achieve this distinction 👏🏼

The first launch dinner that I am hosting is on Thursday 20th November with a Latin American culinary theme. I have moved the date from a Tuesday to a Thursday as I know this works better for many of you. Please consider this post a save the date 🗓️

If you’re not on the FooDiva dinners database, sign up with your email, and an alert will land in your inbox when the experience is ready to book: www.foodiva.net/dinneremail/ Also linked in bio and stories 🔗 Note: an advance notice email will go out first to paid newsletter subscribers later this month.

If you have friends who may be interested, feel free to tag and forward this post.

Fancy guessing the launch host restaurant? One clue - it’s a new homegrown Latin American opening 💃🏻🕺🏼

[ #UAERestaurantsUnite #FooDiva Dubai Restaurants ] ...

🇱🇧48 HOURS OF EATING IN BEIRUT🇱🇧
Earlier this month, I joined a media and industry fam trip to Beirut for a whirlwind two-day food tour. Here’s where and what we ate:

🇱🇧 @beihousebeirut The trip was organised by the chef patron of this new opening @tarek_alameddine 😋 A Le Roche graduate, he recently returned to his home country of Lebanon, having worked his way up to sous chef at Noma for six years, followed by Baky Hospitality in Egypt. In the historic Gemmayzeh district, the owner Said Daher of Azadea fame has beautifully renovated three mansions which overlook a magical courtyard housing a trio of concepts - an a la carte restaurant, a tasting menu experience and a bar. A 13-dish tasting menu is priced at USD120. My favourite dish? A textural twist on kibbeh nayeh with puffed bulgur and raw pistachio slivers.

🇱🇧 Street food tour in the Armenian quarter of Burj Hamoud: Maraach Bakery for the crispest of lahmajun. @bastermamano for sujuk shawarma, the only joint in Beirut to sell this delicacy.

🇱🇧 @alfalamanki Brekkie with a view overlooking Raouche (Pigeon) Rocks.

🇱🇧 @buco.lb Chef Tarek’s burger joint with patties cooked to your preferred temperature. Yes to the Australian grain-fed patty (no cows in Lebanon!) with candied pork bacon, cheddar, mulberry jam & Dijon mustard in a potato bun. Paprika-sprinkled fries that taste like Pringles 👌🏼

🇱🇧 @monet_ahel_alkaram Traditional breakfast at a bijou pickling farm in the Druze community of Aley, a short drive up into the mountains.

🇱🇧 And lastly, a lunch feast cooked single handedly by Umm Tarek at the family home in Aitat including lamb brain and spine marrow with the glorious texture of pate. Our ‘canapes’? Barbecued fig birds from Tarek’s shooting expeditions. A seasonal September delicacy. I grew up eating these teeny birds in Cyprus which we call ambelopoulia, but hunting has since been banned back home. An excuse to return next September 😜

And if so, where else should I eat? 🙏🏼 We clearly just scratched the surface of Beirut’s blossoming food scene - much changed since my last visit eight years ago with Greg Malouf, who sadly left us a year ago this month. ...

I am always astonished at the vast number of people who don’t realise Cyprus, my home, has been a divided island since 1974 when Turkey invaded - commonly referenced as the ‘Cyprus Problem’, with the ‘Green Line’, a UN buffer zone as our border. We refrain from labelling the Mediterranean island as south and north, given there’s only one legally recognised country - the Republic of Cyprus.

My birthplace of Famagusta on the east coast, a mostly shelled ghost town to this day (scroll for video), has been Turkish occupied ever since. I was one year old at the time, and with my parents (thanks to my British father), we were evacuated on a nine-hour Hercules flight to the UK. My mother’s parents and two sisters managed to escape to Nicosia, now the last officially divided capital city in the world, where they had to rebuild their lives - as did we in the UK and Caribbean for six years before returning to Cyprus for my schooling and the birth of my sister.

Onto happier subjects - food and travel. For the first time since moving to Dubai (from London) 26 years ago, I have my own summer abode in Cyprus making it easier to spend substantial time exploring the island. We’re the third largest island in the Mediterranean (after Sicily and Sardinia) - and about the same size as Lebanon, which means planning is required to decide where to explore.

To fully appreciate and experience Cyprus’ love for food, one has to head off the beaten track, steering well clear of the island’s hugely, and sadly, commercialised resorts (which boast gorgeous beaches by the way). That’s not easy when as a visitor, you want to stroll out of your hotel into a neighbourhood brimming with restaurants. If you do, you will, mostly, be seriously disappointed. A hire car is money well spent.

To ease the research, I have compiled my largest culinary travel guide to date (link in bio 🔗) with headings for restaurants, tavernas, cafés, bars, wineries - alongside trademark dishes and produce, local wine tips, and boutique hotels. All wrapped up in my very own personal Google maps link with 125+ recommendations.

Any more tips, feel free to share here 🙏🏼 ...

A mighty handful of recommendations for Prague, having visited for a birthday and tagged on some restaurant exploring - my kind of sightseeing 😜 All popped into my own Google maps link, along with plenty more gems that Instagram’s limited word count won’t allow. Comment with PRAGUE and I will DM the link 🔗

Prague’s foodie USP? Locally sourced protein rare to find on Dubai menus. Think rabbit; duck hearts & stomach; char; trout. Oh and pork. I am so glad I married a man whose appetite for novel ingredients occasionally surpasses mine 😋 If you’re visiting in the winter (like me 22 years ago!) you’ll also savour game.

🇨🇿 @fieldrestaurant by chef patron @kasparekradek - one of two one-star @michelinguide restaurants in Prague (no two/ three star). Lived up to a classic one star expectation - no more; no less. Two tasting menus (six or ten courses). I opted for the shorter form which also kicks off with three amuse bouches. EUR125 (AED540). Modern European cooking in a minimalist dining room. You can always detect a well-considered menu from the bread course - a baked potato pancake, and intestine bun.

🇨🇿 @alma__prague by chefs @petrzidek @danek_michal_ - the restaurant with the most votes from you when I requested tips. Simple, gratifying farm-to-table fare in a buzzing setting. Worthy of a Bib Gourmand, yet zero mention by Michelin. @gwendalpoullennec please take note. Compact wine selection by the glass including a local sparkling with traditional bottle fermentation.

🇨🇿 @ukalendu_ _ - on the river bank a few minutes stroll from Prague’s iconic Dancing House. A monthly specials menu, with a bakery-cum-deli next door. Sprightly, wholesome dishes that I couldn’t get enough of. Should have a Michelin Select ranking, but yet again, no mention.

🇨🇿 A few more:
@salabka_restaurant & Winery - two words CHEESE TROLLEY.
@hemingwaybarprague
@kampapark_restaurant
@ivetafabesova_cafe
@ollies.boutique
@augustineprague by @theluxurycollection - our hotel with St Thomas Brewery pub and Refectory Bar.

Any more tips, please pop in the comments for all to benefit 🙏🏼💙#PragueDiva

[ #Prague Prague restaurants ] ...

On the back of multiple requests to recommend private dining rooms, known as PDRs in our industry lingo, I have scoured Dubai’s homegrown restaurants and compiled a guide. Thank you for all your recommendations too 🙏🏼 Whether you’re looking to book a celebratory social meal, a corporate team function or even a masterclass, these venues should provide some inspiration.

So…I give you 25 private dining rooms across 19 very diverse restaurants in Dubai, with some even boasting two PDRs. I’ve included capacity/ covers, menu pricing, minimum spend if required, differentiating factors, photos, location and links to their websites. All in alphabetical order.

With my event organiser hat, I curate private personal and corporate functions, should you require some support.

🔗 Link in bio and stories to read the guide which landed in inboxes earlier this morning - feel free to subscribe if not already.

If you know of any more PDRs, please do share, so I can regularly update this post 😋

#UAERestaurantsUnite #FooDiva Private Dining Rooms Dubai Restaurants ...

Where does @gabriela.chamorro505 the executive chef and founder of @girl.and.the.goose dine out? 😋

In this month’s #WhereRestaurateursEat column, this super woman shares her favourite restaurants encompassing:

🔪 Three in the UAE. Plus a supper club, because why not 😜
🔪 One in her home country.
🔪 One located elsewhere internationally.

Click link in bio and stories for her top picks 🔗 This post landed in email inboxes this morning. Feel free to subscribe, if not already.

Nominations for female restaurateur-entrepreneurs are always much appreciated 🙏🏼 Or shall I start interviewing men too? 😉 Yay or nay?

#UAERestaurantsUnite #foodiva Dubai Restaurants ...

A decade after opening Marina Social for Jason Atherton, accomplished Scottish chef @tristinfarmer has returned to Dubai following his five-year tenure at three-Michelin Zén in Singapore.

He’s now helming a new Dubai-born concept as culinary director and chef partner for a Singaporean business, Culinary Arts Group.

@maisondali_dubai at The Opus by Omniyat hotel in Business Bay is pitched in the press release and on the website as “a laid-back brasserie with character, where Japanese ingredients and techniques meet Mediterranean flavours. This innovative dining experience immerses guests in culinary artistry. Every element - food, drink, service and decor - is meticulously curated to transport diners into a world of imagination.”

Meanwhile, the name “draws inspiration from Salvador Dalí’s surrealism and mirrors the personality of Tristin Farmer,” - and the ambience “constantly surprises, transforming dining in Dubai into a captivating work of art.”

On the flip side, the dictionary definition of brasserie dictates “an informal, usually French restaurant, serving simple hearty food.”

In today’s review, I am addressing all these differing messages; how they translate into the dining experience; and determining whether they serve to complement or conflict.

I am utterly relieved to have reviewed incognito from start to finish.

Link in bio and stories to have a read 🔗 This review landed in inboxes earlier this morning - feel free to subscribe if not already.

Have you dined at Maison Dali? Does this interior give you brasserie feels? Would welcome your thoughts 🙏🏼

#UAERestaurantsUnite #FooDiva #MaisonDali Dubai Restaurants ...

Where does @ray.yafi dine out? 😋 The co-founder and partner behind @anormalday.ae and a host of F&B brands including @yellowblock.co the prettiest cheese and charcuterie boards, which is how I first stumbled upon her a few years ago, spills the beans.

In this month’s #WhereRestaurateursEat column, I asked this super woman to share her favourite restaurants encompassing:

🔪 Three in the UAE. She did squeeze in a fourth option 😜
🔪 One in her home country.
🔪 One located elsewhere internationally.

Click link in bio and stories for her top picks 🔗 This post landed in email inboxes this morning. Feel free to subscribe, if not already.

Nominations for female restaurateur-entrepreneurs are always much appreciated. They might not be on my radar, and could land themselves a feature here 🙏🏼

#UAERestaurantsUnite #foodiva Dubai Restaurants ...