Happy Diwali Everyone! 🪔
Of lights, supper clubs and giving.
I am not Hindu, but growing up in Trinidad meant we celebrated Divali (as we say it in Trinidad) each year 🪔. Are you doing anything for Diwali this year?
Dubai’s pace of new openings, events, and more feels like it is at full pelt. I am being selective about what to do, especially with some of my life events coming up. I set a goal to go out no more than twice a week; so far, this is more or less going well. Twice a week is a lot for most people. It helps me prioritize what’s most interesting, and - let’s be honest - health-wise, it’s not GREAT to do much more. So, here’s the week that was.
The Tasting Class Supper Clubs Kick-Off!
I believe in and support what The Tasting Class team do in Dubai. They educate ordinary people like me about wine, wine production and more. I sat my WSET 2 through them and attended some of their masterclasses and dine-arounds.
BOCA, a Spanish-Mediterranean restaurant and sustainability warriors, partnered with The Tasting Class for this kick-off supper club with Chef Patricia Roig, who escorted us through her dishes. Lindsay (The Tasting Class) paired each plate with wine from Jacob’s Creek, which I would not describe as a super prestigious wine producer, but shows that everyday, accessible wine still works for pairings. On reflection, it is more interesting for The Tasting Class to select everyday wine for pairings. Many people are already intimidated by wine, believing pricier is better. This shows that’s not the case.
You can check out more of The Tasting Class Supper Clubs here. They are AED 375 (excellent value, IMHO, given it covers both the food and wine). Many are already sold out. Full disclosure: I was #invited to this Supper Club, but I would have gone anyway.
21grams bears its soul with its Gather for Gaza fundraiser
My enduring affection for 21grams is well documented (see review here). The team hosted a fundraising dinner for causes in Gaza raising 70,000 dirhams. It was a relaxed evening with an old work colleague chatting and grazing through 10 dishes, some new to the 21grams menu. My favourites? Corn tapenade, roasted vegetable salad with local burrata and the Bosnian klepe dumplings.
Top-tier collab between TakaHisa and Maido
TakaHisa Japanese Restaurant hosted Maido on Thursday and Friday. Maido is no 6 in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants and No 3 in LATAM’s 50 Best Restaurants list. TakaHisa is featured in Dubai’s Michelin Guide. (Read a recent review here.) It will be remembered as one of my favourite collaborations in 2023 with excellent ingredients. The 14-course omakase style means we spent quality time talking to the chefs who made the dishes right in front of us. Favourite dishes? This is hard. Juicy veal sweetbreads katsu sando, the meaty, hearty ika ramen, the light scallop temaki and a seared wagyu with a foam of Peruvian cheese and beans. #invited
Wine of the Week 🍷
🇫🇷 Bouchard Père & Fils Pommard 2019 Pinot Noir. I am a soft touch to a light-bodied Pinot Noir, and this was no exception. Some P.N.s can be more sharp fruit in profile. Think sour cherry, red currant or red plum; the fruit here is fuller more ripe. A cherry-forward nose and prominent earthy, forest floor and oak. It’s dry with a light to medium tannin that grips but adds structure. A very good wine. It’s about AED 460 a bottle in Dubai. It retails between $80 - $100 a bottle outside Dubai.
The Week Ahead 📅
We may be making a start on some prep steps for house renovations (may the spirit of the ancestors be with me…).
👉🏼 TODAY! I am off to BOCA’s Chef’ Edition Gather for Gaza fundraiser in partnership with Soul Collective Dubai, a late 6-course lunch by six chefs in Dubai. All proceeds go to Tarahum for Gaza by Emirates Red Crescent. Check out the Instagram post below!
👉🏼 Ossiano’s Third Chapter Escale Tasting Menu! I am really looking forward to this one. Ossiano is a beautiful Dubai restaurant inside the Atlantis Dubai, surrounded by enormous fish tanks. A progressive, French fine dining menu of ‘11 waves’, but people keep talking about a hot dog? Check out the Instagram post below. Stay tuned. (Check out a recent Ossiano review here.)
I Can’t Make It, But Maybe You Can!
👉🏼 The Experience by Reif Othman is kickstarting its new monthly menu, and the theme for November is “Italian passion meets Japanese precision”. I may head down there later this month to check it out!
👉🏼 SOUL COLLECTIVE DXB’s next fundraising Gather for Gaza event presents the Zinn Edition on Tuesday 14 November, at StudioRepublik at the Zinn cafe&bistro. Check out more here.
👉🏼 Fiya is opening up soon (20 November, so not technically next week). Fiya is an outdoor, elevated, but casual barbecue in the Keturah Reserve. I bumped into Hattem Mattar during the week. I have never been, but I want to make it my business to go before the year is out🤞🏽