{"id":30480,"date":"2014-01-17T11:48:08","date_gmt":"2014-01-17T07:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/?p=30480"},"modified":"2014-01-17T11:48:09","modified_gmt":"2014-01-17T07:48:09","slug":"dining-dubai-expect-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/middle-east-society\/dining-dubai-expect-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Dining in Dubai: What To Expect in 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"indian\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Some thoughts on highlights and lowlights in the year ahead:<\/p>\n

Openings<\/b> will continue full steam ahead. Four Seasons is due around towards the end of the year, and there\u2019s whispers of Zuma\/Petit Maison owners are going in with something big. The group are having a huge 2014 in the UAE, with their Abu Dhabi venture in Sowwah Square also set for completion. Palazzo Versace might finally open at some stage this year too, but I\u2019m not holding my breath. Waldorf Astoria are coming to the Palm, and Sofitel are opening Downtown. Greg Malouf will probably open as discussed above \u2013 who knows where. Sass cafe will be a big one in the DIFC over the next month or so.<\/p>\n

Closings.<\/b> There\u2019s going to be lots of them. Eventually. It\u2019s just going to take the owners a while before they realise the market is saturated and there\u2019s no way they can pull themselves out of the red. I\u2019m wondering who is going to eat at all these fine dining restaurants on the Palm, personally. But unfortunately they and others supported by international bucks will stay, and might just suck your favourite chefs and concepts away as they constantly refurb and rebrand. Some of your favourites will no longer be there by the end of 2014, so if you like what someone\u2019s doing, get your butt in there and support them.<\/p>\n

Areas of growth.<\/b> Look to districts like Al Quoz, which is getting edgier by the second, and will become Dubai\u2019s Soho, albeit dry as the desert it sits next to. Another spot to watch is the Jumeirah\/Umm Suqeim foreshore, which in the preparation for Expo 2020 is undergoing a gigantic uphaul. Fishing harbours, souqs, new beach parks and street food all planned. There\u2019s already some reasonable action in Umm Suqeim 1 with the lovely Seaview<\/a> (mid-priced fish market restaurant) at the Fishing Harbour 1, and Lebaneesh<\/a> and some other food-carts including dutch panckaes and snowcones at Kite Beach. Hopefully JLT will chuff along, but I\u2019m unsure many new openings will be sustainable. Downtown will continue to expand, and finally destroy all pretenses the Dubai Marina and Mina Seyahi areas have of being the hub of Dubai\u2019s Dining scene. And they have parking.<\/p>\n

Popups<\/b>. These will get bigger and better this year. The smarter of Dubai\u2019s venues have already realised that a brand name only carries interest for so long, and the best way to inject more excitement into a forgotten venue is another big name. I\u2019m expecting more week-long visits and plenty of very tired jet-setting celebrity chefs to shake hands with. Hopefully Lime and Tonic will continue with their secret dinners<\/a>, and maybe something like Dinner Club No. 57<\/a> will start up in Dubai? Apparently there\u2019s also a vintage food truck<\/a> for hire. Tomas Reger<\/a> \u2013 will you rent it and park it outside my place please?<\/p>\n

Events.<\/b> Taste of Dubai<\/a> should pull its socks up this year, but probably won\u2019t. Dubai Food Carnival<\/a> is the one to watch for, and you\u2019ll probably even catch me in a feisty discussion there at some point. Gulfood <\/a>follows it and is even bigger than ever \u2013 now you have five days in Feb where it will be impossible to get around Trade Centre Roundabout in less than 45 minutes. The Specialty Food festival<\/a> will bring a little refinement in November. Markets will get bigger and better this year. After the successful expansion of the Ripe market<\/a> into the Courtyard and Safa Park, expect more, possibly in Abu Dhabi too. The Farmers Market<\/a> is still the prize \u2013 let\u2019s hope they can keep it going a little longer this year, and maybe consider an inside expansion when it warms up.<\/p>\n

Media.<\/b> Respect for Bloggers. Of course, I\u2019m a little biased\u2026 Many of Dubai\u2019s food bloggers are now leaving the sidelines and heading mainstream. Did you know that quite a few of the articles you read in the National Eats, Gourmet, BBC Good Food ME, Caterer Middle East and other traditional media are now written by bloggers you will find also contributing to Fooderati Arabia?<\/a> Not only that, blogs are becoming more respected for their impartial, timely, and relevant reviews, over and above what you will find in a monthly publication, Tripadvisor and more. I\u2019ve been out with Foodiva<\/a> while she\u2019s been fan-mobbed. Unfortunately I\u2019m not quite a celebrity yet, but I\u2019ll keep wearing my Jacki-O glasses just in case. (Oh, and it\u2019s a secret, but we might just get together and release an online Dubai food magazine of our own. Shhhh\u2026\u2026)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SARAH WALTON: It’s going to be a very busy year indeed on the dining front in Dubai. Here are my predictions. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":264,"featured_media":30482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[154,37,173,482,5,187],"tags":[202,1209,197,16510,18080,162],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30480"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/264"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30480"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30484,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30480\/revisions\/30484"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}