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Flavours of 50 Best
As we look forward to the announcement of the Middle East and North Africa’s best 50 restaurants, we are celebrating the flavours of past winners and notable chefs here in Abu Dhabi. Join us throughout January and February for a series of mouth-watering culinary events hosted by some of the world’s greatest chefs in the region’s most-loved restaurants. Plus, you can get a taste of all the flavours at an exclusive evening brunch where Abu Dhabi’s top chefs will collaborate. Check out all of the events below and book your table today!
Special Edition: Flavours of 50 Best
Flavours of 50 Best offers an evening brunch experience at Graphos Social Kitchen within the Hilton Yas Island hotel, featuring dishes from some of the world’s leading chefs, including the one and only Mauro Colagreco.
Alongside an extensive food and drink offering – from lobster counters to cocktail bars, live barbecue stations to smoothie carts – four globally renowned gastronomic names will each serve a signature dish to all diners, as well as demonstrate its plating and discuss its origin and inspiration in live kitchen interviews.
Joining us in the kitchen, Mexican chef Santiago Lastra, Japanese maestro Hiroyasu Kawate, Mauro Colagreco and Asia’s Best Pastry Chef winner Maira Yeo.
AED 495
Saturday 28th January
Graphos Social Kitchen, Hilton Abu Dhabi, Yas Island
50 Best Signature Sessions
Hiroyasu Kawate X 99 Sushi
As the chef-owner of Florilège in Tokyo, Hiroyasu Kawate is at the head of a new generation of forward-thinking Japanese chefs. Having risen to be ranked No.3 in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022, Florilège debuted on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list the same year. Kawate-san will work in unison with the team at 99 Sushi, which is one of just three restaurants in the UAE capital to have received a Michelin star, to create a modern Japanese menu for one evening only.
Friday 27th January
99 Sushi, The Galleria Al Maryah Island
Darren Teoh X Otoro
Darren Teoh is the chef and founder of Dewakan in Kuala Lumpur, voted The Best Restaurant in Malaysia by Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022. Famous for championing the indigenous produce of his home country, Teoh is Malaysia’s most high-profile culinary figure, but remains both passionate and humble. Dewakan’s food will find a one-night-only home at Otoro, the first Abu Dhabi restaurant from chef Akmal Anuar, who co-founded 3 Fils – named The Best Restaurant in Middle East & North Africa 2022 – as well as Goldfish and 11 Woodfire in Dubai.
Friday 27th January
Otoro, Abu Dhabi
AED 625 per person
Karima Bourgi X Conrad Abu Dhabi
Pastry chef Karim Bourgi is arguably one of the hottest names in the Middle East right now, famous for his signature French-style patisserie and baking skills. The head pastry chef of the Al Mana Group will bring his standout pastry skills to bear on an exclusive Afternoon Tea experience at Conrad Etihad Towers in collaboration with the hotel’s award-winning Executive Pastry Chef, Sumeda Palihakkara.
Saturday 28th January, Tuesday 31st January
Observation Deck, Etihad Towers
From AED 230 per person
Tala Bashmi X Oak Room
Named MENA’s Best Female Chef 2022, Bahraini-born Tala Bashmi has elevated her Manama restaurant, Fusions by Tala, to prestigious heights in recent years. A skilled advocate of updating and reinventing traditional regional dishes, she will cook in Abu Dhabi for the first time at the beautiful Oak Room, the Edition hotel’s signature steakhouse overseen by celebrated British chef Tom Aikens.
Saturday 28th January
Oak Room, Abu Dhabi Edition
Vicky Cheng x Dai Pai Dong
Vicky Cheng is the dynamic Hong Kong chef behind French-Chinese restaurant Vea and the newer Wing, which focuses purely on regional Chinese cuisines. Having opened in 2021, Wing is already ranked in the extended list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, reflecting the acclaim with which it has been greeted. Chef Cheng will work in tandem with Dai Pai Dong’s own Chef Nie Dong and team to create a very special Cantonese-focused menu.
Saturday 28th January
Dai Pai Dong, Rosewood Abu Dhabi
Massimiliano Alajamo x Talea by Antonia Guida
The Alajmo clan are arguably the first family of Italian cuisine – and Massimiliano its most celebrated son. A culinary prodigy who was the youngest chef in history to gain three Michelin stars at Le Calandre, the family’s flagship restaurant in Rubano, north-east Italy, he is now established as one of the great Italian chefs of the 21st century. He will showcase his innovative take on classics alongside Chef Luigi Stinga of Talea by Antonio Guida within the emblematic Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental.
Sunday 29th January
Talea by Antonio Guida, Emirates Palace
Tomer Tal X Maté
Tomer Tal leads the kitchen at George & John, one of Israel’s most long-established and successful restaurants, located in Tel Aviv’s historic The Drisco hotel, as well as being a judge on the country’s most high-profile TV cooking shows. He joins the team at recently opened beachfront restaurant Maté within the Park Hyatt’s luxurious Saadiyat Island resort for a momentous cross-border collaboration.
Tuesday 31st January
Maté, Park Hyatt, Saadiyat Island
Call + 971 5 458 12576 to book your place
Jessica Rosyal X Café Milano
Hailing from Canada, but based in Italy for almost a decade, Jessica Rosval is the head chef at Casa Maria Luigia, the luxury boutique guesthouse-restaurant from Massimo Bottura and Lara Gilmore of Osteria Francescana fame. There, Rosval recreates a selection of classic dishes from OF (formerly The World’s Best Restaurant, now part of the Best of the Best hall of fame), as well as introducing her own specialities. She is the perfect match for Café Milano, notorious for its warm hospitality and authentic dishes, for a unique Italian-accented evening.
Tuesday 31st January
Café Milano, Four Seasons Hotel, Al Maryah Island
870 AED per person
Athanasios Kargatzidis X Almayass
Athanasios Kargatzidis – aka ‘Chef Tommy’ – is a major personality in Middle Eastern food with his flagship, Baron, named The Best Restaurant in Lebanon at MENA’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022. He will bring his mix of Mediterranean and Levantine ingredients and influences to Abu Dhabi’s premium Lebanese establishment, Almayass, overlooking the water in The Galleria on Al Maryah Island.
Wednesday 1st February
Almayass, The Galleria Al Maryah Island
Lennox Hastie X BBQ Al Qasr
Lennox Hastie is the grill master behind Firedoor, the outstanding barbecue-led restaurant in Sydney. A reservation at Firedoor is fast becoming one of the most exclusive seats in Australia. The menu will be served family style, with Hastie’s signature 200-day dry-aged beef rib, his legendary paperbark grilled fish and ultra-smoky crab and corn all taking center stage.
BBQ Al Qasr, Emirates Palace
