You will always remember the date and moment. On September 11, 2021, Martín Berasategui was in the chill out of his Lasarte restaurant when he received a proposal that he could not refuse: open a restaurant in Dubai, on the 18th floor of The Lana Dorchester Collection hotel. “It's more than a dream. I could never imagine that I could be one of those chosen to be in this city where extraordinary things are being done,” he said this Thursday, having just arrived in Spain from Dubai, after the opening this week of the restaurant Jara by Martín Berasategui —he has the name of her first granddaughter, who had precisely been born on the same days in which she received the proposal. “It is a unique opportunity because it coincides with a golden age of Spanish cuisine, you have to take advantage of it and live it. Until recently, what was sold around the world was French and Japanese cuisine and now it is us, who also owe it to those who showed us the way and the passion for this profession,» continues the Basque chef, who treasures 12 Michelin stars and is now celebrating half a century in the kitchen.More informationBerasategui's proposal is that of a “contemporary” Basque steakhouse—which includes, in addition to a luxury restaurant, a terrace with views of the skyline and the Burj Khalifa tower ( the tallest building in the world at 828 meters high), a cocktail bar where you can have something informal and the Txakolina bar, with an offer of matured cigars, with capacity for 150 people, where fish and seafood have great prominence. He confesses that everything has been easy, “they even come to pick you up at the airport,” but the demand is maximum. And that is the difficult part, “because the clientele has a high level.”Martín Berasategui, at the Jara by Martín Berasategui restaurant, in Dubai. Image provided by the establishment. This is what the leader of this city, the emirate of the United Arab Emirates, Muhammad ibn Rashid Al Maktoum – Sheikh Mohamed, also Minister of Defense and Prime Minister and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates – has pursued since 2006. The main source of wealth of this old fishing town comes from energy resources since oil was found on this land in 1966, a stimulus for the local economy. Today it is a financial, commerce, leisure and luxury tourism power, which now aims to become a gastronomic destination. A city in which state-of-the-art skyscrapers shine, more than three million inhabitants live and in which several international organizations, such as Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch, denounce the violation of human rights.
Carved bluefin tuna belly with corn toast, from StreetXO Dubai. Image provided by the restaurant. Neil Corder They have been working on this for years. In 2016 they contacted Dabiz Muñoz. He did it, according to the Madrid chef, the right-hand man of the Dubai sheikh, after a meal at StreetXO, in London, which closed in 2020. “He liked it a lot and they suggested I open the same concept there. Since then, with the pandemic involved, we have been working on the project.” Last February, StreetXO Dubai opened in style, on the fourth floor of the One&Only One Za'abeel complex, designed by the Japanese architect Nikken Sekkei, and which houses hotels, offices, luxury residences, shops and restaurants. “It's crazy, the building with the two towers joined by The Link, a building suspended in the air. It is a city full of opportunities, where different talents coexist and where obtaining a residence visa is not difficult. There are people of all ages, it is an open door to the world,” explains Muñoz, who was impressed the first time he visited the city. “And every time I've gone, I've seen progression. It is a city where many things happen, not just gastronomic.” He compares it to the London of the 2000s, which he knew so well when he decided to see what was happening in the British capital, coming to work at the Hakkasan restaurant. “We have had offers to open in different parts of the world, but we were clear that if we did it it had to be with partners that added value. And One&Only is amazing. “They have understood my obsession with quality and excellence, and they have been involved in the entire process,” adds he who has been, for three years, the best chef in the world, according to The Best Chef Awards.
StreetXO Dubai entrance tunnel. Image provided by the restaurant.Alex Jeffries Photography GroupHis excitement has to do with the facilities he has found: he has the premises he wanted, in the conditions he wanted. The contract, as detailed by the chef, includes fixed fees and variable income depending on the success it has. Muñoz has also done his part to achieve this. He had doubts about the gastronomic concept: “I didn't know whether to make it less wild than in Madrid, soften it a little, but at the last minute I decided to make it one hundred percent wild, and the reception has been brutal. It's totally packed, people love it.» Of course, he warns that the restaurant does not play in the league of being the best in the world, but it does play in the league of being “unique for food and experience.” Of course, he has not included pork in the repertoire of dishes. The perfect excuse to do new things, like a brunch, which even the model Naomi Campbell has had, and 12 new dishes that he will soon bring to Madrid. Among them, lamb wonton kebab, sea urchin and scallop croquettes, or red tuna belly cooked to size with corn toast.
Paco Morales, inside Qabu, in Dubai. Image provided by the restaurant.MAXIME CASAIn the same space and with the same partners as the DiverXO chef, Paco Morales from Cordoba has opened the restaurant Qabu by Paco Morales. The contract with the One&Only hotel chain, owned by the Dubai government, was signed seven years ago. He received the offer with some surprise: the Noor restaurant had only one Michelin star – this year it received the third – and he thought that this type of offer was only received by Italian or Asian restaurants. “For five years I have been developing this gastronomic and sensory journey inspired by the history of Andalusian cuisine, with a proposal adapted to the territory, where we cannot put pork or raw foods, to which they are not accustomed. A different, risky project,” says Morales. East and West at the table, where 40 guests can accommodate seven days a week during dinner hours. “For us it is something exciting. From our neighborhood [Cañero, en Cordoba], to make the leap to thousands of kilometers, this puts us on the international map. It is an opportunity.” An economic relief, says the cook, who receives an annual payment from his Dubai partner. “They pay well, with market prices. It is to be calm, not to get rich. They are very professional and demanding. All restaurants have to be profitable, and we have managed, after the pandemic, for Noor to also be profitable.”
Karim of pistachios, green apple with black bread and smoked herring blackberries. Image provided by the restaurant Qabu by Paco Morales.Neil CorderWithout local partners involved, in search of El Dorado, Malaga-born Dani García arrived in the city two months ago, whose business group also includes the Gutiérrez brothers, Laura and Javier . It has opened two of the concepts with which they could compete without fear, «since they are easy to understand, with a more international cuisine»: Leña and Smoked Room – with this last format it achieved two Michelin stars in one fell swoop -, in a space, with terrace included, of more than a thousand square meters on Palm Jumeirah. It has capacity for 180 seats and an average ticket of 120 euros. “We have done everything with our own investment, with a license, as we have done in Qatar. We risked a lot, we risked our money, but we knew it was time to make the leap outside. We also didn't want to be a prop in a hotel, where you are with more people. “We wanted to have freedom to do things.” They have been working on the project for two years. A long process, the chef describes, given that it is a tremendously competitive city, at the level of London, New York or Madrid. “It's the jungle, and an opportunity like any other, but here customers spend.” He says it because from Thursday to Saturday the acceptance “is brutal.” José Andrés, the Asturian chef living in the United States, also has a replica of his Jaleo restaurant at the Atlantis The Royal Hotel. He has not dared to take the step yet, despite constantly receiving proposals to settle in this city, as also in Abu Dhabi, it is Joan Roca. “We keep saying no, but we don't know what will happen in the future. Our sons—Marc, his, and Martí, Josep Roca—have joined the family business and we must help them have a future,” says the co-owner of El Celler de Can Roca. He has just arrived from Dubai, from a work trip, and has overcome some of the skepticism he had: “I see serious projects, beyond chefs setting up second brands and commercial projects there, there are chefs from there who are betting on their projects” . The city is new, with a powerful leisure offer that dazzles, where issues of environmental sustainability must not be overlooked, Roca warns. “There is a lot of economic movement, it is a jungle, where not everything is going to work. «You have to do it very well, because those who live there are very demanding.» Maybe it's not going to be El Dorado for everyone.
Interior of the Qabu restaurant, with views of the Dubai skyline. Image provided by the venue. You can follow EL PAÍS Gastro on Instagram and x.