Nader Al Aisari has cooked for royalty, generals and celebrities, but serving potentially millions of people over the space of six months at Expo 2020 Dubai is his biggest gig yet.
This is why the Omani chef was one of the first to arrive at the Rising Flavours dining hall on Friday.
It was 7.30am and, as fellow cooks began to amble to the hub, located at Jubilee Park, Al Aisari was sitting in the back seeking guidance.
“I read the Quran and I fired up some Luban, an incense I brought here from Oman,” he tells The National.
“It helps settle the mind and keeps me focused because this is really the biggest thing I did, food-wise, in my life.”
LIVE BLOG: Updates and live coverage from Expo 2020 Dubai
It also helps him deal with unforeseen circumstances arising from any restaurant opening, such as when, after a gust of wind ruined the store’s signage, Al Aisari could only find enough letters to form his first name.
It is a blessing in disguise as the solo moniker matches Al Aisari’s hip take on Omani cuisine. On offer are sharing plates of shuwa, a slow-cooked marinated lamb served with a decadent home-made tamarind sauce, arugula salad with home-grown pomegranates and oven-roasted mini shawarmas.
“We sold out our first batch already and preparing our second round,” he said on Friday afternoon.
“What I have been seeing is people, from customers and staff, recommending others to come here. It’s the kind of word-of-mouth you will find at markets.”
Al Aisari's initial – and serendipitous – success augers well for Rising Flavours, a showcase of the region's best young entrepreneurs and celebrity chefs.
He was invited to the Expo after the success of his home kitchen in Muscat, and joins 10 other GCC chefs including the UAE's Musabbeh Al Kaabi and Hattem Mattar, as well as Bahraini Roaya Saleh.
The dining hall hints at the tremendous food options that will available during Expo 2020 Dubai.
More than 200 restaurants will be on-site, serving everything from Manuka honey and premium lamb from New Zealand to Kenyan goat stew and the Estonian pavilion’s comfort fare of cod with potatoes, sour cream and dill.
With many venues and the second floor of Rising Flavours yet to open, the Expo's culinary potential is gut busting.
The 'world’s biggest food festival'
But where to begin on a site bigger than both New York’s Central Park and Disneyland?
As anyone experienced with tackling an epic buffet will tell you: you need to be strategic and play the long game.
To savour the international flavours at the site, it’s best to make several visits to Expo.
For Expo first-timers, the best option is to head straight to the operational food pavilions on site.
In addition to Rising Flavours, there is Alkebulan, the dining hall dedicated to modern and traditional African cuisine.
Located in Jubilee Park and a 10-minute walk from Rising Flavours, you will find 10 African chefs – from Cameroon to Ethiopia – serving signature meals.
With the UAE's African food landscape slowly growing, this hub provides ample opportunity to explore innovative dishes or fresh takes on familiar concepts.
The latter is found in Sweet Ophelia's, a fun and funky Afro-Asian concept where noodles and dumplings are served with zesty West African spice combinations including cinnamon, cardamom and bay leaf.
Flavours big and small
The Future of Food: The Epochal Banquet, a dining concept exploring futuristic cuisine, is yet to open, but right now the other food hub to attend is talabat kitchen.
Named after the online delivery platform, the area represents more than simply the site's greatest culinary hits (such as Kababji Grill, Poke and Chick N Co), it also provides a peek at the future of dining halls; there's a robot barista set to serve customers in the ensuing months.
The terrace, overlooking Jubilee Park, also makes for a perfect dinner spot for families during the winter.
As for the Expo's hidden gems, you need to escape the main thoroughfare and head to the side streets where arrows will direct you towards food and beverage options.
In the coming months, these paths will host the UAE debuts of international venues such as the US burrata bar Scarpetta Mercato, the modern Korean cuisine of Kojaki and Lebanese fusion from Beirut's Baron, but it's also home to a home-grown hero.
Perhaps no place personifies the industrious spirit of the UAE culinary scene than Bur Dubai’s Ravi.
Heartwarmingly, the Expo’s big stage hasn't overshadowed the much-loved eatery's pop-up. Its space in the Opportunity District is simply decorated in its trademark white and green, and the service is typically Ravi-style.
The menu of rice, curry and roti dishes are rattled off by waiters and you can expect a Dh25 chicken biryani dish to arrive in less than five minutes.
Recipe for success
With what’s available and still to come, the Expo is not only set to become a haven for culture lovers but could serve as a case study for aspiring chefs and restaurateurs on how to succeed.
This is why Abdullah Manoun, the Lebanese executive chef behind the Saudi pop-up Chef Duha in Rising Flavours, is spotted checking out some of the venues around Jubilee Park.
“It’s not about competition but you do need to know what is going on and what people are gravitating to,” he says.
“A lot of restaurants have come to the Expo with a clear goal in mind and that is to build a fan base and find investors. That’s the mission and you really don’t want to lose sight of that.”
It’s a sentiment shared by Al Aisari. He describes the event as a launch pad to fulfil his ambition.
“Expo is essentially a hustle in its own way. You come here and you need to make things happen. Not only am I here to represent my talent and beliefs, but that of my country’s food heritage, too.
"It’s not so much a pressure, but all the motivation I need to keep going and serving the people the best of myself and my culture.”
More information is available at expo2020dubai.com
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
LIVING IN...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
Fixtures
50-over match
UAE v Lancashire, starts at 10am
Champion County match
MCC v Surrey, four-day match, starting on Sunday, March 24, play starts at 10am
Both matches are at ICC Academy, Dubai Sports City. Admission is free.
Other simple ideas for sushi rice dishes
Cheat’s nigiri
This is easier to make than sushi rolls. With damp hands, form the cooled rice into small tablet shapes. Place slices of fresh, raw salmon, mackerel or trout (or smoked salmon) lightly touched with wasabi, then press, wasabi side-down, onto the rice. Serve with soy sauce and pickled ginger.
Easy omurice
This fusion dish combines Asian fried rice with a western omelette. To make, fry cooked and cooled sushi rice with chopped vegetables such as carrot and onion and lashings of sweet-tangy ketchup, then wrap in a soft egg omelette.
Deconstructed sushi salad platter
This makes a great, fuss-free sharing meal. Arrange sushi rice on a platter or board, then fill the space with all your favourite sushi ingredients (edamame beans, cooked prawns or tuna, tempura veggies, pickled ginger and chilli tofu), with a dressing or dipping sauce on the side.
TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
MAIN CARD
Bantamweight 56.4kg
Abrorbek Madiminbekov v Mehdi El Jamari
Super heavyweight 94 kg
Adnan Mohammad v Mohammed Ajaraam
Lightweight 60kg
Zakaria Eljamari v Faridoon Alik Zai
Light heavyweight 81.4kg
Mahmood Amin v Taha Marrouni
Light welterweight 64.5kg
Siyovush Gulmamadov v Nouredine Samir
Light heavyweight 81.4kg
Ilyass Habibali v Haroun Baka
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
ENGLAND%20SQUAD
%3Cp%3EFor%20Euro%202024%20qualifers%20away%20to%20Malta%20on%20June%2016%20and%20at%20home%20to%20North%20Macedonia%20on%20June%2019%3A%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EGoalkeepers%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Johnstone%2C%20Pickford%2C%20Ramsdale.%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDefenders%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Alexander-Arnold%2C%20Dunk%2C%20Guehi%2C%20Maguire%2C%20%20Mings%2C%20Shaw%2C%20Stones%2C%20Trippier%2C%20Walker.%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EMidfielders%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Bellingham%2C%20Eze%2C%20Gallagher%2C%20Henderson%2C%20%20Maddison%2C%20Phillips%2C%20Rice.%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EForwards%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFoden%2C%20Grealish%2C%20Kane%2C%20Rashford%2C%20Saka%2C%20Wilson.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Spec%20sheet
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SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20NOTHING%20PHONE%20(2A)
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Liverpool 4-1 Shrewsbury
Liverpool
Gordon (34'), Fabinho (44' pen, 90' 3), Firmino (78')
Shrewsbury
Udoh (27'minutes)
Man of the Match: Kaide Gordon (Liverpool)
Meydan card
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (PA) Group 1 US$65,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.05pm: Conditions (TB) $100,000 (Turf) 1,400m
7.40pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Trial (TB) $100,000 (D) 1,600m
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 1,200m
8.50pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (TB) Group 2 $350,000 (D) 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (D) 1,900m
10pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m
WTL%20SCHEDULE
%3Cp%3EDECEMBER%2019%20(6pm)%0D%3Cbr%3EKites%20v%20Eagles%0D%3Cbr%3EAliassime%20v%20Kyrgios%0D%3Cbr%3ESwiatek%20v%20Garcia%0D%3Cbr%3EEntertainment%3A%20Tiesto%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EDECEMBER%2020%20(6pm)%0D%3Cbr%3EFalcons%20v%20Hawks%0D%3Cbr%3EDjokovic%20v%20Zverev%0D%3Cbr%3ESabalenka%20v%20Rybakina%0D%3Cbr%3EEntertainment%3A%20Wizkid%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EDECEMBER%2021%20(6pm)%0D%3Cbr%3EFalcons%20v%20Eagles%0D%3Cbr%3EDjokovic%20v%20Kyrgios%0D%3Cbr%3EBadosa%20v%20Garcia%0D%3Cbr%3EEntertainment%3A%20Ne-Yo%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EDECEMBER%2022%20(6pm)%0D%3Cbr%3EHawks%20v%20Kites%0D%3Cbr%3EThiem%20v%20Aliassime%0D%3Cbr%3EKontaveit%20v%20Swiatek%0D%3Cbr%3EEntertainment%3A%20deadmau5%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EDECEMBER%2023%20(2pm)%0D%3Cbr%3EEagles%20v%20Hawks%0D%3Cbr%3EKyrgios%20v%20Zverev%0D%3Cbr%3EGarcia%20v%20Rybakina%0D%3Cbr%3EEntertainment%3A%20Mohammed%20Ramadan%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EDECEMBER%2023%20(6pm)%0D%3Cbr%3EFalcons%20v%20Kites%0D%3Cbr%3EDjokovic%20v%20Aliassime%0D%3Cbr%3ESabalenka%20v%20Swiatek%0D%3Cbr%3EEntertainment%3A%20Mohammed%20Ramadan%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EDECEMBER%2024%20(6pm)%0D%3Cbr%3EFinals%0D%3Cbr%3EEntertainment%3A%20Armin%20Van%20Buuren%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Rock in a Hard Place: Music and Mayhem in the Middle East
Orlando Crowcroft
Zed Books
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
World Cricket League Division 2
In Windhoek, Namibia - Top two teams qualify for the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, which starts on March 4.
UAE fixtures
Thursday, February 8 v Kenya; Friday, February 9 v Canada; Sunday, February 11 v Nepal; Monday, February 12 v Oman; Wednesday, February 14 v Namibia; Thursday, February 15 final
