The Michelin Guide revealed its debut selection of restaurants in Dubai in June, with nine venues receiving one Michelin star and two honoured with two stars.
In this series, called Star-grazing, The National visits a few of the spots that won stars or were included in the Bib Gourmand category, which is “not quite a star, but most definitely not a consolation prize”, according to the guide.
Al Muntaha, the fifth restaurant in our series, is located in the Burj Al Arab and received one Michelin star.
The story behind Al Muntaha
Located on the 27th floor of one of the world's most famous hotels, Al Muntaha melds French fine-dining precision with the rustic heart of Tuscan cuisine.
This is down to head chef Saverio Sbaragli’s various inspirations.
His grandmother was his first culinary hero, he tells The National, and recalls assisting her in the kitchen as a child in rural Tuscany.
“She used to love preparing food for a large number of people at home and showed me everything she had prepared, which fascinated me from a young age,” he says.
“To be able to pass on everything I've learnt is one of the things I love most about my career.”
Sbaragli went on to train under French master chef Alain Ducasse at his La Terrasse restaurant on the French Riviera, followed by a stint in Paris at the three-Michelin-starred L'Arpege with chef Alain Passard.
Winning a Michelin star was the key motivation for Sbaragli to relocate to Dubai last year from the Swiss city of Geneva, where he was chef de cuisine at one-Michelin-starred Tosca.
“Receiving a Michelin star for Al Muntaha has been an exceptionally proud moment for me,” he says.
“Even though it is a competitive process, my team’s dedication to consistently deliver an exceptional dining experience is what keeps our guests coming back, and has led to this moment.”
What's on the Michelin-starred menu?
Al Muntaha boasts a spacious dining hall with spectacular views of the Dubai coastline.
The well-heeled diners are a mixed bunch of in-house hotel guests, business colleagues and couples ― the latter sit on tables for two beside floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the pulsating skyline.
Sbaragli recommends we try the six-course degustation menu (Dh1,100) for it is “an excellent representation” of the restaurant's ethos of “innovation, authenticity and creativity”.
My dining partner and I begin with a house-made loaf of fresh sourdough bread served with rich silky ribbons of butter from the South of France.
The amuse bouche is an innovative take on the Caprese salad: tomato foam and basil olive oil are drizzled over fresh cherry tomatoes and surrounded with a mozzarella cream.
The first course is salmon trout served. The fish is fresh and cut into small shreds to resemble a tartare. The other side of the plate houses a yoghurt sauce with a dollop of escabeche vinaigrette in the middle.
The presentation is elegant and playful. It gives you the option of enjoying the salmon while monitoring the amount of kick you want to receive from the vinaigrette — escabeche is a summery Mediterranean-style dressing that is tangy and acidic.
Scoop all elements together in one spoonful and you get a beautifully fresh and creamy bite.
“My favourite ingredient is not necessarily solid, but rather the sauces,” Sbaragli says. “They bring a final touch to the dish through coherence, bitterness and acidity.”
Next up is a generously sized langoustine that’s delicately pan-fired to keep it moist and silky within. The big flavours and textures arrive courtesy of the sweetness of the pickled onion, crispy tapioca and a luxurious cocoa-bean puree.
The lavishness picks up a gear with the first of two pasta dishes. We begin with the garganelli, a cylindrical pasta with a ribbed exterior.
This is normally accompanied by thick ragu sauce, but Al Muntaha takes a different direction with a white sauce made of coconut and yellow capsicum.
The addition of premium Sevruga caviar enhances the dish's buttery notes, without leaving you feeling too full.
“Cooking at low temperatures is my favourite technique. It allows me to achieve perfect cooking while preserving the true taste and flavour of the dish,” says the chef.
The ravioli dish is a standout, and speaks to Sbaragli’s heritage and trajectory.
The strong flavours of the guinea fowl and Parmesan cream filling hark back to his rural upbringing in a “family full of farmers”.
That finesse and class of this Michelin-starred outlet come through in the accompanying flakes of French black truffle.
Another brilliant dish is the veal filet mignon. As with the dishes that precede it, the quality of the product is top-notch, which goes some way towards assuaging the hefty Dh1,000-plus price tag per person for this menu. The knife cuts through the meat like butter and the delicately cooked veal melts in the mouth.
Dessert is a lovingly prepared assortment of meringue, lemon curd, eucalyptus confit and lemon sorbet.
The zest of the sorbet, coupled with the explosive bursts of flavour of the confit, ends our dining experience in a memorable fashion.
The fact Al Muntaha achieved (only) one Michelin star is a worthy subject of debate.
With its tastefully low-key and elegant service and dishes that are both virtuosic and full of heart, we hope it is deemed to have enough potential to reach even higher in the Michelin rankings next year.
That said, Sbaragli prefers to keep his eyes on the “real” prize. “Though Dubai’s culinary scene is very challenging, passion and hard work are what truly matter. Without those, you can’t last in this field.”
Look out for Michelin-starred restaurant Ossiano coming up next in The National's Star-grazing series
Company name: Play:Date
Launched: March 2017 on UAE Mother’s Day
Founder: Shamim Kassibawi
Based: Dubai with operations in the UAE and US
Sector: Tech
Size: 20 employees
Stage of funding: Seed
Investors: Three founders (two silent co-founders) and one venture capital fund
Dunbar
Edward St Aubyn
Hogarth
The biog
Siblings: five brothers and one sister
Education: Bachelors in Political Science at the University of Minnesota
Interests: Swimming, tennis and the gym
Favourite place: UAE
Favourite packet food on the trip: pasta primavera
What he did to pass the time during the trip: listen to audio books
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The biog
Fast facts on Neil Armstrong’s personal life:
- Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio
- He earned his private pilot’s license when he was 16 – he could fly before he could drive
- There was tragedy in his married life: Neil and Janet Armstrong’s daughter Karen died at the age of two in 1962 after suffering a brain tumour. She was the couple’s only daughter. Their two sons, Rick and Mark, consulted on the film
- After Armstrong departed Nasa, he bought a farm in the town of Lebanon, Ohio, in 1971 – its airstrip allowed him to tap back into his love of flying
- In 1994, Janet divorced Neil after 38 years of marriage. Two years earlier, Neil met Carol Knight, who became his second wife in 1994
SPAIN SQUAD
Goalkeepers Simon (Athletic Bilbao), De Gea (Manchester United), Sanchez (Brighton)
Defenders Gaya (Valencia), Alba (Barcelona), P Torres (Villarreal), Laporte (Manchester City), Garcia (Manchester City), D Llorente (Leeds), Azpilicueta (Chelsea)
Midfielders Busquets (Barcelona), Rodri (Manchester City), Pedri (Barcelona), Thiago (Liverpool), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Ruiz (Napoli), M Llorente (Atletico Madrid)
Forwards: Olmo (RB Leipzig), Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Morata (Juventus), Moreno (Villarreal), F Torres (Manchester City), Traore (Wolves), Sarabia (PSG)
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
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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More on Coronavirus in France
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
Asia Cup 2018 final
Who: India v Bangladesh
When: Friday, 3.30pm, Dubai International Stadium
Watch: Live on OSN Cricket HD
Awar Qalb
Director: Jamal Salem
Starring: Abdulla Zaid, Joma Ali, Neven Madi and Khadija Sleiman
Two stars
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
What's in the deal?
Agreement aims to boost trade by £25.5bn a year in the long run, compared with a total of £42.6bn in 2024
India will slash levies on medical devices, machinery, cosmetics, soft drinks and lamb.
India will also cut automotive tariffs to 10% under a quota from over 100% currently.
Indian employees in the UK will receive three years exemption from social security payments
India expects 99% of exports to benefit from zero duty, raising opportunities for textiles, marine products, footwear and jewellery
Draw:
Group A: Egypt, DR Congo, Uganda, Zimbabwe
Group B: Nigeria, Guinea, Madagascar, Burundi
Group C: Senegal, Algeria, Kenya, Tanzania
Group D: Morocco, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Namibia
Group E: Tunisia, Mali, Mauritania, Angola
Group F: Cameroon, Ghana, Benin, Guinea-Bissau
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
SCORES
Yorkshire Vikings 144-1 in 12.5 overs
(Tom Kohler 72 not out, Harry Broook 42 not out)
bt Hobart Hurricanes 140-7 in 20 overs
(Caleb Jewell 38, Sean Willis 35, Karl Carver 2-29, Josh Shaw 2-39)
OPINIONS ON PALESTINE & ISRAEL
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Pathaan
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BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Borussia Dortmund v Paderborn (11.30pm)
Saturday
Bayer Leverkusen v SC Freiburg (6.30pm)
Werder Bremen v Schalke (6.30pm)
Union Berlin v Borussia Monchengladbach (6.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Wolfsburg (6.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldof v Bayern Munich (6.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Cologne (9.30pm)
Sunday
Augsburg v Hertha Berlin (6.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Mainz (9pm)
Read more from Aya Iskandarani
Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
