A little more than three years ago, Raj Dagstani and his then 13-year-old son, Sebastian, started selling their homemade pizzas and focaccias from their tiny hole-in-the-wall kitchen, Marmellata, in a sleepy corner of Abu Dhabi.
Only open one night per week, winding queues would form outside their hatch in Mina Zayed Port as people attempted to get their slice of the action before they sold out, which they always did.
Marmellata had just begun to establish a cult following when the pandemic hit. Like so many small businesses, particularly those within the food industry, its impact was crippling.
Still, the father and son adapted, opening a drive-by focaccia pick-up service, and scheduling collections in 15-minute intervals.
And now with the pandemic fading, Marmelleta has been reborn, returning to its original spot with more days, more seating and, most importantly, more pizza.
“In the beginning, it was supposed to be a project that was about family and building something in the neighbourhood,” Dagstani says. “But then it turned into this popular thing, we couldn’t have preconceived it, not at all.”
With 25 seats inside and a further 25 on an outdoor terrace, the new Marmellata is, Dagstani says, an extension of the family’s home.
“People come along and they say how many branches do you have and my response is ‘branches are for trees’," Dagstani says. "This is a restaurant, it’s an extension of our home. It’s really personal, the menu is personal and the pizza is personal. We are not building a concept, we are not building branches. We’ve got a little neighbourhood restaurant that doesn’t really have a neighbourhood, so it’s open to everyone, which is kind of nice.”
As for the menu? That’s had a makeover too. The new Marmellata is a mixture of pizza and focaccia, to honour both chapters of its legacy so far, with new flavours and ideas inspired by locally sourced ingredients. After a farm in Liwa contacted them to say they had kilos of fresh figs, they added fig pizzas and sandwiches to the menu, served with gorgonzola. When they discovered a mushroom farm in Abu Dhabi growing "incredible" oyster mushrooms, they came up with kale and oyster mushroom creations. And for long-time Marmellata fans, the pepperoni pizza with garlic confit and spicy honey is a permanent menu fixture.
“We are not an Italian restaurant,” he says. “We absolutely want to be an Abu Dhabi restaurant and be known as a restaurant that’s unique to this city.
“A lot of people know us as this focaccia place, so when we reopened, we honoured that piece of our history, but we do them differently. We do them stuffed and with toppings – so we have evolved as time has passed. And then we decided to do round New York-ish pizza, I’m calling it New York-ish because it’s a little crispier. Most places here do Neapolitan style pizza, it’s very soft in the middle, ours is very crispy more like New York style — it’s designed to be shared, we want people to be able to eat with their hands.”
Marmellata is now open four nights a week Thursday to Sunday, from 4pm to 8.30pm or until it's all gone — whichever comes first.
“When we were only open one day a week, we only had room to cook 50 kilos of dough which would sell out because it was a finite thing, we couldn’t physically fit any more dough into the chiller,” he says. “So we’ve tried to bridge that approach into a restaurant that is now open five days, building a team, working it into something that is financially sustainable. We try to guard against being sold out as much as we can without trying to generate waste. We are trying to do something that’s high quality and made fresh.”
And Dagstani also had to build a business model that prepared for the inevitable too — his son and business partner Sebastian, now 16, leaving to pursue his studies.
“I’ve got Sebastian for another year and a half, he works with me two nights per week on the weekends,” he says. “It’s just the most fulfilling thing ever, when it’s he and I working together.”
In fact, Sebastian was the whole reason Dagstani started Marmellata in the first place. When the family moved to Abu Dhabi from their native Colorado in the US, he wanted to ensure his son was able to gain experience and life skills, centred on the food they loved to eat as a family.
“I wanted him to work,” he says. “I wanted this project that I could work on with Sebastian, have him learn the ropes and understand the pressures of a restaurant.”
And it clearly worked; he is now hoping to study hospitality at the prestigious EHL hospitality and business university in Switzerland.
“He’s discovered that he’s a good problem solver on his feet and he thrives under pressure. It’s really blossomed for him,” he says. “When you are looking out the window and there’s a line of 30 people waiting for their food, it’s a lot of pressure but he really navigates that well. It’s very cool as a family to have experienced that together.”
It’s not just Marmellata that’s evolved either. Its location, Mina Zayed Port, is currently being redeveloped, and is starting to build the neighbourhood vibe Dagstani hoped for when he first opened in 2019.
“Who doesn’t want to have pizza by the sea?” he said. “It’s slowly but surely coming to life around here. We knew the location was somewhere special, it turns out that there’s a load of people who are rediscovering the area and telling us they haven’t been out here since they were kids when the used to have picnics, so it’s really neat to be a part of that.”
Open Wednesday to Sunday, 4pm to 8.30m; Mina Zayed Port, Abu Dhabi. More information is available at marmellatalove.com
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
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Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics
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The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
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
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Muslim Council of Elders condemns terrorism on religious sites
The Muslim Council of Elders has strongly condemned the criminal attacks on religious sites in Britain.
It firmly rejected “acts of terrorism, which constitute a flagrant violation of the sanctity of houses of worship”.
“Attacking places of worship is a form of terrorism and extremism that threatens peace and stability within societies,” it said.
The council also warned against the rise of hate speech, racism, extremism and Islamophobia. It urged the international community to join efforts to promote tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:
Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
Tottenham advance on away goals rule after tie ends 3-3 on aggregate
Final: June 1, Madrid
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
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Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
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MATCH INFO
Manchester City 1 Chelsea 0
De Bruyne (70')
Man of the Match: Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)
What is the definition of an SME?
SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.
A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors.
The bio
Who inspires you?
I am in awe of the remarkable women in the Arab region, both big and small, pushing boundaries and becoming role models for generations. Emily Nasrallah was a writer, journalist, teacher and women’s rights activist
How do you relax?
Yoga relaxes me and helps me relieve tension, especially now when we’re practically chained to laptops and desks. I enjoy learning more about music and the history of famous music bands and genres.
What is favourite book?
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - I think I've read it more than 7 times
What is your favourite Arabic film?
Hala2 Lawen (Translation: Where Do We Go Now?) by Nadine Labaki
What is favourite English film?
Mamma Mia
Best piece of advice to someone looking for a career at Google?
If you’re interested in a career at Google, deep dive into the different career paths and pinpoint the space you want to join. When you know your space, you’re likely to identify the skills you need to develop.
Closing the loophole on sugary drinks
As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.
The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed:
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
ICC T20 Team of 2021
Jos Buttler, Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, David Miller, Tabraiz Shamsi, Josh Hazlewood, Wanindu Hasaranga, Mustafizur Rahman, Shaheen Afridi
