With all the courage I can muster, I book a taxi to Jumeirah Beach Residence on a Saturday night. I live at the other end of town, which means traversing the notorious Hessa Street on a weekend. At night. In heavy traffic.
To add to my woes, a rain shower has just left the roads slightly damp, which does not seem to have stopped throngs of Dubai residents eager for a good night out.
I think about the forthcoming dinner as the driver sighs in every jam. I had heard of the Girl and the Goose through the foodie grapevine – with its reputation almost akin to the city's other stellar supper clubs, Hawkerboi and A Story of Food, which are now fully fledged restaurants.
These dinners are more than just about the food. If you haven't been to a supper club before, imagine going into a stranger's home and dining with people you have never met. So my preparation isn't just about my palate, which has a strong South-East Asian bias, but also my social battery, which can be awfully low for a 27 year old.
The vibe
I'm suddenly on the 41st floor of Rimal 1, part of a multi-building residential complex at the heart of JBR. Chef Gabriela Chamorro opens the door to a dimly lit one-bedroom apartment, preluding the evening with a "warm Nicaraguan hug", just as she promised in a WhatsApp message days earlier.
Her home is shoe-free, she says, already giving guests a slice of her Central American upbringing, which my Filipino mother would also approve of.
I'm immediately treated to a passionfruit welcome drink as I navigate my way to the living area where I join the other guests. There are 10 of us in total, a characteristically small group for a supper club.
The allure of such a dining experience partly lies in this intimate social aspect. And especially in Dubai, where people come from all walks of life, supper clubs are almost like a loose microcosm of bigger spontaneous gatherings.
Before taking our spots at the dining table that's decked with candles, dried flowers and clay pots, our host gives us a short introduction to the contents of the meal and sets some ground rules.
To grease the social wheels further, Chamorro hands us a bowl of random questions – "What's a new skill you want to learn?" or "What's the best advice you have been given?" – to help keep the conversations flowing. We are all strangers after all, and we're just about to sit shoulder-to-shoulder through a five-course dinner.
The food
Supper clubs are like small dinner parties, meaning there's no pressure to choose from an extensive menu. The meal is also set with consideration for food intolerances.
Chamorro's menu takes us through Central America, through flavours she was used to growing up in Nicaragua with her grandmother. A note card briefly explains each of the dishes.
To our surprise, although in true supper club style, Chamorro diverts from the menu and gives us an Indian pani puri to begin with. As a former flight attendant, the Nicaraguan chef is well-traveled and her adventures have shaped her cooking, too. The one-bite dish explodes with punchy and unorthodox flavours. Chamorro uses guacamole, instead of the traditional potatoes and chickpeas, as a filling to incorporate a Latino flair. It's a fitting prelude to the eclectic culinary journey ahead.
Then comes the second dish, los chilotes, or baby corn with lemongrass chilli oil and masala.
"Some of the greatest gifts of Mesoamerica to the world are corn, beans and squash," says Chamorro. Her tales in between dishes make the dinner feel like a cross between anthropology lessons and diary entries. Central American food, after all, is a result of a "marriage between two civilisations: the Spaniards and the indigenous people", she explains.
To modernise the light dish, she serves it in a cold foam format, pairing well with the corn's milky sweet taste. The lemongrass provides a faint citrus taste while the masala slightly tickles my flavour receptors. It's one of my favourite dishes of the night, both in taste and in sentimental value.
A seabass ceviche follows, doused in green pipian, a Mexican sauce made of pureed greens and pumpkin seeds. The lychee sorbet ties the whole dish together in a sweet and tangy bow.
The pace of a supper club can be a bit slower than dining in restaurants. Again, socialising is an important factor, which mostly happens in between courses. A plantain tempura and a dumpling are served next, more for Chamorro's demonstration of culinary depth.
The heaviest dish on the menu is called El Domingero, or prawn guiso with pecorino and yuca gnocchi – another culinary home run, as everyone at the dining table agrees. Both the succulent prawn and the chewy gnocchi are cooked to perfection, with the Pecorino cheese providing a sharp umami hit that lingers.
The only thing missing at this point is a two-minute standing ovation from the happy diners, including myself. Chamorro's warm aura adds to the entire dining experience, and rightfully so, as she is hosting us in her own home.
To end the dinner, a coconut flan is served with a sweet and slightly earthy sauce made of rapadura, a type of unrefined sugar derived from sugar cane juice.
I heard once that the best Asian compliment to a dessert is that it's "not too sweet", and Chamorro's flan falls into this top-notch category. The addition of tangy yuzu pulps helps balance the dessert. I finish the entire thing with the creamy coconut thoroughly cleansing my palate.
Asked how many diners she has served since starting the supper club in 2019, Chamorro says she has lost count.
"Probably around 4,000 people," she adds, saying one of the most fulfilling parts of the journey is the "community that I was able to build".
Soon, just like Hawkerboi and A Story About Food, which later became known as Kinoya, Girl and the Goose will transform into an actual restaurant, fulfilling Chamorro's vision of putting Central American cuisine onto the gastronomic map.
She plans to continue honouring her Nicaraguan heritage, modernising "timeless recipes without compromising on tradition".
Given the popularity of other Latino cuisines such as Peruvian and Mexican, I ask Chamorro to describe what makes Nicaraguan food different.
"It is less spicy than Peruvian, and more vibrant than Mexican," she says.
It's a bold claim, but based on the dinner I just had, she couldn't have been more accurate. I'm glad I conquered the traffic.
The next available Girl and the Goose meal is on March 9, from 7.30pm; Dh375 per person. More information is available at splidu.com
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
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Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
The specs
Engine: 2.9-litre, V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: seven-speed PDK dual clutch automatic
Power: 375bhp
Torque: 520Nm
Price: Dh332,800
On sale: now
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
BOSH!'s pantry essentials
Nutritional yeast
This is Firth's pick and an ingredient he says, "gives you an instant cheesy flavour". He advises making your own cream cheese with it or simply using it to whip up a mac and cheese or wholesome lasagne. It's available in organic and specialist grocery stores across the UAE.
Seeds
"We've got a big jar of mixed seeds in our kitchen," Theasby explains. "That's what you use to make a bolognese or pie or salad: just grab a handful of seeds and sprinkle them over the top. It's a really good way to make sure you're getting your omegas."
Umami flavours
"I could say soya sauce, but I'll say all umami-makers and have them in the same batch," says Firth. He suggests having items such as Marmite, balsamic vinegar and other general, dark, umami-tasting products in your cupboard "to make your bolognese a little bit more 'umptious'".
Onions and garlic
"If you've got them, you can cook basically anything from that base," says Theasby. "These ingredients are so prevalent in every world cuisine and if you've got them in your cupboard, then you know you've got the foundation of a really nice meal."
Your grain of choice
Whether rice, quinoa, pasta or buckwheat, Firth advises always having a stock of your favourite grains in the cupboard. "That you, you have an instant meal and all you have to do is just chuck a bit of veg in."
MATCH INFO
Azerbaijan 0
Wales 2 (Moore 10', Wilson 34')
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 194hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 275Nm from 2,000-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: from Dh155,000
On sale: now
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
HWJN
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Race card
4pm Al Bastakiya Listed US$300,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
4.35pm Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 $350,000 (D) 1,200m
5.10pm Nad Al Sheba Turf Group 3 $350,000 (Turf) 1,200m
5.45pm Burj Nahaar Group 3 $350,000 (D) 1,600m
6.20pm Jebel Hatta Group 1 $400,000 (T) 1,800m
6.55pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 Group 1 $600,000 (D) 2,000m
7.30pm Dubai City Of Gold Group 2 $350,000 (T) 2,410m
The National selections:
4pm Zabardast
4.35pm Ibn Malik
5.10pm Space Blues
5.45pm Kimbear
6.20pm Barney Roy
6.55pm Matterhorn
7.30pm Defoe
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Honeymoonish
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elie%20El%20Samaan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENour%20Al%20Ghandour%2C%20Mahmoud%20Boushahri%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Sunday's Super Four matches
Dubai, 3.30pm
India v Pakistan
Abu Dhabi, 3.30pm
Bangladesh v Afghanistan
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
The%20specs
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Attacks on Egypt’s long rooted Copts
Egypt’s Copts belong to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, with Mark the Evangelist credited with founding their church around 300 AD. Orthodox Christians account for the overwhelming majority of Christians in Egypt, with the rest mainly made up of Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Anglicans.
The community accounts for some 10 per cent of Egypt’s 100 million people, with the largest concentrations of Christians found in Cairo, Alexandria and the provinces of Minya and Assiut south of Cairo.
Egypt’s Christians have had a somewhat turbulent history in the Muslim majority Arab nation, with the community occasionally suffering outright persecution but generally living in peace with their Muslim compatriots. But radical Muslims who have first emerged in the 1970s have whipped up anti-Christian sentiments, something that has, in turn, led to an upsurge in attacks against their places of worship, church-linked facilities as well as their businesses and homes.
More recently, ISIS has vowed to go after the Christians, claiming responsibility for a series of attacks against churches packed with worshippers starting December 2016.
The discrimination many Christians complain about and the shift towards religious conservatism by many Egyptian Muslims over the last 50 years have forced hundreds of thousands of Christians to migrate, starting new lives in growing communities in places as far afield as Australia, Canada and the United States.
Here is a look at major attacks against Egypt's Coptic Christians in recent years:
November 2: Masked gunmen riding pickup trucks opened fire on three buses carrying pilgrims to the remote desert monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor south of Cairo, killing 7 and wounding about 20. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
May 26, 2017: Masked militants riding in three all-terrain cars open fire on a bus carrying pilgrims on their way to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, killing 29 and wounding 22. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
April 2017: Twin attacks by suicide bombers hit churches in the coastal city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta city of Tanta. At least 43 people are killed and scores of worshippers injured in the Palm Sunday attack, which narrowly missed a ceremony presided over by Pope Tawadros II, spiritual leader of Egypt Orthodox Copts, in Alexandria's St. Mark's Cathedral. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.
February 2017: Hundreds of Egyptian Christians flee their homes in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, fearing attacks by ISIS. The group's North Sinai affiliate had killed at least seven Coptic Christians in the restive peninsula in less than a month.
December 2016: A bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo kills 30 people and wounds dozens during Sunday Mass in one of the deadliest attacks carried out against the religious minority in recent memory. ISIS claimed responsibility.
July 2016: Pope Tawadros II says that since 2013 there were 37 sectarian attacks on Christians in Egypt, nearly one incident a month. A Muslim mob stabs to death a 27-year-old Coptic Christian man, Fam Khalaf, in the central city of Minya over a personal feud.
May 2016: A Muslim mob ransacks and torches seven Christian homes in Minya after rumours spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman. The elderly mother of the Christian man was stripped naked and dragged through a street by the mob.
New Year's Eve 2011: A bomb explodes in a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria as worshippers leave after a midnight mass, killing more than 20 people.
