Earning a Michelin star within just five months of opening is a rare feat, even more so when there isn’t a celebrity chef leading the kitchen. Yet, that's exactly what Thai-inspired restaurant Manao did in May, becoming part of the 2025 Michelin Guide Dubai.
Helmed by Indian chef Abhiraj Khatwani, 30, Manao is a reflection of his multicultural upbringing and a shared culinary vision with his mentor and business partner, Mohamad Orfali, the acclaimed Syrian chef behind Orfali Bros in Dubai, which also has one Michelin star.
“Honestly, it hasn’t even fully hit me yet,” Khatwani, who was also awarded Michelin's Young Chef Award during the ceremony, tells The National. “It feels more like a relief – for the team, for everyone who’s supported us. But we’re just doing what we set out to do, which is serve good food and make people happy.”
Born in Jeddah, raised in Dubai and educated in Montreal, Khatwani says his path to the kitchen wasn’t straightforward. But food, he adds, was always a part of it. “We always had people over ... 20, 30 people every other day,” he recalls of his childhood. “My mum cooked everything, so hospitality was a way of life.”
After university in Canada, Khatwani chose to study culinary arts at a school outside London, which led him to working kitchens in Denmark as well as Thailand, where he began to develop a deep appreciation for Thai flavours.
In 2018, after returning to Dubai, he opened The Yellow Monkey, a casual Thai eatery in JBR, which quickly earned a dedicated following. It was here that he first met Orfali, already a well-known TV chef then.
“I wasn’t a big fan of Thai food,” Orfali tells The National. “But after tasting Abhiraj’s food, I fell in love. It was different – creative, balanced, exciting.”
The Covid-19 pandemic lead to The Yellow Monkey shutting in 2020. The chefs' paths crossed again two years later. Orfali, who had already taken Orfali Bros to great heights, including earning its own Michelin star, was looking to expand his culinary empire and took Khatwani under his wing.
Their mutual admiration evolved into a business partnership, and Manao was born, opening in December last year to immediate acclaim. An ode to Thailand, food at Manao is served via an 11-course tasting menu, shaped by Khatwani's expertise in the country's cuisine and the Orfali Bros formula of refined cooking techniques. You won't find your traditional green curries or pad Thai noodles here, but rather modern interpretations that blend flavours masterfully.
Made in Dubai, for Dubai
In many ways, the city of Dubai helped birth Manao, Orfali says.
“We wanted to add something new to the scene, something elegant but accessible,” he says. “Thai at its soul, but with layers of global influence.
“We always say: 'If something works in Dubai, it can work anywhere,'” he adds. “Dubai has one of the most diverse, demanding audiences in the world. If they approve it, it means something.
“Manao will only ever exist in Dubai. It’s made for this city.”
Like Orfali Bros, with its fresh take on Mediterranean cuisine, Manao is not supposed to be flashy. Even its location, in Jumeirah, close to Orfali Bros, was deliberately chosen and not intended to be a fine-dining destination.
Chasing people, not stars
Orfali Bros recently retained its Michelin star on the 2025 Michelin Guide Dubai. It also topped this year's Mena's 50 Best Restaurants list and earned a spot in the coveted annual listing's global ranking, coming in at No 37.
“We didn’t set out to earn a Michelin star,” says Orfali. “We’re cooking for people. Our guests are our priority, and our team is our family. The stars come when you focus on what matters.”
Orfali, who works alongside his brothers Wassim and Omar, is putting the finishing touches on his a new restaurant concept, Three Bros, set to open soon. As he has done with Manao and Khatwani, he wants to turn his attention to young chefs, giving them a platform to shine.
“That's my investment plan for now, to do more by giving an opportunity to other chefs from the team, and replicate the concept like what we're doing with Abhiraj,” says Orfali.
As for Khatwani, he’s staying grounded. “We want to keep innovating, keep improving,” he says. “I think we just have to keeping doing what we're doing.”
But Orfali, who calls Khatwani “the fourth bro”, might have something more up his sleeve for him.
“I want to push him to do something Indian,” he teases. “He’ll kill it.”
Zayed Sustainability Prize
RESULTS
5pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
Winner: Samau Xmnsor, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi (jockey), Ibrahim Al Hadhrami (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Ottoman, Szczepan Mazur, Abdallah Al Hammadi
6pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Sharkh, Patrick Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 85,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Yaraa, Fernando Jara, Majed Al Jahouri
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Maaly Al Reef, Bernardo Pinheiro, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner: Jinjal, Fabrice Veron, Ahmed Al Shemaili
8pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner: Al Sail, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE central contracts
Full time contracts
Rohan Mustafa, Ahmed Raza, Mohammed Usman, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Sultan Ahmed, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid
Part time contracts
Aryan Lakra, Ansh Tandon, Karthik Meiyappan, Rahul Bhatia, Alishan Sharafu, CP Rizwaan, Basil Hameed, Matiullah, Fahad Nawaz, Sanchit Sharma
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
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Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
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Education: BA, English Language and Literature, Cairo University
Family: Four brothers, seven sisters, two daughters, 42 and 39, two sons, 43 and 35, and 15 grandchildren
Hobbies: Reading and traveling
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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.
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3. Italy Luca Maria Moneta – Connery, Luca Coata – Crandessa, Simone Coata – Dardonge, Natale Chiaudani – Almero. Team total 130.82/198.-4 – P20. Prize €32,000
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"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
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Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
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The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
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The biog
From: Ras Al Khaimah
Age: 50
Profession: Electronic engineer, worked with Etisalat for the past 20 years
Hobbies: 'Anything that involves exploration, hunting, fishing, mountaineering, the sea, hiking, scuba diving, and adventure sports'
Favourite quote: 'Life is so simple, enjoy it'
