When a star-studded cast of chefs – think Anthony Bourdain, Eric Ripert, José Andrés and two Daniels (Boulud and Humm) – congregate in one spot, the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman, for an annual cookout at the start of a new year, there are two questions at the tip of my tongue. What’s the next big thing on the food and restaurant scene this year? And will we see a stronger Middle Eastern influence?
The consensus, led by the chef-cum-TV star Bourdain, veers towards a renaissance in genuine Mexican cuisine. “Authentic Mexican is what I am noticing,” says Bourdain. “Mexican chefs making Mexican food and updating Mexican food using traditional ingredients, respectful of original cooking techniques and revaluing it. There’s amazing food served at Mexican vineyards, for instance. This notion that Mexican food should be Tex-Mex, cheap and eaten in front of a football game, is not what I am talking about.”
The New York-based French chef Boulud agrees: “Mexico has a lot of the younger generation who went to Spain to study and returned to train as cooks. Plus there’s a lot of Mexican cooks now in the US and Europe.” Boulud has 13 restaurants across the United States, Canada, Singapore and London, one of which, Daniel in New York City, holds three Michelin stars.
But he and Ripert, the French seafood specialist whose restaurant Le Bernardin in New York also boasts three Michelin stars, see Korean food take centre stage this year as well. South American cuisine gets a mention, too – with a focus on Brazilian fare, given the country’s undiscovered and unusual fish produce.
Humm, the unassuming 36-year-old Swiss chef whose New York restaurant Eleven Madison Park is the biggest star of all thanks to not just three Michelin stars but also its ranking at number five in the World’s Best Restaurants, sees a strong move towards vegetables as the core ingredient in a dish. “It’s something we have more control over. We know the vegetable farmer. It’s grown in certain ways,” he says. “We don’t know where fish comes from anymore. I am building dishes around the vegetables. It’s not necessarily vegetarian but it is the main component – I would still use beef juices, for instance.”
Interestingly enough, this exact idea is echoed by the new Table 9 chef-patron Darren Velvick. He is a big fan of Humm, having eaten in his restaurant, so it looks like this global prediction will also be tried out in Dubai.
The success of chefs such as Yotam Ottolenghi, whose wholesome deli-style Middle Eastern dishes in London have elevated the region’s cuisine, has brought the attention of high-end chefs looking our way for inspiration.
Bourdain, for one, is filming in Iran this year for his next series of CNN’s Parts Unknown, while his confidant Ripert is also looking to visit for a magazine feature.
Lebanon is also on the cards for Bourdain’s television show, given his huge affinity with the country. “Any opportunity to return to Lebanon is always a joy. I love the country, Beirut in particular,” he says. “Heartbreaking, beautiful, delicious, awesome place. It’s my favourite Middle Eastern cuisine.”
Another Boulud restaurant concept, Boulud Sud (the one he would happily export to the UAE, he says), features many Middle Eastern and North African dishes. “I love Middle Eastern food. It doesn’t always look pretty but it’s tasty. Kibbeh, brique, squab. Very fragrant, so good. Lebanese and Moroccan food is well recognised, whereas there’s room for development with Algerian and Tunisian dishes,” says Boulud.
But what about Dubai’s restaurant scene? Bourdain has been vocal in his books and shows that the emirate is heavily reliant on celebrity chefs and imported brands, but at the same time, he sees promise: we’re experiencing a sea change with more locally developed restaurants opening here and Emirati cuisine coming out of hiding. “The massive workforce in Dubai is bringing with it interesting food and geographically there are a lot of influences,” he says. “Dubai’s potential to me is much like New York’s. Its people are an asset, not a liability.”
He should return to see for himself.
• The next annual Cayman Cookout at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman runs from January 15 to 19, 2015, with ticket packages starting from US$1,200 (Dh4,404). Visit www.caymancookout.com
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
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Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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The squad traveling to Brazil:
Faisal Al Ketbi, Ibrahim Al Hosani, Khalfan Humaid Balhol, Khalifa Saeed Al Suwaidi, Mubarak Basharhil, Obaid Salem Al Nuaimi, Saeed Juma Al Mazrouei, Saoud Abdulla Al Hammadi, Taleb Al Kirbi, Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi, Zayed Al Kaabi, Zayed Saif Al Mansoori, Saaid Haj Hamdou, Hamad Saeed Al Nuaimi. Coaches Roberto Lima and Alex Paz.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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Opening weekend Premier League fixtures
Weekend of August 10-13
Arsenal v Manchester City
Bournemouth v Cardiff City
Fulham v Crystal Palace
Huddersfield Town v Chelsea
Liverpool v West Ham United
Manchester United v Leicester City
Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur
Southampton v Burnley
Watford v Brighton & Hove Albion
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Everton
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
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