For most people, being at the helm of 25 restaurants across two countries, and successfully launching another outpost in the midst of a pandemic, would leave you with some form of contentment.
Not for Natasha Sideris.
In fact, the founder and namesake of the popular Tashas cafes, five of which now exist in the UAE, is already plotting her next steps.
Not only does she want to recreate the fish restaurant her late father began in Johannesburg here in Dubai, she also hopes to open a steak and burger concept, and start a bespoke nougat and espresso bar.
At this point I don't really care about making money ... I just want to trade, pay my staff and by December, take everyone's salary's back up. I don't care about anything else
"I'm at a point in my career where I can get a lot more creative and I do stuff I've always wanted to do, and start other brands," Sideris tells The National.
"It's been a fascinating journey."
The fifth outpost of Sideris's popular Tashas cafe opened this week in the Galleria Al Barsha, after being delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. As well as three other Tashas cafes in Dubai and one in Abu Dhabi, the Tashas Group also has the Flamingo Room, Avli and Galaxy Bar under its belt, as well as 17 Tashas cafes in South Africa. That's a lot of restaurants to shield from an outbreak that has hit the hospitality industry hard, resulting in mass lay-offs and permanent closures across the world.
But Sideris is pragmatic about her position.
"I wouldn't normally advise people to open a business during a pandemic but this particular restaurant was in planning for eight months. We had employed all the staff and it was ready. I had two choices: either I would have to retrench all 30 or 40 people I employ here, or open and try and bring in some turnover to at least cover their salaries," she says.
"At this point, I don't really care about making money – any restaurant that thinks it's going to be making money during the virus is being overly ambitious. I just want to trade, pay my staff and by December, take everyone's salary's back up. I don't care about anything else."
Sideris admits the last few months have been "tough". She's had to make staff redundant (fewer than 50 in total across the UAE businesses) and everyone has had to take pay cuts, including herself. Naturally, she's worried about her restaurants across the board, but especially those in South Africa.
Sideris first got involved in the restaurateur business alongside her father in Johannesburg, when she was studying psychology in university.
"I used to look at him and think 'he's so tired'. He'd come home with blisters on his feet, he's exhausted, and I'm never going to do this."
But things changed when she began helping her father at his restaurant, the Fishmonger. "I got hooked," she admits.
The rest, as they say, is history. Sideris, with no formal chef training, set about opening restaurants bearing her nickname.
With the help of her brother, she opened 17 restaurants across South Africa, before setting her sights on going international. Offers were on the table in Australia, the US and the UK, but it was Dubai that she finally seized upon. In 2014, the very first Tashas opened in The Galleria Al Wasl.
After three years of splitting her time between South Africa and Dubai, Sideris moved here permanently in 2018, leaving her brother to oversee the South African outlets.
While Dubai is renowned for its high number of restaurants, Tashas seems to have maintained its loyal fan base throughout the years. The cafe's popularity paved the way for Flamingo Room, which was born out of Sideris's desire to "show the world and to prove to myself we could do a more sophisticated kind of dining experience". Avli by Tashas followed thanks to an eagerness from half-Greek Sideris to show her "Athenian spirit".
It was already difficult to make money before Covid. What coronavirus has done is taken a magnifying glass and magnify those issues
Sideris believes that Tashas' "classic, old school" mentality, which doesn't pander to trends or fads, is one of the reasons the cafe has garnered such a cult following.
"I'm a stickler for old-school restaurateuring," she says. "I also love my restaurants. You'll find me at Avli every Thursday night, I never miss it. And most Fridays I'll have lunch or dinner at Flamingo Room."
The new Al Barsha branch of Tashas is the most health-focused Sideris has opened, and will, come cooler climes, feature a walking club.
She chose a location at the back of the mall, with less visibility from the street, because it looks out on to the back of a park to allow customers to "connect with nature".
Of course, the pandemic has resulted in a few operational adjustments. Her menu of 59 dishes has been reduced to 38 to cut down on waste. She's been vocal in her criticism of delivery aggregators and their commissions, so you can now order direct on Tashas' Instagram page.
In the four days that the Al Barsha outlet has been open, they've been serving roughly 40 to 50 people per day. Pre-pandemic, a Tashas cafe would serve about 400 people, and at the larger Abu Dhabi outlet, up to 800.
But Sideris is quick to point out that this is "not so bad", and many are faring worse.
"It was already difficult to make money before Covid. What the coronavirus has done is taken a magnifying glass to those issues. But this can also change some of the things that were broken."
Sideris is optimistic that by the end of the first quarter in 2021, around 80 per cent of the UAE food scene could be back up and running.
Indeed, she is planning to press ahead with three new dining concepts. Two will be a tribute to her father, Harry. The first, a take on her father's Fishmonger, will serve a simple and "accessible" menu of seafood, chips, rice, boiled potatoes and salad. She plans to name it Harry's Fishmonger.
Next will come a steakhouse and burger concept because, before fish, Harry Sideris helped found two "of the most famous steakhouses in South Africa".
Lastly, she'll be going into bespoke nougat, as she's bought into South African nougat company 1701, and wants to launch espresso bars where you can watch the sweets being made.
But as much as she sees her future here in Dubai, Sideris is quick to point out that she will look after her "foundations" in South Africa, and ensure her restaurants there survive the pandemic, too. She helped found non-profit The Restaurant Collective there, and has spent weeks lobbying the government to allow the restaurant industry to reopen.
"What I want to do with that platform is to upskill the entire South African food industry," she says. "It's my gift to Mother Africa to say hospitality is ingrained in us. We've got so much to offer."
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
RESULTS
5pm: Maiden | Dh80,000 | 1,600m
Winner: AF Al Moreeb, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap | Dh80,000 | 1,600m
Winner: AF Makerah, Adrie de Vries, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Handicap | Dh80,000 | 2,200m
Winner: Hazeme, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle
6.30pm: Handicap | Dh85,000 | 2,200m
Winner: AF Yatroq, Brett Doyle, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Shadwell Farm for Private Owners Handicap | Dh70,000 | 2,200m
Winner: Nawwaf KB, Patrick Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) | Dh100,000 | 1,600m
Winner: Treasured Times, Bernardo Pinheiro, Rashed Bouresly
1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List
James Mustich, Workman
Dr Graham's three goals
Short term
Establish logistics and systems needed to globally deploy vaccines
Intermediate term
Build biomedical workforces in low- and middle-income nations
Long term
A prototype pathogen approach for pandemic preparedness
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Five hymns the crowds can join in
Papal Mass will begin at 10.30am at the Zayed Sports City Stadium on Tuesday
Some 17 hymns will be sung by a 120-strong UAE choir
Five hymns will be rehearsed with crowds on Tuesday morning before the Pope arrives at stadium
‘Christ be our Light’ as the entrance song
‘All that I am’ for the offertory or during the symbolic offering of gifts at the altar
‘Make me a Channel of your Peace’ and ‘Soul of my Saviour’ for the communion
‘Tell out my Soul’ as the final hymn after the blessings from the Pope
The choir will also sing the hymn ‘Legions of Heaven’ in Arabic as ‘Assakiroo Sama’
There are 15 Arabic speakers from Syria, Lebanon and Jordan in the choir that comprises residents from the Philippines, India, France, Italy, America, Netherlands, Armenia and Indonesia
The choir will be accompanied by a brass ensemble and an organ
They will practice for the first time at the stadium on the eve of the public mass on Monday evening
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
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About Krews
Founder: Ahmed Al Qubaisi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Founded: January 2019
Number of employees: 10
Sector: Technology/Social media
Funding to date: Estimated $300,000 from Hub71 in-kind support
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
'THE WORST THING YOU CAN EAT'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday Valladolid v Osasuna (Kick-off midnight UAE)
Saturday Valencia v Athletic Bilbao (5pm), Getafe v Sevilla (7.15pm), Huesca v Alaves (9.30pm), Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid (midnight)
Sunday Real Sociedad v Eibar (5pm), Real Betis v Villarreal (7.15pm), Elche v Granada (9.30pm), Barcelona v Levante (midnight)
Monday Celta Vigo v Cadiz (midnight)
World Cup warm up matches
May 24 Pakistan v Afghanistan, Bristol; Sri Lanka v South Africa, Cardiff
May 25 England v Australia, Southampton; India v New Zealand, The Oval
May 26 South Africa v West Indies, Bristol; Pakistan v Bangladesh, Cardiff
May 27 Australia v Sri Lanka, Southampton; England v Afghanistan, The Oval
May 28 West Indies v New Zealand, Bristol; Bangladesh v India, Cardiff
One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
'Panga'
Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring Kangana Ranaut, Richa Chadha, Jassie Gill, Yagya Bhasin, Neena Gupta
Rating: 3.5/5
