POP! put on its first dinner on Thursday night, called Makloubeh - A Culinary Evening for Syria. (Makloubeh refers to the “upside-down” Levantine rice dish.) Dish name TK.CREDIT: Courtesy Maureen Gannon
POP! put on its first dinner on Thursday night, called Makloubeh - A Culinary Evening for Syria. (Makloubeh refers to the “upside-down” Levantine rice dish.) Dish name TK.CREDIT: Courtesy Maureen GannShow more

POP! dinner brings Dubai residents and Syria together at Fairmont The Palm



The UAE isn’t lacking in a variety of food or cultures, but a new pop-up dinner club brings both together with a finesse that’s rare - and welcome - in these parts.

After warming up with a few smaller events in February, POP! put on its first dinner on Thursday night, called Makloubeh - A Culinary Evening for Syria. (Makloubeh refers to the “upside-down” Levantine rice dish.)

The centrepiece, of course, was the braised lamb shank and wild mushroom makloubeh of chefs Mohammed Orfali and Tomas Reger, prefaced by a dried fig and date tabbouleh, eggplant moshatah and baterch, a chargrilled moutabbal topped with meat confit.

Guests sat at tables of their choosing in the lantern-lit courtyard of Dubai's Fairmont The Palm and, in between courses, were encouraged to converse with one another and read aloud tidbits about Syrian culture from postcards at their place settings (Did you know the earliest mermaid story dates back to Syria? Or that a Syrian invented the ice cream cone?). Among some of the brief but charming speakers were Orfali (you might know him from Fatafeat TV), who talked about his passion for his native cuisine, and film director Nabil Maleh, who addressed people in Arabic before a clip from one of his films was screened on one of the courtyard walls.

All of it had more creativity and intimacy than one could expect from the usual hotel dinner, so we’re looking forward with much anticipation to future events in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, including the next one, an Afghani pop-art barbeque. For more information, go to

artslife@thenational.ae

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Real estate tokenisation project

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.

The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

The smuggler

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.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

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
At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

The specs: 2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio

Price, base: Dh198,300
Engine: 2.0L in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 280hp @ 5,250rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 2,250rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7L / 100km