Expectations can be a funny old thing when critiquing restaurants. With scant prior knowledge of The Foundry’s architecture, claims that it “quite literally transforms” from an all-day dining spot into a stylish steakhouse by night had us chuckling – not for the first time in the history of the written word, had somebody misunderstood the definition of “literally”. How wrong we were.
The Foundry, which is perched on the mezzanine of the new Southern Sun hotel, majors on interior design that’s genuinely quite remarkable. Three large tables form impressive “islands” in a water feature at the front of the restaurant, while huge, sliding copper partitions can be moved by staff to alter the entire layout of the main dining area’s front walls.
Once inside that dining area, the wonder continues. Most eye-catching is the eclectic array of hanging lighting, from huge bulbous shades to more delicate numbers, and The Foundry’s pièce de résistance: a row of cylindrical, floor-to-ceiling copper dividers. At first, they appear to be superfluous wall-mounted design features – but the doors rotate backwards to display ingenious semicircular private dining tables for two that can either open out into the restaurant or be fully closed again for complete seclusion.
At this juncture, we thought, the food could be mediocre and we’d still be infatuated. Frustratingly, that was almost exactly what happened with our starters. The signature frito misto, with garlic aioli and organic salad, was niftily embellished by miniatures of balsamic vinegar and olive oil, yet the passable battered assorted seafood didn’t feel like a notable catch.
My dining partner, meanwhile, was a little perplexed by the tasting of handcrafted burrata (burrata supposedly being mozzarella and cream). Our waiter intimated that it contained some form of beef, which proved patently untrue, while it was hard to glean whether the buffalo mozzarella had actually been transformed into burrata. In short, Dh70 for a fairly bland salad left us feeling a touch cheesed off.
Gladly, come the mains, steak was The Foundry’s business – and business was good.
My 400g entrecôte was a hulking success of bone-in, grass-fed, 21-day dry-aged Irish meat – tender yet with the full-bodied mettle you would hope for from such a manly monster. My chosen sides (Madagascar pepper sauce and steak fries) kept things traditional, albeit the latter comprising an oddly sparse trio of chunky, potato-wedge-sized morsels.
On the menu’s American section, only after ordering were we informed that the last Angus cowboy steak has ridden out of town in the belly of a previous customer (a couple of our first-choice sides and sauces were also unavailable). Instead, my dining partner saddled up for a similarly grain-fed, 300g USDA prime tenderloin, with truffle potato mash and signature steak sauce. The circular steak sat modestly at the centre of a large plate, but what it lacked in volume was more than made up for in density and flavour. The real boon, though, was the cutlery: you select your steak knife from a choice of six handles (I opted for rosewood).
A relatively meagre five-item dessert range provided quality over quantity: the deconstructed cheesecake was a fancy take on the pudding staple, with cylinders of cake standing opposite a crumbly disc of Graham cracker base and a Rorschach test-style helping of forest berry compote. The berry and fruit minestrone with yogurt ice cream was a similarly half-healthy, half-indulgent proposition.
For a four-star hotel’s restaurant, The Foundry is at the top end of the price range. While the food only just warrants the outlay, the conversation-worthy interior design alone is sufficient reason to demand a visit.
• A meal for two at The Foundry, Southern Sun, Abu Dhabi, costs Dh825. Call 02 818 4888. Reviewed meals are paid for by The National and conducted incognito
aworkman@thenational.ae
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"
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
ALL THE RESULTS
Bantamweight
Siyovush Gulmomdov (TJK) bt Rey Nacionales (PHI) by decision.
Lightweight
Alexandru Chitoran (ROU) bt Hussein Fakhir Abed (SYR) by submission.
Catch 74kg
Omar Hussein (JOR) bt Tohir Zhuraev (TJK) by decision.
Strawweight (Female)
Seo Ye-dam (KOR) bt Weronika Zygmunt (POL) by decision.
Featherweight
Kaan Ofli (TUR) bt Walid Laidi (ALG) by TKO.
Lightweight
Abdulla Al Bousheiri (KUW) bt Leandro Martins (BRA) by TKO.
Welterweight
Ahmad Labban (LEB) bt Sofiane Benchohra (ALG) by TKO.
Bantamweight
Jaures Dea (CAM) v Nawras Abzakh (JOR) no contest.
Lightweight
Mohammed Yahya (UAE) bt Glen Ranillo (PHI) by TKO round 1.
Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) bt Aidan Aguilera (AUS) by TKO round 1.
Welterweight
Mounir Lazzez (TUN) bt Sasha Palatkinov (HKG) by TKO round 1.
Featherweight title bout
Romando Dy (PHI) v Lee Do-gyeom (KOR) by KO round 1.
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 650hp at 6,750rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,500-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km
Price: From Dh796,600
On sale: now
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.”
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
