Tom Arnel has been at the forefront of Dubai’s casual dining scene for more than seven years, since his Al Quoz cafe Tom and Serg became an instant favourite. But with his latest venture, it’s time to take things up a notch – with The Guild, a concept born in Dubai, for Dubai.
Arnel’s company Bull and Roo, which is also responsible for Common Grounds and The Sum of Us, is set to launch the eight-brand dining room experience next year, in the Dubai International Financial Centre’s recently opened 53-storey ICD Brookfield Place building.
“Dubai’s restaurant scene is absolutely amazing. It really is world class, but the big and obvious elephant in the room is that they’re all concepts that have been created somewhere else and have been brought into the city and forced into places, sometimes unnaturally. So we’re trying to make the most of this space and give Dubai what we think it needs,” he says.
He promises The Guild will be unlike anything Dubai has seen before. "My number-one goal is to create the most electric dining room in this city," Arnel tells The National.
The Guild has been four years in the making. Arnel was first approached about the 15,000-square-foot licensed space on the ground floor of the commercial centre in 2016, and it was an offer he couldn’t refuse to at least pitch for. “I put a pitch together within a couple of weeks, a high-level idea,” he says. “The guys loved it and the rest is history.”
The Guild will be an amalgamation of Arnel’s years of work within Dubai’s culinary scene, he says, bringing together the people he has looked up to and been influenced by over the years to help create the “best team possible”.
“It’s literally a dream project, a dream come true for a chef and an entrepreneur, and someone who has multiple brands,” he says. “I feel like there are no rules in a space like this and I have an opportunity to customise a concept for the people of Dubai, whether that’s locals or expats.
“I feel an amazing responsibility to get this right because it’s not going to be something that’s imported. It’s something that’s being created here with me and my team. And we feel a sense of pride to be given the opportunity, literally on the doorstep of the DIFC and on the world stage.
“I honestly don’t think there is any better restaurant location than this in this city. It’s probably one of the most fabulous feelings I think I’ve ever had in my career.”
Arnel is, at least for now, keeping details of the eight concepts that will make up The Guild close to his chest, but each will have a talented chef at the helm, and, like his other Bull and Roo brands, the food will have quality and sustainability at its forefront.
"The cooking will be theatrical, it'll be powerful and it will be memorable," he says. "It's going to be robust as well. We're trying not to be too fancy with anything, we're trying to cook with our hands, cook with passion, use the best ingredients and not overdo them. I can't say too much yet, but we are going to let the cooking methods do the talking."
The food, Arnel says, will be elevated by a programme of curated entertainment such as live music, which will adapt with the mood of the venue as it evolves from a casual breakfast spot to a buzzing dinner setting through the day.
“From celebrations to just coming on a whim, you’ll be walking into an electric dining room. My goal, to get people’s heart rates going by experiencing the dining room in its full flight, which means music, entertainment and dining all under one roof.”
What Arnel is very clear about, however, is that The Guild will not be a food hall. “I’m not saying it’s casual. I’m not saying it’s fine dining ... but it’s definitely not a dining hall and it’s not a food hall. It’s a collective of ideas all amalgamated into one massive room.”
"I hope that this venue puts Dubai on the map as a home-grown concept. Something of this scale is pretty hard to find."
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
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
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The Details
Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Racecard
5.25pm: Etihad Museum – Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,200m
6pm: Al Shindaga Museum – Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (Dirt) 1,200m
6.35pm: Poet Al Oqaili – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (T) 1,400m
7.10pm: Majlis Ghurfat Al Sheif – Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,600m
7.45pm: Hatta – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (T) 1,400m
8.20pm: Al Fahidi – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 2,200m
8.55pm: Zabeel Trophy – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh120,000 (T) 1,600m
9.30pm: Coins Museum – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,600m
10.05pm: Al Quoz Creative – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (T) 1,000m
Bareilly Ki Barfi
Directed by: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring: Kriti Sanon, Ayushmann Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao
Three and a half stars
Read more from Johann Chacko
The biog
Full name: Aisha Abdulqader Saeed
Age: 34
Emirate: Dubai
Favourite quote: "No one has ever become poor by giving"
Gully Boy
Director: Zoya Akhtar
Producer: Excel Entertainment & Tiger Baby
Cast: Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Kalki Koechlin, Siddhant Chaturvedi
Rating: 4/5 stars
MATCH INFO
Fixture: Ukraine v Portugal, Monday, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
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500 People from Gaza enter France
115 Special programme for artists
25 Evacuation of injured and sick
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?
Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.
They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.
“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.
He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.
