ABU DHABI // By his own admission, Jean Hurstel was wary of the prospect of welcoming Yannick Alléno into his kitchen.
Mr Hurstel, 31, trained under the likes of Alain Passard and Alain Ducasse, and Bord Eau at the Shangri-La Hotel, the restaurant where he is now head chef, and is recognised as among the best in the country.
But Mr Alléno is one of the greats. His Paris establishment, Restaurant Le Meurice, has three Michelin stars and is lauded by gastronomes and critics the world over.
"I'd seen him in the magazines," said Mr Hurstel, "but never met him before - so of course I was nervous to start.
"He is a chef who is at the top of his game, so this was a great chance for me to learn.
"I asked lots of questions and watched him carefully. He told me that I should go into the restaurant and eat my food as a customer would - course after course.
"That way you discover whether or not the dishes on the menu are in symphony with each other."
The four-day friendly takeover was part of Gourmet Abu Dhabi, which began on February 2 and ends on Thursday. Over those 16 days the capital has been graced by the presence of international chefs, from acclaimed classic cooks to rising stars of molecular gastronomy.
These "Epicurean Promotions" have gone down well with the dining public, with most selling out well in advance. Perhaps more surprisingly, given the notorious territoriality of chefs, they are popular with the hosts, too.
Amrish Sood, the executive chef at Ushna, the modern Indian restaurant in Souk Qaryat al Beri, invited Atul Kochhar to cook in his kitchen.
Mr Kochhar is regarded as one of the pioneers of modern Indian cuisine. In 2001, he became the first Indian chef to win a Michelin star for his Tamarind restaurant in London. He won a second in 2007 for Benares, also in London.
"His style is similar to ours," said Mr Sood, "so we thought he was the right person to help put our ideas and views across."
And he enjoyed the experience. "We learnt from Atul's cooking techniques, from his approach to ingredients and from his style of working."
Sasi Ganesan, the restaurant's manager, was no less effusive. The event, he said, raised Ushna's profile and brought in new customers.
Mr Hurstel echoed this view, saying the visit had been an opportunity for diners to "taste something different or visit the restaurant for the first time".
For the duration of Mr Alléno's visit, Bord Eau replaced its entire menu with one devised by its guest chef.
Ushna took the opposite approach, offering all its normal dishes alongside Mr Kochhar's.
"People often come to Ushna to eat a specific dish, the murgh makani for example," said Mr Sood. "We didn't want them to be disappointed if it wasn't available."
Darren Andow, the executive chef at Yas Island Rotana, hosted the Frenchman Vincent Pouessel at the Blue Grill steakhouse.
Mr Pouessel is the executive chef at the one-starred Aureole in Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, which is known for its American-style food with French influences. Mr Andow chose to serve a cut-down version of the Blue Grill's normal menu alongside Mr Pouessel's.
"We didn't want to alienate our regular clientele," he said, "so we kept the steaks on and ensured that all the pricing was in line with the current menu, giving people a chance to sample food cooked by a Michelin-starred chef, at a reasonable price."
Among the diners doing that were Isobel Suter and her husband. They eat out regularly in Abu Dhabi, but visited Blue Grill for the first time to sample Mr Pouessel's menu.
"The food was fantastic," she said, "but I was also really impressed with the venue. Because of the event, we have discovered a new place to dine and know that it is worth making the effort to drive out to Yas Island for."
Mr Andow admitted hosting an outsider had been "a learning curve".
"We let them get on with things," he said, "but at the same time they had to abide by our rules and respect our regulations."
At Ushna, Mr Sood is already looking forward to next year. "Working with different chefs is always inspiring," he said. "It helps us to keep learning and to understand the cuisine better.
"Each evening Atul and I would sit down and talk about what we'd done during the day and how we could improve".
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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.”
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