The most popular ‘Dubai Food Festival’ has been unveiled today, and as expected, there are plenty of tasty treats that are good enough to tempt food lovers during the 17-day event.
This year, the Food Festival has its most packed programme till date. This year features the return of the popular beach canteen, apart from a wide range of cookery classes, budget-friendly dining deals, street food, and more.
The Chief Executive of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, Issam Kazim, speaking to the media about the festival, said that the Dubai Food Festival unites people across the city with a 17-day menu of incredible dining experiences.
Dubai Food Festival, which involves desert dining to stunning waterside restaurants, luxury food concept, and flavour of local dishes, is an opportunity to celebrate Dubai’s rich melting pot of cuisine and place the city firmly on the global gastronomy map for the world, Kazim pointed out.
Here’s the rundown on the foodie festivities, so that you can make the most out of the festival:
Beach Canteen - 23rd Feb to 11th March
The Beach Canteen is one of the major highlights of the festival. The new home is on the beach behind the Sunset Mall, on the Jumeirah Beach Road, which acts as a hub for the whole food festival, acting as the main box office for all ticketed events. It will bring together a host of food trucks, high-end beach dining experiences and masterclasses led by celebrity chefs.
You can find something new here daily during the festival, which include master-classes, cooking demos hosted by star chefs in the Al Islami Kitchen, the star chefs Heinz Bech and Jason Atherton, television personality Geoffrey Zakarian, and the teenage star Chef Bella, who would show how to make a bento lunch box.
There will also be demos from local chefs including Pierchic’s new executive chef, Paolo Bellamio who would create the signature dishes of the restaurant for the audience like white bean cappuccino and manjari chocolate assiete on 24th Feb 4pm.
The Beach Canteen will also display some of the best home-grown offerings, street food, and a range of other high-end beach-dining experiences. There will be a range of family-friendly activities, fitness classes, farmers’ markets, beach football, open-mic nights, children play areas and a beach cinema throughout the festival. Furthermore, there will be entertainment for the whole family, beach yoga workshops and a host of traditional Emirati food to taste. Entry is free.
Eat The World DXB – 23rd Feb to 25th Feb
‘Eat the World DXB’ is world’s ultimate street-food festival involving 25 international street-food traders from the UK, US and Singapore. Now into its second year, ‘Eat the World DXB’ will serve up their popular fare alongside some of the most notable street-food vendors in Dubai.
The Director of Food Market Events Middle East, Philip Lowery, which owns and operates Eat the World DXB, said that there is nothing else like it on the planet. About ten street food traders from the US will be at the event, including Harlem Seafood Soul Truck, Endless Summer Sweets, Peached Tortilla and Sushi and Seoul, Florida food truck that dishes up octopus skewers would all be a part of the street-food.
The 10 from UK include CrabbieShack, who bagged Best of London gong at the British Street Food Awards in 2015, The Cheese Truck, The Cheeky Italian and Bell & Brisket. Chef Shen Tan, popular for her nasi lemak, would represent Singapore, the street-food capital of the world, Kerbside Gourmet and MasterChef Asia winner Woo Wai Leong, who host cooking workshops in the Singapore pavilion kitchen.
Eat The World DXB at Burj Park in Downtown Dubai will remain open from 4pm to 11pm on 23rd February noon to 11pm on 24th and 25th Feb. Ticket fee would be Dh.50 at the door, and food costs extra.
Visit www.eattheworld.ae for more details.
Darnival – 24rd Feb to 25th Feb
Darnival is a two-day event that offers family-friendly cooking demonstration and tasting sessions and appearances by local and international chefs.
Appearing for the third time at the festival is Fatafeat Kitchen, which takes centre stage with cooking demos from some of the biggest celebrity chefs, including Leila Fathallah, Mohamad Orfali, Daad Abu-Jaber, Karim Haidar, Salma Soleiman, Wafik Belaid and Arda Turkmen.
Further, Dr. Partha Nandi, the star of Dlife’s show ‘Ask Dr. Nandi’, will host a question and answer session about health and well-being, followed by a live performance by Chutterbox from Dkids show Hi-5.
Darnival, which offers plenty of family fun in store, is at the Dubai Festival City Mall (1pm to 10pm) every day. Entry is free. For more details, visit www.darnival.com.
Taste of Dubai - 9th March to 11th March
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Taste of Dubai festival. The three-day foodie extravaganza at the Dubai Media City Amphitheatre marks the end of Dubai Food Festival.
Tastre of Dubai will offer a wonder opportunity for foodies to sample dishes they love from a huge selection of cuisine from most reputed restaurants in Dubai, all in a single place. There will also be live cooking demos and masterclasses from international chefs in the likes of Michelin-starred Michel Roux Jr, Gary Rhodes, Jean Christophe Novelli, Jenny Morris, and Luke Thomas, apart from plenty of entertainment, including a concert by Billy Ocean.
The ticket prices begin from Dh.75. For details, visit www.tasteofdubaifestival.com.
Restaurant Week – 23rd Feb to 11th March
To celebrate Dubai Food Festival, 15 of the city’s top fine dining spots have signed up for this year’s Dubai Restaurant Week. Therefore, this could be the ideal time to sample some of the finest dishes in Dubai. Some of these worth a mention here are:
Scape, Burj Al Arab – Enjoy a three course dinner at Scape as it is a great way to gain entry to the hallowed seven-star halls. Choose from gazpacho or ceviche starters, Asian chicken or a wild mushroom pizza for mains and cheesecake or lemon tart for dessert.
Gaucho, DIFC – Choose from starters which include the beef empanadas and chorizo with crushed chickpeas before sampling mains. There is salmon or truffle risotto on the offer too. Desserts include dulche du leche profiteroles.
Marina Social, InterContinental Dubai Marina – One of the most varied menus on offer with a choice of four starters include beef tartare, seared yellow fin tuna, mains such as veal short rib or chargrilled tiger prawns with chilli crab and desserts include a signature blackberry Eton Mess.
Okku H Hotel Dubai – Here, sample a selection of the popular Janpanese signature sharing plates, which include the popular crispy duck salad, spicy tuna on crispy rice, and chilli miso chicken, and chocolate fondant, apart from the interesting washable ice cream.
To book your spot, visit http://roundmenu.com/dubai/restaurant-week.
