When my daughter was starting ‘big’ school this month (post nursery days), I was dreading the even earlier wake-up times. The household now rises by 6 am sharp, and she is out of the house with her father within 45 frantic minutes.
However, there is a silver lining to this new schedule. I don’t leave for work till 8.45 am, and I get a delicious slice of ‘me time’; a whole two hours to myself in a quiet, empty apartment.
I was invited to the annual Lafayette Gourmet Food Fest 2015 that was held last Thursday, and the event was populated with the media, UAE food bloggers, and food enthusiasts.
The 3-day fest is on its fourth year running, and is being held at Galeries Lafayette, The Dubai Mall. It runs from Thursday 17th September to Saturday 19th September, and is loaded with exciting tastings, foodie workshops, and entertainment for the entire family.
The event was hosted by local and internationally renowned chefs, and I had the pleasure of tasting some gourmet dishes from around the globe. This post is a photographic tour of my experience.
Little Manila is a ‘first of its kind’ Filipino themed restaurant in Dubai, and is the global conglomerate, Al Ahli Group’s first venture into the food industry.
The restaurant has officially started business from this Monday 14th September, and I had the pleasure of being invited to the media event on Saturday.
Although sunny UAE doesn’t officially have four seasons, the fashionistas of Dubai ensure their wardrobes are updated with the latest hues. Autumn colors are upon us. Deep, dark suede browns and wine maroons with a spark of playful orange!
The hippie in me is super excited about Mango’s Boho Night A/W 2015 collection. The colors beautifully spell out ‘Autumn’, and the tasseled detailing and folklore prints are magically Bohemian.
Here are a few key pieces I’m craving:
Per Te or ‘for you‘ in Italian, has to be my favorite place for Italian food in Dubai. I raved about our dinner at their Jumeirah branch here, and also shared a few recipes by the talented Chef Glady of Per Te with you (try out his Wild Mushroom Risotto with Truffles or his super simple, yet elegant Almond Crusted Lamb Chops). So when I got an invite to visit their second branch in Business Bay, I was more than happy to oblige!
At just over a week old, Per Te is the latest addition to the row of restaurants on the Ground Floor of the Bay Avenue building in Business Bay. And when we got there for lunch last Friday, it was also the busiest! To avoid disappointment, I would recommend reserving a table (call 04 4371685).
Last Thursday saw us in Al Ain. For my day job, I put on the marketing hat for a retail giant here in the UAE, and we will be opening our very first store in Remal Mall this month.
Remal Mall is the newest addition to the mall scene in Al Ain, and is strategically located in the populated residential area of Al Sanaiya. So far only 30% of the mall is operational, and the management plan to have it up in full swing by the end of this year.
The mall has a distinctively Arabesque architecture, and after my meeting with the management, I discovered the perfect place to sit down and relax: the food-court on the topmost floor leads to the roof of the mall, and has a number of cushy seats for idly enjoying the evening breeze. I can envision this space being taken over by a shisha lounge in the near future!
You met the sauve Chef Richard of Max restaurant on The Tezzy Files earlier. Today, he has kindly agreed to share one of his favorite authentically Filipino recipes with us: Nilagang Baka sa Buko.
This is a slow-cooked beef short-ribs broth with buko (or young coconut) juice. A decadent comfort food that’s so easy to make, I hope you will give this recipe a try.
After my magical experience of South African fine-dining over the tunes of shosholaza at The Meat Co, I was over the moon when I received an invite for a wine tasting session at their branch in Souk Madinat Jumeirah.
This was an exclusive media invite, and a very special menu was created by the very talented Chef Chris. However, the highlight of the evening was the wine! Chef Chris’ creations for the night were the perfect pairing with the beautiful South African wine that was overflowing that night.
I met the lovely Abi Mitton who is the Marketing Manager for The Winery of Good Hope. Abi is a Briton, and her love for fine wines took her to the prestigious wine-making region of Stellenbosch, in South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.
I booked my trip home to New Zealand on Singapore Airlines. However, the flights between Singapore and New Zealand were operated by Air New Zealand as the two airlines have a partnership deal through Star Alliance.
I’ve flown Air New Zealand domestically within New Zealand, and have never been too impressed. The aircrafts for one are very tiny, and all you get onboard is a cup of tea or coffee accompanied by a miniature biscuit (it still makes me giggle how the flight attendants even announce this: ‘In a few minutes we will be serving you tea or coffee along with a biscuit‘!).
However, for the longer haul, Air New Zealand’s international flights are a class apart. Being a Kiwi myself, perhaps this is biased but here’s 3 reasons I thought Air New Zealand was ‘Sweet As’!
I am back in sunny Dubai after a whirlwind trip back home to New Zealand. Where did the past two weeks disappear?
I flew via Singapore to Auckland, New Zealand and on the return path, I had an 8 hour transit in Changi Airport, Singapore.
As I was travelling alone, the thought of dwindling away 8 hours in Singapore all by myself seemed all too daunting and I was looking up Google on airport rooms and transit lounges.
