Taste of Dubai with more than 150 dishes on offer from 30 restaurants 07.03.2013: City’s favourite food, drink and music festival breaks records with 10 celebrity chefs and biggest ever menu

City’s favourite food, drink and music festival breaks records with 10 celebrity chefs and biggest ever menu




photo caption: With 30 restaurants, 10 celebrity chefs and more than 150 dishes on offer, this year’s Taste of Dubai is set to smash all records.



More than 150 dishes from a record 30 restaurants will be on offer this year at Taste of Dubai, whetting the appetites of excited visitors keen to see one of ten celebrity chefs over the three day food, drink and music festival.


Presented by Philips and running from 14 to 16 March, Taste of Dubai will introduce 12 new restaurants at the Dubai Media City Amphitheatre, including many which have just opened to the public such as Prime 68, Izakaya and Rang Mahal by Atul Kochhar in the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai and Frevo in The Fairmont The Palm.


Ten celebrity chefs are booked to star this year including star of primetime British TV Gizzi Erskine and TV chef and author Ariana Bundy, as well as Gary Rhodes, Richard Sandoval, Vineet Bhatia, Jason Vale, Atul Kochhar, Giorgio Locatelli plus the Giggling Gourmet Jenny Morris and the Spice Prince of India, Reza Mahammad from The Food Network.


A Tasty Tally

-    More than 150 dishes

-    30 restaurants – 12 new to the festival

-   International celebrity chefs: 10

-    6,790 potatoes used to produce the famous Rivington Grill chips

-    33 Philips Chefs’ Theatre Displays

-    15 – 30: The cost in AED of all dishes

-    Number of kilograms of black cod ordered for the famous Nobu dish: 70

-    26 Kenwood Cookery School interactive sessions

-    2,700 pieces of handmade Ravioli for Ronda Locatelli

-    Satisfying gastronomy spread across 31 hours (3 days)

-    5 international and regional bands performing


photo caption:    Ariana Bundy, one of 10 celebrity chefs at this year’s Taste of Dubai


Visitors will have a chance to sample dishes, which all cost between AED15 to AED30, from restaurants such as Armani/Amal and Armani/Ristorante, Asado and Thiptara from The Palace Hotel, No 5 Bar & Lounge in the Ritz Carlton DIFC, Rivington Grill, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, Rhodes Mezzanine, Nobu, Gaucho, Ronda Locatelli and The Gramercy.


By simply buying a ticket to the festival, visitors are entered into a prize draw to win the Ultimate Dining Experience worth AED15,000, comprising 30 vouchers worth AED500 from every participating restaurant so that the winner can continue to enjoy a Taste of Dubai throughout the year.


With 33 chef displays in the Philips Chef’s Theatre and 26 interactive sessions in the Kenwood Cookery School, there is sure to be hundreds of saucepans adding to the sizzling festival atmosphere. Budding chefs can sign up to the Cookery School on a first come first served basis, with each masterclass open for registration 30 minutes before they begin.



Philips Chefs’ Theatre Opening Day Highlights (Thursday 14 March)

-   4:20pm    Jenny Morris and Reza Mahammad, The Food Network
-    6:00pm    Jason Vale
-    6:50pm    Gizzi Erskine
-    7:40pm    Gary Rhodes, Grosvenor House



Kenwood Cookery School Opening Day Highlights (Thursday 14 March)

-    5:40pm    Tom Egerton, Grosvenor House
-    8:40pm    Chef Andy Campbell
-  9:40pm    Vineet Bhatia




photo caption:  The famous black cod from Nobu.


Dine in the Dark with Chef Andy Campbell is a new feature this year which will test the senses when visitors are blindfolded and served three large canapés and a glass of grape.  Their sense of smell, taste and texture will help them to identify 20 ingredients from a list of 100; by guessing correctly, they will be entered into a prize draw to win an exclusive fine dining experience at home courtesy of Chef Andy Campbell, worth AED5,000. 


Providing the best soundtrack to a weekend of incredible cuisine, the Entertainment Stage, sponsored by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts will star two UK acts, The Counterfeit Beatles and The Noisettes, as well as regional musicians Lisa Theunissen and The Makers, Rachael Calladine and The Everyday People, and The Boxtones, alongside a selection of Virgin Radio DJs, fire dancers and samba performers.


Standard entry costs AED60 in advance and AED80 on the door, while VIP tickets are AED220 per person in advance and AED240 on the door, providing fast track entry, access to the VIP enclosure, two free drinks at the VIP bar, three free dishes from any participating restaurant and entry into a free prize draw.  Tickets are on sale now, selling fast and are available from www.tasteofdubaifestival.com.




- Lindsay Johnston, Total Communications Dubai - also photos