Taste of Dubai is ready to take your order 13.03.2013: Dubai’s favourite food, drink and music festival breaks records with 10 celebrity chefs and biggest ever menu

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




photo caption: Taste of Dubai opens on Thursday with celebrity chefs including Reza Mahammad.


Dubai’s most hotly anticipated food, drink and music festival opens its doors with 30 of the city’s best restaurant kitchens on Thursday as visitors are warned to expect an overload of flavours and a fiesta of fun all weekend.


Presented by Philips and running from 14 to 16 March at the Dubai Media City Amphitheatre, Taste of Dubai will feature more than 150 dishes, from dumplings and sushi, steaks and pasta, chicken, lamb and even goat, and not forgetting the best cheesecakes and desserts in the UAE.


Ten celebrity chefs have jetted into town for the must-attend event, including newcomers Gizzi Erskine, Britain’s top TV kitchen star, and author Ariana Bundy, the Giggling Gourmet Jenny Morris and the Spice Prince of India, Reza Mahammad from the Food Network. 


Regular visitors will welcome the popular return of Gary Rhodes, Richard Sandoval, Vineet Bhatia, Jason Vale, Atul Kochhar and Giorgio Locatelli, alongside local talent Chef Osama, Chef Khulood and Chef Andy Campbell.


With 33 chef displays in the Philips Chef’s Theatre, 26 interactive master classes in the Kenwood Cookery School and dozens MMI Beverage Theatre sessions, visitors can load their plates high with things to do, or simply choose to indulge and relax on beanbags in the sunshine.



Celebrity Chef Highlights


6:00pm    Thursday 14 March    Jason Vale    Philips Chefs’ Theatre
6:40pm    Thursday 14 March    Jenny Morris    Kenwood Cookery School
7:40pm    Thursday 14 March    Gary Rhodes    Philips Chefs’ Theatre
2:10pm    Friday 15 March    Atul Kochhar    Philips Chefs’ Theatre
5:30pm    Friday 15 March    Giorgio Locatelli    Philips Chefs’ Theatre
6:00pm    Friday 15 March    Gizzi Erskine    Kenwood Cookery School
6:00pm    Saturday 16 March    Reza Mahammad    Kenwood Cookery School
8:00pm    Saturday 16 March    Vineet Bhatia    Kenwood Cookery School
8:50pm    Saturday 16 March    Richard Sandoval    Philips Chefs’ Theatre



Twelve new restaurants join the Taste of Dubai bill this year, including brand new outlets 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, as well as Armani/Amal and Armani/Ristorante from the Armani Hotel Dubai, and Asado and Thiptara from The Palace Downtown, Fogo Vigo in the Ocean View Hotel and No.5 Bar & Lounge from the Ritz Carlton DIFC.


Visitors will have a chance to sample dishes, which all cost between AED15 to AED30, from restaurants spread across Dubai, including Rivington Grill, Nobu, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, Rhodes Mezzanine, Seafire Steakhouse, 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.


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 AED80 per person, while VIP tickets are AED240 per person, 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.  Limited tickets are still available on the door but are selling fast.  More information: www.tasteofdubaifestival.com.





photo caption:  Giorgio Locatelli’s ravioli with black truffle is one of the star dishes at Taste of Dubai this year.



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
-   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

   

- Lindsay Johnston, Total Communications Dubai - also photos