FAB Group aims to lead in hospitality, dining and branding innovation across MENA

FAB Group, a new lifestyle and culinary venture created by UAE-based investment and development company DEAL Holdings, plans to launch popular boutique brands featuring Michelin-star talent from the UK and Europe across the MENA region, while also creating immersive culinary and lifestyle experiences.

FAB Group is committed to opening a minimum of 25 locations in the UAE over the next five years, with additional flagship destinations in Riyadh, Jeddah, Doha and the Red Sea.

Along with enhancing the region's growing reputation as a global culinary hub, the launch of FAB Group will support local talent, providing access to employment opportunities with roughly 800 jobs set to be created in the UAE alone over the next five years, and more across the wider GCC.

Andrew Cullen, FAB Group Regional F&B Director said: "Over the course of the next few months, we will be making some hugely exciting announcements which will significantly enhance the region's F&B offerings and redefine how the industry is perceived both on a regional and global level.

"The Middle East is already widely regarded as a leader in this space, with many of the world's biggest brands now operating in the region. Our ambition is to build on the fantastic work which has already been carried out and strengthen MENA's global status."

Abdalla Al'Mheiri, DEAL Holdings CEO added: "We are thrilled to introduce FAB Group to the Middle East market, marking a significant moment for the region's hospitality sector, which continues to thrive.

"Created by DEAL Holdings, FAB Group has big ambitions, and we are fully committed to making strategic investment, enabling the brand to evolve with a clear direction while achieving its long-term objectives."

FAB Group's portfolio will span fine dining, contemporary cuisine, café culture, nightlife, wellness concepts, and luxury brand collaborations. Several flagship projects are already in development and will be announced in the coming months.

A major investment and development company, DEAL Holdings boasts a substantial number of branded residences, hospitality projects and commercial real estate across the MENA region.

Momolato to open gelato cafe in Singapore

Source: Momolato. Momolato gelato is made with the finest of ingredients, sourced from around the world. 

Momolato - a major supplier of artisanal gelato in Singapore - is going front-of-house with its own cafe in Haji Lane in the third week of March 2021.

Founded by former investment banker-turned-chef Sharon Tay, the Singapore brand has been supplying premier hotels, restaurants and cafes for years.

“We work with F & B businesses and corporates to design exceptional, honest and all-natural gelato,” said Tay, who honed her craft in Italy in 2013, won the Gelato World Tour, Asia in 2015 and went on to become the top Asian gelato artisan in the finals in Italy in 2017.

“We’ve also been offering this through our online delivery service. Now we want to bring our brand of gelato love to a café as well.”

The tropical-themed shophouse-café in the Kampong Glam neighbourhood will feature 18 of Momolato’s gourmet, pioneering keto, vegan and sugar-free gelato flavours as well as their full range popsicles, gelato cakes, nama chocolate and artisanal halal creations.

Momolato offers diabetic-friendly flavours. Favourites include the keto nama chocolate, keto Salted Caramel with Crushed Cookies and Caramel Sauce, Stylo Milo Dina with marshmallows, dark Chocolate Sorbet and the popular Chocolate hazelnut. Nama chocolate is a type of chocolate ganache that is made with cream and chocolate.

The café will also include Momolato’s gelato cakes including Korean strawberry cheesecake; Cookies and cream, made using handcrafted Hokkaido cream gelato and Oreo cookies; and star flavour Cotton Candy Bubble gum, a cake with blue and pink swirls.

Eat with Love by Samira el Khafir features Lebanese-inspired recipes, with a twist

Melbourne-based Samira el Khafir and her seven siblings were never allowed into their mother's kitchen when they were growing up. As the youngest, she managed to break this rule when she was in her teens, falling in love with cooking as a result. 

"My mother was unwell and needed help in the kitchen and that’s where my passion for food began," said the mother of two, who has worked as a hair stylist and beauty therapist.

"Cooking has been a passion from when I was in my teens. It wasn’t until I suffered with post-natal depression that I realised life is just simply too short to put my dreams on hold, so I entered Masterchef 2013 season 5, became a finalist and finished on top three. I never thought I would make it so far into the show but I did it."

When planning the book, Samira el Khafir
said she hoped the book would give
readers an insight to how she
found the love for food and how
her food has changed since being
on Masterchef.

Besides being in the Masterchef top three, el Khafir has gone on to share her love for cooking. She has published a book, Eat with Love, which includes recipes for most of the winning dishes she cooked at the Masterchef competition. 

In the introduction of the book el Khafir says that she hopes to spread her love of Middle Eastern food to the world of food lovers. "In this cookbook I have shared some traditional dishes and also have many of my MasterChef creations that I really hope you all enjoy. Remember, cook with love, so you can eat with love," she says.

El Khafir explains that MasterChef, season 5 was an eye opener for her. "It opened my eyes to culinary techniques and an understanding as to why I cook the way I do. I took the risk and ventured out and have produced my very own modern Middle Eastern cuisine. I have infused different flavours and techniques to what I would usually cook and turned my dishes into MasterChef quality dishes," she said.

While cooks can try out the MasterChef-influenced recipes in Eat with Love, el Khafir's food can also be tasted at her own cafe. Since Masterchef she has opened the Modern Middle Eastern Cafe at the Islamic Museum of Australia, which she runs personally. 

While el Khafir's food is clearly influenced by Lebanese cuisine which she learned from her mother, she later explored African flavours after she married an Egyptian, and then branched out further. "My family has grown to be very multicultural with family from Europe, Africa, Australia and the Middle East and I am so pleased to be a part of the mixed range of nationalities in my family because it has introduced me to all different types of cuisines," she said.

"My dream is to open kitchen workshops for disadvantaged children in Australia where they can come and cook, have a good time and go home with the meals they’ve prepared." 

Some recipes from el Khafir can be viewed here, including her first 'dish of the day' at Masterchef, fatet jaj. 

The recipe for modern baklava is found
in Samira el Khafir's book.

"Traditionally this dish is layered bread, then chicken, then yogurt, then nuts, but I turned it into a modernised version on Masterchef and it got me 'dish of the day'! A lot of Lebanese people make this dish; mine is a little different, I like to play around with my recipe so I hope you all like it," she said.

Eat with Love has 140 pages, and features about 80 recipes, for entrees, mains, desserts, spices and dips. The book is available on Amazon, where the hardcover edition costs US$17.99**, but also available at all major bookstores and online. It is also sold at the Islamic Museum of Australia.

*Images from Samira el Khafir.

**Pricing may vary depending on the retail outlet.

Shangri-La Dubai offers iftar promotion

The Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai, invites guests to share the ceremonial breaking of the fast in the family-friendly Dunes Café or at the grand Al Bader Ballroom. 

The hotel, in the heart of the city along Sheikh Zayed Road, less than five minutes from Dubai Mall and the Burj Khalifa, is offering an iftar buffet over Ramadhan in 2014 with Middle Eastern specialties and beverages, including traditional hot and cold mezze, slow roasted lamb ouzi with oriental rice, whole-baked salmon harra and a variety of Arabic sweets and desserts.

Dunes Café has a special price of Dhs130 per person for the first week of Ramadhan, after which it is Dhs165 per person. 

For more information or to make a reservation, call +971 4405 2703 or email f&breservations.sldb@shangri-la.com. 

Source: Shangri-La Dubai website.

For larger groups considering a unique iftar experience, the Al Bader Ballroom can accommodate groups of 25 or more people. The ballroom will be transformed into an Arabic mirage with coloured silks, antique lanterns and exquisite food for a private buffet service. 

For more information or to make a reservation, call +971 4343 8888 or email events.sldb@shangri-la.com.