Top chefs offer a diverse taste of Dubai

Dubai The UAE's food fanatics started a weekend of cooking, tasting and celebrity chefs at the opening yesterday afternoon of Taste of Dubai, a three-day food festival showcasing the city's top restaurants that's now in its fifth year. As in past years, Media City Amphitheatre is playing host to the country's top chefs, who are serving up their signature dishes to an expected 20,000 people today and tomorrow. And 25 restaurants from around the city are offering their dishes, from Indian, Japanese and Korean to Turkish, British, Chinese and Latin American, with 16 new additions to the list — the largest number of new participants in the event's history, according to Chris Fountain, managing director of Turret Media, the organiser of the festival. "I think Taste of Dubai is a snapshot of what's happening in Dubai, one of the best cities for good living and entertainment, and we get to showcase that over three days," he said. "The restaurants are doing more than just food — they are recreating their atmosphere. It's not just a food event, it's a whole experience that showcases what they do." Also on the menu are cooking classes and demonstrations from international celebrity chefs, including British chef Gary Rhodes, who has been the main attraction at the festival since its inception. People like to go to places when the chefs are there," said Fountain. "Gary Rhodes has been there since the beginning and all the Grosvenor House restaurants are very popular. This year we have chef Nobu [Matsuhisa, of the Nobu chain] coming on Saturday, so we are delighted." "One thing I love is seeing people enjoying good food," said Rhodes. "It's exciting for us as chefs, because we don't often find the time to try all these restaurants. It's great camaraderie and team spirit. That shows with all of our guests, they become part of that big family." Aarti Sequeira, who lived in Dubai until she was 18, and has found global fame as a TV chef on the Food Network channel, said being invited to cook at the festival was "a homecoming". "I can't tell you how crazy it is," said a bubbly Sequiera after the cake was cut to officially open the event. "I moved here when I was a month old so I like to think that my first solid food was probably here." She will be teaching a class how to make chapatis in the Miele cooking school today at 5pm with a demonstration in the Philips chef's theatre at 3.50pm, where she will be showcasing her east-meets-west style with aloo tikki Benedict. "It's an amazing opportunity because all those restaurants and chefs you've been following, you get to meet them. So many times when you are eating someone's food you get a glimpse of their personality and their soul, so come down and you'll actually get to see the real thing."