It's been almost a year since home-grown Dubai restaurant 3 Fils took the coveted number one spot in the inaugural Mena’s 50 Best Restaurants list, and the team are still feeling the effects.
“More international guests are coming," Ahmed Saleh, chief executive of The Lab Holding, which runs 3 Fils, tells The National. "There has been around a 15 to 20 per cent increase in traffic.
“You really feel the difference. Being part of a list, and of course being number one, makes you part of people's checklist of restaurants they want to try,” he says.
The Japanese-inspired restaurant, located at Jumeirah Fishing Harbour, was voted No 1 by an anonymous panel, beating some of the world's most prestigious restaurants with outposts in the region.
And ahead of the second Mena's 50 Best list being announced on Monday, Saleh says he is ready to pass the baton. “There are people in this region who have been working really hard, and they deserve to be recognised regionally and globally,” he says. “I'm excited about a new era that the list will usher in for the region.”
The arrival of the World's 50 Best and the Michelin Guide in the region has undoubtedly helped to shine a spotlight on the UAE's food scene, says chef and author Anissa Helou, who earlier this month won the Foodics Icon Award by Mena's 50 Best Restaurants.
“It has given an opportunity to chefs who did not have global exposure," she says. "That makes a huge difference, to the chef, to the cuisine and to the region in general.”
Helou has written extensively about Middle Eastern cuisine, with the hopes of shedding light on what she describes as “underexposed” areas in the food world.
While awards are undoubtedly good for the region, celebrity chef Ali Ghzawi, who won Top Chef Middle East in 2019, says he hopes the 2023 Mena list includes more venues offering Middle Eastern cuisine.
“A lot of the concepts from last year’s list were not Middle Eastern,” he tells The National. “That made me question: is this how it’s supposed to be?
“If you are coming to the Middle East, you need to have the best Middle Eastern food. I don't want to see another sushi brand, wok place or steakhouse making it to the list.”
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Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
- Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
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Henrik Stenson's finishes at Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship:
2006 - 2
2007 - 8
2008 - 2
2009 - MC
2010 - 21
2011 - 42
2012 - MC
2013 - 23
2014 - MC
2015 - MC
2016 - 3
2017 - 8
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
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Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
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A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
