Diners taking photos of their meals is now a common sight at restaurants, but a vibrant Dubai venue is turning the tables.
At Honeycomb Hi-Fi, a stylish fusion of Japanese Izakaya and Speakeasy, you will occasionally find patrons aiming their phones aloft towards the speakers, hoping to identify the eclectic music being played by the resident DJ.
“That means we are doing our job,” beams co-owner Varun Khemaney. “I get more gratification when people can't find the music online because they will know that they are listening to music they can only find here. It makes the whole experience more unique and it's creating the kind of memory that will be ingrained in them.”
It's an approach resulting in a growing word of mouth popularity for Honeycomb Hi-Fi, which quietly opened in 2022. Accessible through a hidden door at Pullman Dubai Downtown, it’s a dining outlet where music doesn’t play second fiddle to the menu.
Khemaney and co-owner Khalil Dahmash are responsible for “the sonic flavour” of the venue.
This includes working with resident DJs, dubbed ‘selectors’, and international guests in curating a nightly programme of music ranging from deep dives into particular genres to highlighting classic albums such as Sade’s 1992 RnB masterpiece Love Deluxe and 1998's Moon Safari by the French duo Air.
While music-driven culinary spots have gained traction in Dubai, from the reggae vibes of Miss Lily's and world music sounds of Soul Kitchen to Electric Pawnshop with its classic hip-hop DJ sets, Honeycomb Hi-Fi is as close as it gets to a Tokyo-style listening bar in the UAE.
Dating back to postwar Japan in the 1950s, listening bars primarily functioned as a space where music enthusiasts could gather to listen to their favourite records on a high-quality sound system.
When it comes to audio specs, Honeycomb Hi-Fi's speakers are designed by none other than Devon Turnbull, whose custom-made sound system has been used by the late fashion designer Virgil Abloh and Grammy Award winning producer Mark Ronson, among others.
“It's basically about listening to music in its purest form and that includes also playing really nothing but vinyl records,” Khemaney said. “It was an 11-month process to get the sound system because we had to choose the right kind of Spiral Oak wood to match the venue's design. It was all built in the US before it was transported over to Dubai.”
Culinary inspiration is also sourced abroad with Matt Abergel on board as executive chef. The American now divides his time between Dubai and Hong Kong, where he co-owns Japanese Izakaya Yardbird.
The music and food need to have a symbiotic relationship
Matt Abergel
At Honeycomb Hi-Fi he has introduced a range of new dishes, such as the Butternut Squash Tempura and Akami Tuna Sashimi. Crafting a menu for a listening bar can be a counter-intuitive process.
“Normally as a chef you want people’s attention focused solely on the food and anything else is a distraction,” he explains. “But with this concept in Dubai you have to adjust and understand that the music and food need to have a symbiotic relationship.
“While the music changes nightly, the food stays the same. That doesn't mean it takes a back seat or anything like that, it instead creates the foundation for the whole restaurant.”
Abergel says the menu, with its Dandan noodles, Wagyu Katsu sliders and kimchi fried rice, is the kind of comfort food – albeit elevated – you will find in most listening bars in Japan.
“I describe it as a relaxed food with no real pretence. It's not the kind of food that would have been touched by 30 people to add garnishers with tweezers or anything like that,” he says.
“My purpose when putting a dish together is for people to enjoy the experience, and that includes appreciating the flavours as well the great sound.”
When both aspects are on song, Abergel says a restaurant’s quality is immediately elevated. “The actual acoustics and lighting of a place is often overlooked and it can really affect the dining experience,” he says.
“This is why listening bars have survived for all these decades and are now flourishing in Europe, because it does what customers ultimately want to feel when they go to their favourite place, and that's the sense of community.
“Now that takes a longer time than some investors are prepared for and that can cause issues, but the payoff you get is the right kind of people who come to the venue.”
While not every music lover is the same, the restaurant is attempting to strike the right note when it comes to catering to various patrons.
Weekdays and Sundays are often recommended for those attending for the music being played, while the volume is up a notch on the weekends as the joint takes on an intimate club vibe.
“How do I measure success? Well obviously at the end of the day we are businessmen and that's partly why we are here,” Khemaney says. “But the ultimate way for me to gauge whether we are doing the right thing is how we are engaging with the community. Dubai has become such a cosmopolitan city and there are so many cool people from around the world here.
“I love the idea of them stumbling upon our place or discovering it from their favourite DJ. That's success for me too.”
Fixtures
Friday Leganes v Alaves, 10.15pm; Valencia v Las Palmas, 12.15am
Saturday Celta Vigo v Real Sociedad, 8.15pm; Girona v Atletico Madrid, 10.15pm; Sevilla v Espanyol, 12.15am
Sunday Athletic Bilbao v Getafe, 8.15am; Barcelona v Real Betis, 10.15pm; Deportivo v Real Madrid, 12.15am
Monday Levante v Villarreal, 10.15pm; Malaga v Eibar, midnight
Boulder shooting victims
• Denny Strong, 20
• Neven Stanisic, 23
• Rikki Olds, 25
• Tralona Bartkowiak, 49
• Suzanne Fountain, 59
• Teri Leiker, 51
• Eric Talley, 51
• Kevin Mahoney, 61
• Lynn Murray, 62
• Jody Waters, 65
Know your camel milk:
Flavour: Similar to goat’s milk, although less pungent. Vaguely sweet with a subtle, salty aftertaste.
Texture: Smooth and creamy, with a slightly thinner consistency than cow’s milk.
Use it: In your morning coffee, to add flavour to homemade ice cream and milk-heavy desserts, smoothies, spiced camel-milk hot chocolate.
Goes well with: chocolate and caramel, saffron, cardamom and cloves. Also works well with honey and dates.
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Directed by Sam Mendes
Starring Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, Daniel Mays
4.5/5
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
The Book of Collateral Damage
Sinan Antoon
(Yale University Press)
It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
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Top New Zealand cop on policing the virtual world
New Zealand police began closer scrutiny of social media and online communities after the attacks on two mosques in March, the country's top officer said.
The killing of 51 people in Christchurch and wounding of more than 40 others shocked the world. Brenton Tarrant, a suspected white supremacist, was accused of the killings. His trial is ongoing and he denies the charges.
Mike Bush, commissioner of New Zealand Police, said officers looked closely at how they monitored social media in the wake of the tragedy to see if lessons could be learned.
“We decided that it was fit for purpose but we need to deepen it in terms of community relationships, extending them not only with the traditional community but the virtual one as well," he told The National.
"We want to get ahead of attacks like we suffered in New Zealand so we have to challenge ourselves to be better."
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How Apple's credit card works
The Apple Card looks different from a traditional credit card — there's no number on the front and the users' name is etched in metal. The card expands the company's digital Apple Pay services, marrying the physical card to a virtual one and integrating both with the iPhone. Its attributes include quick sign-up, elimination of most fees, strong security protections and cash back.
What does it cost?
Apple says there are no fees associated with the card. That means no late fee, no annual fee, no international fee and no over-the-limit fees. It also said it aims to have among the lowest interest rates in the industry. Users must have an iPhone to use the card, which comes at a cost. But they will earn cash back on their purchases — 3 per cent on Apple purchases, 2 per cent on those with the virtual card and 1 per cent with the physical card. Apple says it is the only card to provide those rewards in real time, so that cash earned can be used immediately.
What will the interest rate be?
The card doesn't come out until summer but Apple has said that as of March, the variable annual percentage rate on the card could be anywhere from 13.24 per cent to 24.24 per cent based on creditworthiness. That's in line with the rest of the market, according to analysts
What about security?
The physical card has no numbers so purchases are made with the embedded chip and the digital version lives in your Apple Wallet on your phone, where it's protected by fingerprints or facial recognition. That means that even if someone steals your phone, they won't be able to use the card to buy things.
Is it easy to use?
Apple says users will be able to sign up for the card in the Wallet app on their iPhone and begin using it almost immediately. It also tracks spending on the phone in a more user-friendly format, eliminating some of the gibberish that fills a traditional credit card statement. Plus it includes some budgeting tools, such as tracking spending and providing estimates of how much interest could be charged on a purchase to help people make an informed decision.
* Associated Press
