Döner & Gyros sandwich shop to open in Dubai

A new concept in Dubai will offer two of the world's favourite street foods under one roof.

A doner sandwich, left, and a gyro at Doner & Gyros in Dubai Marina. Jaime Puebla / The National

Street food is quick, easy to eat and usually inexpensive. It’s typically a favourite dish of the region in which it’s being sold: pho in Vietnam, pizza in Italy, the sausage sizzle in Australia or hot dogs in New York. There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of different street foods around the world (87 recognised in the Philippines alone) and every day, 2.5 billion people worldwide eat some version. If you’re one of them, you’re in luck. A new concept is about to open in Dubai and it will feature two iconic street foods from two countries under the same roof: the döner (from Berlin, Germany) and the gyro (from Chicago in the United States). The new restaurant is aptly named Döner & Gyros.

The gyro sandwich originated in Greece, of course, but was brought to Chicago by a Greek named George Apostolou in the 1960s. Chicago, a city that has one of the largest Greek populations in the world, is now the gyro capital of the US. So it made sense when the UAE’s Naseeb Group set off for Chicago in search of a chef to help create the gyro at the new restaurant. There, the company found Michael Markellos, the chef behind Gyro-mena, one of the most popular gyro eateries in Chicago.

The döner side of Döner & Gyros has a similar story. The döner originally comes from Turkey, but it’s become one of Germany’s most popular fast foods. Introduced in Germany by Turkish immigrants who settled in Berlin, the German döner has been adapted for German tastes. The Naseeb Group discovered the chef Gul Fahrettin selling his famous döners in Berlin and asked him to share his expertise. Fahrettin, who is originally from Turkey, has been making döners for 23 years and owns three shops in Berlin called Zeil Kabap.

And that’s what brought these two chefs – and these two sandwiches – together. While the two chefs won’t stay in Dubai, their döner-, and gyro-making techniques and recipes will. If you’ve never had a gyro, it’s a sandwich filled with meat roasted on a vertical spit. It’s similar to shawarma, but the sauce and the flavours of the meat are different. The meat in the gyro is zesty and served with onions (and often, tomatoes) on a pita that’s been grilled with olive oil. The signature sauce is tzatziki, made with yogurt, cucumbers, garlic, olive oil and salt.

And then there’s the döner. Fahrettin describes his as: “Freshly baked sesame flat bread dabbed directly onto roasting meat to soak up the flavourful juice.” It’s then packed with strips of meat and topped with lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers. Unlike the gyro, the popular sauce for the German döner is a spicy blend that gives it some heat, though milder sauces are also available. To create the perfect döner, Fahrettin says: “It’s very simple. You must use the highest-quality meat. All sauces should be home-made and the spicy sauce should not be overpowering but just enough to tantalise your taste buds.”

It’s the meat that sets these sandwiches apart. The beef in the gyro has a different flavour profile than the beef in the döner (chicken is also available for the döner). The Naseeb group and the chefs are serious about the authenticity of their sandwiches. All of the meat for the gyros will be shipped in from Chicago. The meat for the döner comes from a supplier in Germany.

The two chefs say they’re proud to share their beloved street food with the many different cultures that make up the UAE. “I am extremely impressed with Dubai,” Markellos says. “I think the food scene is amazing. I love the idea of bringing two countries together and putting them in one shop with their most famous street foods.”

Fahrettin says: “I remember back in the day when I moved to Germany with my family and started making döners for the local community. I was extremely excited back then to cook for them and I feel the same excitement here in the UAE.”

Döner & Gyros is opening two locations on August 1 – one in the Dubai Marina and one at Al Barsha Mall. The Naseeb Group plans to open additional locations in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other cities throughout the Middle East.