Roast turkey. Courtesy Fraîche Café & Bistro
Roast turkey. Courtesy Fraîche Café & Bistro

Food

Dubai Foodie News: The Picnic Brunch, Canadian Thanksgiving and bento box lunches for Dh33

Stacie Overton Johnson

October 09, 2014

With the cooler weather, Blades restaurant at the InterContinental Dubai Festival City is relaunching their Picnic Brunch. Guests can feast on a fully packed picnic basket on the lawn overlooking the Al Badia golf course while plenty of interactive activities keep little ones entertained. Every Friday and Saturday, starting October 17, 11:30am to 3:30pm. From Dh275 per person. For reservations, call 04 701 1127.

Speaking of brunches, have you tried this one yet? Last month, Roberto's DIFC launched their Italian brunch concept, Pranzo Italiano. Upon arrival, guests are served a seafood tower loaded with shellfish, followed by sharing appetisers and a range of choices for mains off the à la carte menu. There is also a raw seafood bar with unlimited live oysters. Then devour Roberto's signature tiramisu for a sweet ending. The brunch runs from 12:30 to 4pm every Friday, from Dh350+. Kids from age 6 to 12 can choose from the kid's menu and those under 6 eat free. For reservations, call 04 386 0066 or visit www.robertos.ae.

Fraîche Café & Bistro in Jumeirah Lakes Towers will celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving with a pop-up on October 13. You’ll find roast turkey on the menu, braised cabbage with apples, buttered Brussels sprouts and turnips, maple glazed pumpkin and carrots and mustard potato mash. You’ll also, of course, find poutine. Then choose pumpkin, apple or sweet potato pie for a traditional Thanksgiving dessert. From 7pm on Canadian Thanksgiving, Monday, October 13. Dh125 per person. For reservations, call 04 369 7821.

Citymax Hotel Bur Dubai is launching a new lunch deal at their pan-Asian restaurant Sizzling Wok. Starting October 19, the restaurant will offer bento boxes with one starter, one main and one dessert for just Dh33. Options include Chinese chicken, Chinese green, shiromi sakana (fried fish) and a vegetable bento box. The lunch special will run Sunday through Thursday from noon to 3pm. For reservations, call 050 100 7065.

The specs: 2019 Aston Martin DBS Superleggera

Price, base: Dh1.2 million

Engine: 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12

Transmission: Eight-speed automatic

Power: 725hp @ 6,500pm

Torque: 900Nm @ 1,800rpm

Fuel economy, combined:  12.3L / 100km (estimate)

On Women's Day
At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting 

2. Prayer 

3. Hajj 

4. Shahada 

5. Zakat 

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press

Adele: The Stories Behind The Songs
Caroline Sullivan
Carlton Books

Company profile

Name: Fruitful Day

Founders: Marie-Christine Luijckx, Lyla Dalal AlRawi, Lindsey Fournie

Based: Dubai, UAE

Founded: 2015

Number of employees: 30

Sector: F&B

Funding so far: Dh3 million

Future funding plans: None at present

Future markets: Saudi Arabia, potentially Kuwait and other GCC countries

While you're here
MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League quarter-final, second leg (first-leg score)

Porto (0) v Liverpool (2), Wednesday, 11pm UAE

Match is on BeIN Sports

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Other key dates
  • Finals draw: December 2
  • Finals (including semi-finals and third-placed game): June 5–9, 2019
  • Euro 2020 play-off draw: November 22, 2019
  • Euro 2020 play-offs: March 26–31, 2020
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Eco%20Way%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20December%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ivan%20Kroshnyi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Electric%20vehicles%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Bootstrapped%20with%20undisclosed%20funding.%20Looking%20to%20raise%20funds%20from%20outside%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs

AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Power: 420hp

Torque: 623Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

On sale: Now

The Gandhi Murder
  • 71 - Years since the death of MK Gandhi, also christened India's Father of the Nation
  • 34 - Nationalities featured in the film The Gandhi Murder
  • 7 - million dollars, the film's budget 

South and West: From a Notebook
Joan Didion
Fourth Estate 

A State of Passion

Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi

Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah

Rating: 4/5