If you're a pizza lover – like I am – head to Blaze at The Galleria Al Maryah Island in Abu Dhabi. The artisanal pizzeria from California is based on the notion of "fast-fire'd in 180 seconds", which means that the pizza, once ready, is baked in a flaming open-oven for three minutes. Blaze, which opened last month, brings a unique do-it-yourself concept to the capital, with 11-inch personalised thin-crust pizzas, signature pizzas and a small selection of fresh salads, desserts and drinks.
Founded by Elise and Rick Wetzel (co-founders of Wetzel's Pretzels) and backed by founding investors including American basketball player LeBron James, the Abu Dhabi branch is the first to open in the UAE, following the opening of regional restaurants in Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Where to sit and what to expect
Located on the third level of The Galleria's new extension, the restaurant features an open-kitchen format, all the better to allow guests to build their own pizza. The display is similar to that of Subway where all the toppings are in full view. The restaurant is strategically placed, across from the escalator that leads to Vox Cinemas. It has food-court-style seating, with both chairs and couches, and is a casual yet comfortable spot, ideal to catch a quick bite.
Who's eating there
From children to adults, the place is really for everybody. The few times I have visited, it seems to attract young crowds. At the weekend, the place gets super-busy and you have to queue up to order.
The menu
At Blaze, diners can either build their own pizza or simply choose one of the restaurant's signatures, from among several chicken, meat and veggie options. However, what's great about building your own is that you can add as many fresh toppings as you want for the same price. You start off with choosing your dough (you can pick gluten-free or high-rise at an additional cost), and then pick your sauce, cheese, meat and veggies. The varied selection includes everything from Italian-style meatballs and ovalini mozzarella to banana peppers and roasted garlic. You then top it off with one "finish": arugula, balsamic glaze, barbecue sauce, extra-virgin olive oil, pesto or ranch dressing.
What I really like about the menu, and that's not typically seen at other pizza places, is that all items list the calorie count. So if you're the type of conscious eater who likes to know how many calories are in every bite, this is the place for you. The menu also includes a disclaimer that reminds customers that 2,000 calories is the general nutrition intake for young people over the age of 13 and adults, and 1,500 calories for children between the ages of 4 and 12. Here, the 11-inch Meat Eater is 1,220 calories (the highest on the menu) while the Veg Out is 750 calories (the lowest on the menu).
My favourite menu option is the salad-pizza combo, which allows you to buy half a pizza and half a salad. It's perfect for diners who like to practise portion control or who are not planning to eat a whole pizza by themselves. There are only two ready-made salads to choose from – antipasto and classic Caesar, but you can also build your own. Another combination that diners could choose from is half a pizza with four pieces of dough knots, which are small dough pieces stuffed with mozzarella cheese and served with red sauce for dipping.
There is a small selection when it comes to dessert and drinks, but that's not unusual for fast-food restaurants. Diners can choose from s'more pies, brownies and chocolate chip cookies, while beverages include sodas, lemonades and Blaze's signature Agua Fresca drink.
Standout dish
My family and I tried the margherita and the salad-pizza combo with Blaze's signature vegetarian pizza and a Caesar salad. The freshness of the courgette, mushrooms and onions aside, we loved that the dough was baked to a true-blue pizza lover's perfection standards – the right, oven-blasted combination of soft and crunchy.
Price point and contact information
All signature and build-your-own pizzas are priced at Dh42, however, gluten-free and high-rise doughs are an additional Dh13. There is no additional cost for toppings, so include as many as you want. Those who like their pizza simple with one or two toppings could go for 1-Top at Dh34 or 2-Top at Dh36. All drinks are Dh15 and desserts are Dh12.
Blaze Pizza is open daily, from 10am to 10pm from Saturdays to Wednesdays, and 10am to midnight on Thursdays and Fridays.
This review was conducted at the invitation of the restaurant
Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics
At Eternity’s Gate
Director: Julian Schnabel
Starring: Willem Dafoe, Oscar Isaacs, Mads Mikkelsen
Three stars
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
Where to donate in the UAE
The Emirates Charity Portal
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Al Noor Special Needs Centre
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Emirates Airline Foundation
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
Emirates Red Crescent
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Noor Dubai Foundation
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Attacks on Egypt’s long rooted Copts
Egypt’s Copts belong to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, with Mark the Evangelist credited with founding their church around 300 AD. Orthodox Christians account for the overwhelming majority of Christians in Egypt, with the rest mainly made up of Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Anglicans.
The community accounts for some 10 per cent of Egypt’s 100 million people, with the largest concentrations of Christians found in Cairo, Alexandria and the provinces of Minya and Assiut south of Cairo.
Egypt’s Christians have had a somewhat turbulent history in the Muslim majority Arab nation, with the community occasionally suffering outright persecution but generally living in peace with their Muslim compatriots. But radical Muslims who have first emerged in the 1970s have whipped up anti-Christian sentiments, something that has, in turn, led to an upsurge in attacks against their places of worship, church-linked facilities as well as their businesses and homes.
More recently, ISIS has vowed to go after the Christians, claiming responsibility for a series of attacks against churches packed with worshippers starting December 2016.
The discrimination many Christians complain about and the shift towards religious conservatism by many Egyptian Muslims over the last 50 years have forced hundreds of thousands of Christians to migrate, starting new lives in growing communities in places as far afield as Australia, Canada and the United States.
Here is a look at major attacks against Egypt's Coptic Christians in recent years:
November 2: Masked gunmen riding pickup trucks opened fire on three buses carrying pilgrims to the remote desert monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor south of Cairo, killing 7 and wounding about 20. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
May 26, 2017: Masked militants riding in three all-terrain cars open fire on a bus carrying pilgrims on their way to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, killing 29 and wounding 22. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
April 2017: Twin attacks by suicide bombers hit churches in the coastal city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta city of Tanta. At least 43 people are killed and scores of worshippers injured in the Palm Sunday attack, which narrowly missed a ceremony presided over by Pope Tawadros II, spiritual leader of Egypt Orthodox Copts, in Alexandria's St. Mark's Cathedral. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.
February 2017: Hundreds of Egyptian Christians flee their homes in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, fearing attacks by ISIS. The group's North Sinai affiliate had killed at least seven Coptic Christians in the restive peninsula in less than a month.
December 2016: A bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo kills 30 people and wounds dozens during Sunday Mass in one of the deadliest attacks carried out against the religious minority in recent memory. ISIS claimed responsibility.
July 2016: Pope Tawadros II says that since 2013 there were 37 sectarian attacks on Christians in Egypt, nearly one incident a month. A Muslim mob stabs to death a 27-year-old Coptic Christian man, Fam Khalaf, in the central city of Minya over a personal feud.
May 2016: A Muslim mob ransacks and torches seven Christian homes in Minya after rumours spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman. The elderly mother of the Christian man was stripped naked and dragged through a street by the mob.
New Year's Eve 2011: A bomb explodes in a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria as worshippers leave after a midnight mass, killing more than 20 people.
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
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Results
Dubai Exiles 24-28 Jebel Ali Dragons
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 43-27 Dubai Hurricanes
Fixture
Friday, March 29, Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Jebel Ali Dragons, The Sevens, Dubai
Dubai World Cup draw
1. Gunnevera
2. Capezzano
3. North America
4. Audible
5. Seeking The Soul
6. Pavel
7. Gronkowski
8. Axelrod
9. New Trails
10. Yoshida
11. K T Brave
12. Thunder Snow
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