YANNICK ALLENO
The Frenchman, who oversees three dining concepts at the One & Only Palm Jumeirah - Zest, 101 and Stay by Yannick Alléno - has three Michelin stars in Paris for Le Meurice.
VINEET BHATIA
Bhatia, of Indego at Grosvenor House in Dubai, became the first Indian-born chef to win a Michelin star for his Rasoi restaurant in London, following a star for his Rasoi By Vineet restaurant in Switzerland. He is only the second British chef to hold Michelin stars in more than one country.
PIERRE GAGNAIRE
The Frenchman who brought Reflets Par Pierre Gagnaire to the InterContinental Dubai Festival City has earned nine Michelin stars during his career, most notably three for Pierre Gagnaire in Paris.
GIORGIO LOCATELLI
Responsible for the Italian cuisine eatery Ronda Locatelli at Dubai's Atlantis, The Palm, Locatelli has won two Michelin stars for his London restaurants, one for Zafferano and one for Locanda Locatelli. His family also ran a Michelin-starred restaurant at his home in Northern Italy.
NOBU MATSHUISA
The Japanese chef responsible for Nobu at Atlantis, The Palm, and more than 20 other restaurants across the globe has received a Michelin star for Nobu Las Vegas, one for Nobu London and one for Nobu Berkeley Street, London.
MANSUR MEMARIAN
From Al Mahara, Burj Al Arab, Memarian is the first Iranian chef to receive a Michelin star, one for managing the kitchen of Jagdhof Glashutte in Germany and two more for the Pavillon restaurant in Innsbruck, Austria.
GORDON RAMSAY
The Scotsman of Hilton Dubai Creek's Verre has attained six Michelin stars including three for his restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London.
GARY RHODES
The Briton of Rhodes Mezzanine at Grosvenor House and Rhodes Twenty10 at Le Royal Meridien has six Michelin stars in a 30-year career.
MICHEL ROSTANG
The Frenchman behind Rostang at Atlantis, The Palm, won two Michelin stars for his restaurants in France and two for a family restaurant.
SANTI SANTAMARIA
Responsible for Ossiano at Atlantis, The Palm, the Spaniard has been awarded three stars for his restaurant Can Fabes and two for Santceloni, both in Spain.
MARCO PIERRE WHITE
The Brit behind Abu Dhabi's Marco Pierre White Steakhouse & Grill at the Fairmont Bab Al Bahr and Frankie's in Dubai and Abu Dhabi had three Michelin stars by age 33 but renounced them when he gave up day-to-day cooking. He is M's cooking columnist.
... and some notables who aren't here (at least yet):
HEINZ BECK
The German-born chef runs the world-famous three Michelin-starred La Pergola at the Cavaleri hotel in Rome and recently opened a restaurant at London's Lanesborough Hotel.
HESTON BLUMENTHAL
The self-taught British chef is responsible for the three Michelin-starred Fat Duck restaurant in Berkshire, England, which is renowned for its scientific and quirky approach to food with menu highlights such as Flaming Sorbet, Crab Ice Cream and Mock Turtle Soup.
EMERIL LAGASSE
The American TV chef spent the formative years of his career mastering the art of French cuisine before launching 12 award-winning restaurants across the United States.
THE ROUX FAMILY
The French family began its revolution of British cuisine after Michel Roux and his older brother Albert opened Le Gavroche in Sloane Street, London in 1967 followed by the Waterside Inn in 1972 - the only restaurant outside France to keep three stars for 25 consecutive years. Today their sons are in charge, with Albert's son Michel Roux Jr at Le Gavroche and Michel's son Alain as the chef patron of The Waterside Inn.
WOLFGANG PUCK
The Austrian-born chef is synonymous with culinary art, having worked in some of the best restaurants in France before launching the celebrity haunt Spago in Los Angeles in 1983, which just gained two Michelin stars.
CHARLIE TROTTER
The self-taught chef's Chicago restaurant, Charlie Trotter's, is regarded as one of the finest in the world. The American is also the author of 14 cookbooks.
JEAN-GEORGES VONGERICHTEN
The French chef fell in love with the aromatic flavours of the East working in Asia and now has a range of quality restaurants in the US, the UK, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
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.”
The Killer
Director: David Fincher
Stars: Michael Fassbender, Tilda Swinton, Charles Parnell
Rating: 4/5
TWISTERS
Director:+Lee+Isaac+Chung
Starring:+Glen+Powell,+Daisy+Edgar-Jones,+Anthony+Ramos
Rating:+2.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Company: Mascotte Health
Started: 2023
Based: Miami, US
Founder: Bora Hamamcioglu
Sector: Online veterinary service provider
Investment stage: $1.2 million raised in seed funding
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
Imperial Island: A History of Empire in Modern Britain
Author: Charlotte Lydia Riley
Publisher: Bodley Head
Pages: 384
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Haltia.ai
Started: 2023
Co-founders: Arto Bendiken and Talal Thabet
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: AI
Number of employees: 41
Funding: About $1.7 million
Investors: Self, family and friends
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
Getting there
Etihad Airways flies daily to the Maldives from Abu Dhabi. The journey takes four hours and return fares start from Dh3,995. Opt for the 3am flight and you’ll land at 6am, giving you the entire day to adjust to island time.
Round trip speedboat transfers to the resort are bookable via Anantara and cost $265 per person.
Dengue fever symptoms
High fever (40°C/104°F)
Severe headache
Pain behind the eyes
Muscle and joint pains
Nausea
Vomiting
Swollen glands
Rash
In Praise of Zayed
A thousand grains of Sand whirl in the sky
To mark the journey of one passer-by
If then a Cavalcade disturbs the scene,
Shall such grains sing before they start to fly?
What man of Honour, and to Honour bred
Will fear to go wherever Truth has led?
For though a Thousand urge him to retreat
He'll laugh, until such counsellors have fled.
Stands always One, defiant and alone
Against the Many, when all Hope has flown.
Then comes the Test; and only then the time
Of reckoning what each can call his own.
History will not forget: that one small Seed
Sufficed to tip the Scales in time of need.
More than a debt, the Emirates owe to Zayed
Their very Souls, from outside influence freed.
No praise from Roderic can increase his Fame.
Steadfastness was the Essence of his name.
The changing years grow Gardens in the Sand
And build new Roads to Sand which stays the same.
But Hearts are not rebuilt, nor Seed resown.
What was, remains, essentially Alone.
Until the Golden Messenger, all-wise,
Calls out: "Come now, my Friend!" - and All is known
- Roderic Fenwick Owen
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
The essentials
What: Emirates Airline Festival of Literature
When: Friday until March 9
Where: All main sessions are held in the InterContinental Dubai Festival City
Price: Sessions range from free entry to Dh125 tickets, with the exception of special events.
Hot Tip: If waiting for your book to be signed looks like it will be timeconsuming, ask the festival’s bookstore if they have pre-signed copies of the book you’re looking for. They should have a bunch from some of the festival’s biggest guest authors.
Information: www.emirateslitfest.com
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450+ employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
Kill
Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat
Starring: Lakshya, Tanya Maniktala, Ashish Vidyarthi, Harsh Chhaya, Raghav Juyal
Rating: 4.5/5
Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
What is cystic fibrosis?
- Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disorder that affects the lungs, pancreas and other organs.
- It causes the production of thick, sticky mucus that can clog the airways and lead to severe respiratory and digestive problems.
- Patients with the condition are prone to lung infections and often suffer from chronic coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath.
- Life expectancy for sufferers of cystic fibrosis is now around 50 years.
Champions League Last 16
Red Bull Salzburg+(AUT) v Bayern Munich+(GER)
Sporting Lisbon+(POR) v Manchester City+(ENG)
Benfica+(POR) v Ajax+(NED)
Chelsea+(ENG) v Lille+(FRA)
Atletico Madrid+(ESP) v Manchester United+(ENG)
Villarreal+(ESP) v Juventus+(ITA)
Inter Milan+(ITA) v Liverpool+(ENG)
Paris Saint-Germain v Real Madrid+(ESP)
RESULTS
9pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (Dirt) 2,000m
Winner: Mubhir Al Ain, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ahmed Al Mehairbi (trainer)
9.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Exciting Days, Oscar Chavez, Doug Watson
10pm: Al Ain Cup – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Suny Du Loup, Marcelino Rodrigues, Hamad Al Marar
10.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Jafar Des Arnets, Oscar Chavez, Ahmed Al Mehairbi
11pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Taj Al Izz, Richard Mullen, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
11.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Majdy, Antonio Fresu, Jean de Roualle
12am: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Hamloola, Sam Hitchcott, Salem Al Ketbi
