The St Regis Dubai – the chain’s first hotel in the emirate – boasts an impressive portfolio of dining options, including two signature restaurants: J&G Steakhouse and Brasserie Quartier.
Culinary director Stephane Buchholzer is confident that they will be a hit with locals and visitors.
“We have this basic simplicity throughout the restaurants, throughout the food,” he says. “We brought everything to the modern world, modern palate – but we have this edge that makes the difference, that takes us further than what’s out there on the market.”
That edge is evident in the dishes served up at J&G Steakhouse, a venue inspired by culinary master Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
It’s an American-style steakhouse with dark-wood interiors and masculine dark-leather chairs, but the food is the star.
The beef comes from a farm in Queensland, Australia, that raises cattle especially for the St Regis Dubai. The grain-fed animals produce rich, tender Wagyu beef with a low marble score. You will not find this beef at any other steakhouse in the country.
“This beef is specifically raised for us,” says Buchholzer. “So our basic beef is already a very high-grade beef. It’s not your average Angus or Irish beef that you can find anywhere here.”
One of the signature cuts is the tomahawk steak.
“It’s a fantastic piece of beef,” he says. “It’s very spectacular. You have the full length of the ribs, so you have a bone of 60 or 70cm that will come and be carved at the table. Because it’s cooked on the bone, there’s a lot more flavour.”
The kitchen, led by head chef Daniel Ferreira, turns out a long list of impressive dishes, including: black-truffle comte fritters; grilled prawns with red papaya mustard and cumin honey; soy-glazed short ribs with apple-jalapeño purée; and a collection of bites from their fully-stocked raw bar.
“There is influence from Jean-Georges’ cuisine and some of his signature dishes,” says Buchholzer, “but we reworked a lot of the recipes for the market.”
While J&G Steakhouse has another outlet – in the United States, at the St Regis in Scottsdale, Arizona – Brasserie Quartier is an entirely new French concept for the hotel chain and offers a chance for French-born Buchholzer to add his influence.
The menu includes escargots, steak tartare, grilled octopus, chicken liver and foie gras parfait, grilled veal paillard, moules-frites and other classically French bites.
The space is bright and spacious and evokes memories of a quaint Parisian neighbourhood eatery. The attached patisserie produces a range of homemade breads and pastries each day (don’t miss their flaky croissant filled with raspberry purée).
J&G Steakhouse and Brasserie Quartier are just the first of many restaurants coming to Al Habtoor City. The St Regis Dubai is one of three hotels planned for the destination along Sheikh Zayed Road. The others, a Westin and The W Dubai, are expected to open this year.
Buchholzer will be in charge of the food across the complex.
“We want to do the right thing and achieve consistency with a focus on quality and the simplicity of the product,” he says. “I think if we achieve this, this will set us apart from the market because this is what is lacking in many places.”
Buchholzer previously worked as the executive chef at the Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi complex. He is reserved – but beams with pride – as he talks about the experience he wants to offer diners.
“We keep authenticity,” he says. “We keep the basic and we elevate it without making too much fuss or making it overly complicated. Today, many chefs around the world try to make food overcomplicated and people are looking to go back to what they know and what they can understand.
“I love innovation. I love the research, the development to find new things – but it’s not what you want to see or eat every day. I’m going back to basics – to achieve simplicity. It’s the hardest thing to do.”
While he says it’s easy to get diners to return for fancy signature dishes, Buchholzer is looking for more – he wants to lure them back with the less flashy offerings.
“Diners don’t come back for a green salad, but I want them to come back for a green salad,” he says. “How are we going to take this and make this the best? That’s what we want to do. The basic is important. This is what people come back for.”
• The St. Regis Dubai is on Sheikh Zayed Road in Al Habtoor City. J&G Steakhouse is open daily from 6.30pm to midnight. Brasserie Quartier is open daily from 6.30am to midnight. For reservations, call 04 435 5577
sjohnson@thenational.ae
