Indian celebrity chef Ranveer Brar wants to strip back the “outlandish” glamour of high-end restaurants and take diners at his new Dubai venue back to basics with honest – and really good – food.
KashKan, which opens on September 2, is the chef-restaurateur's first venture in the Middle East. KashKan is a portmanteau of Kashmir, the northernmost part of India, and Kanyakumari, which is down in the south. The expansive concept is reinforced by a logo that looks like a compass and alludes to the restaurant's aim to capture the breadth of Indian cuisine.
Brar, who has not opened a restaurant in more than four years, runs a number of dining venues across North America and South Asia. He says while the Covid-19 pandemic had a major impact on the food industry, the sector is bouncing back.
“Life leads you to the right places at the right time,” he tells The National during a media preview of the upcoming restaurant in Dubai Festival City Mall. “This is the place to be,” he adds.
Brar admits, however, that it is virtually impossible and almost a disservice to claim that one restaurant could do justice to the vastness and variety of Indian cuisine.
“Restaurants like this are not even a blip on the screen, relative to the cuisines of entire countries and regions,” he says. KashKan only hopes to spark meaningful conversations about Indian food, he adds.
“These restaurants can become mouthpieces to talk about the infinitely diverse culture that we have.”
Brar's candour extends to saying “food is subjective” and he doesn't expect everyone to have the same experiences when eating his dishes.
“I might trigger a memory, I might not,” he says. “I might trigger a bad memory with the food I serve. I am just as much a disciple of food who's still learning like everybody else.”
The food
In a refreshing take on Indian cuisine, Brar has created a menu that highlights authentic flavours, trying hard to veer away from serving “stereotypical food that people usually see in restaurants”.
On my visit, I sample several dishes, which the Indian chef admits he is still “thinking about” whether to include (or not) in the final menu. These include warm hibiscus rasam soup, crispy kale chaat and an inventive tandoori platter to start.
Avoiding the usual butter chicken main course, Brar served rich and flavourful Nagaland black sesame chicken, paneer makhani and nizami tarkari biryani. The tasting finished with a tasty but rather hearty gulab jamun cheesecake.
The venue
The restaurant, on the first level of Festival City mall, can sit up to 210 people. It has an outdoor section overlooking the waterfront promenade.
Inside, the colourful decor and furniture are meant to represent India's vibrant culture, Brar explains. There is a kitchen separated by a glass window, as well as a central bar where desserts and drinks are prepared.
The venue also has five private dining rooms, or cabanas as Brar refers to them, each centred around a theme based on India's major regions with screens that play in-theme travel and food clips on loop.
One wall features photographs taken either by Brar or his friends, adding a personal touch. The dining area that faces the mall's fountain is bright and airy, speaking to the Indian chef's laid-back approach.
The allure of Dubai
Brar joins a host of other internationally renowned chefs entering the burgeoning food scene in Dubai. Recently, Indian chefs Ritu Dalmia and Kunal Kapur opened restaurants in the city.
For the Lucknow-born Brar, who is currently a judge in the Indian franchise of cooking show MasterChef, it's not Dubai's glitzy reputation that excites him most.
“More than being sophisticated, I think Dubai's food culture is very embracing and that is what makes it beautiful for me,” he says.
“You have these tiny precincts scattered across the city, with their own subcultures. You move from one block to another and you have a completely different cultural undercurrent. People who have been here for years have learnt to embrace these nuances.”
Brar says Dubai's foodies are taught naturally to embrace diversity and a “little bit of adventure”. He says this reminds him of Melbourne, which has taken so many years to build a strong multicultural community.
“If the same thing develops in Dubai over the next decades, this is going to be an amazing city.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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.”
AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Aaron Finch (captain), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, David Warner, Adam Zampa
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
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Avengers 3: Infinity War: an American superhero film released in 2018 and based on the Marvel Comics story.
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BMW M5 specs
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What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
First-round leaderbaord
-5 C Conners (Can)
-3 B Koepka (US), K Bradley (US), V Hovland (Nor), A Wise (US), S Horsfield (Eng), C Davis (Aus);
-2 C Morikawa (US), M Laird (Sco), C Tringale (US)
Selected others: -1 P Casey (Eng), R Fowler (US), T Hatton (Eng)
Level B DeChambeau (US), J Rose (Eng)
1 L Westwood (Eng), J Spieth (US)
3 R McIlroy (NI)
4 D Johnson (US)
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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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
