(MENAFNEditorial) The taste sensation that is the Dubai Food Festival is preparing to serve up its delicious final course, as it gears up to host the new-for-2015 Made In Dubai, which will celebrate warm Emirati hospitality and cuisine this weekend. Michelin-starred celebrity chef and protégée of Gordon Ramsay, Jason Atherton, will also be in town, offering his British-inspired dishes to beach diners at the Beach Canteen, and an online Food Trail will see the who's who of the emirate's foodie community highlight their top culinary picks of the city.
Following 21 days of foodie-inspired fun, the free-to-attend Made In Dubai will see Emirati tradition come alive over the course of this weekend (27 – 28 February). Offering authentic local cuisine from Dubai's homegrown Emirati restaurants, including Local Bites and Dubai SME business Umm Khaled Kitchen, the two-day event will welcome the city's very own culinary celebrities, as well as Emirati-inspired film. Cookery master-classes with Dubai's School of Culinary and Finishing Arts (SCAFA)-trained Emirati chefs, Chef Athba and Chef Hanan, will also delight guests at the event, which takes place at Zabeel Park between 10am – 9pm on both Friday and Saturday. Paying homage to the 96 dishes synonymous with Emirati cuisine, including Machbous, Made In Dubai will also welcome local entrepreneur and owner of family-operated farm, Organics Oasis, Sheikha Al Muhairy, who will explain the techniques and skills required in Emirati cooking.
Also playing host to a Junior Chef Cooking Challenge, supported by SCAFA, Made In Dubai is on the hunt for new talent inspired by local cuisine. A two-day contest consisting of six grueling rounds, the victorious chef will be chosen by a star-studded judging panel, including SCAFA's Academic Director, Chef Francisco Araya, owner of Mama Tani, Omar Al Shamsi, as well as Dubai-based celebrity chef, Silvena Rowe, who has recently developed a special Dubai Food Festival three-course à la carte menu for Emirates, showcasing the flavours of the city to international visitors. Made In Dubai guests can also look forward to a series of Emirati film screenings, including thought-provoking short films Arabana (27 Feb, 6pm) and The Neighbour (28 Feb, 5pm) by Emirati filmmaker Nayla Al Khaja, as well as Middle Eastern comedy, The President's Chef (28 Feb, 7pm), as part of the Dubai Food Festival's Food & Film season.
Jason Atherton
The Michelin-starred and renowned British chef, Jason Atherton, who is set to launch his new restaurant, Marina Social, in the InterContinental in Dubai Marina later this year, arrives at the Beach Canteen tomorrow, 26 February, for his much-anticipated Dubai Food Festival debut. Cooking up unique dishes, including scallop ceviche with wasabi ice cream, the renowned chef will take up residence for three days in the Beach Canteen's popular celebrity chef pop-up restaurant. During his visit, Jason Atherton will also head to Raffles World Academy to teach local school children about the importance of portion control as part of the Festival's popular School Project initiative.
Over at another beach, The Beach in JBR, one-stop shop for burgers and shakes, Shake Shack, will be on hand on Thursday 26 at 11am, to host a one-day and one-burger only exclusive Limited Edition Burger Launch for the city's burger-holics.
Food Trails
Set to be a legacy of the Festival's second edition as it becomes a one-stop guide for all things foodie, the Dubai Food Festival has also launched an online Food Trail at http://dubaifoodfestival.com/food-trail/. With the emirate's top foodie bloggers putting forward their top picks of the city's restaurants across the four key themes of the 2015 edition, this year's Food Trail line-up features seven of Dubai's top foodie bloggers, including Debbie Rogers of Coffee Cakes and Running, Hessa Al Khalifa of HK Finds, Dalia Dogmoch of Dalia's Kitchen, Ishita Saha of Ishita Unblogged, Shaikha Al Ali of When Shaikha Cooks, Sarah Walton of The Hedonista and Karen McLean of Secret Squirrel Food. Food Trail restaurant choices showcase the depth and breadth of restaurants on offer in the emirate, including Matbakh Bint Abed (Emirati cuisine), Qbara (Home-grown), Salt (Multi-cultural Dining & Street Food) and Coya (International Chefs and Restaurants).
Finally, the final winners of the Festival's popular Home Edition and Dine and Win competitions, which have seen Dubai residents take home cash prizes throughout the Festival by shopping at selected hypermarkets and dining at certain restaurants in the city, will also be announced at 5pm on Saturday 28 at the Beach Canteen. Bagging prizes from a total monthly prize pool of AED700,000, the winners will be announced by Sama Dubai.
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