UAE-founded Solutions Leisure has teamed up with Australia’s The Atlantic to bring the seafood concept to Dubai.
The restaurant opened in December 2016 in Souk Al Bahar, taking over the space previously occupied by The Mango Tree, which announced in March 2016 it would close.
Donovan Cooke, executive chef and partner of The Atlantic, Melbourne, told Caterer Middle East that the new Dubai venture has a similar feel to its Melbourne sister-restaurant while being its own entity.
“We had a mood board of ocean colours; in Melbourne we’ve gone for more of a turquoise blue, rather than the greens we’ve gone for here with décor and tableware — we have handmade plates from a guy called Robert Gordon in Melbourne, which were shipped over.”
Cooke, who trained under Michael Roux and Marco Pierre White, spent two weeks in Dubai last month teaching the culinary team his recipes.
Solutions Leisure’s first venture in Dubai was the acquisition of Karma Kafé, followed by the opening of home-grown brands Q43, Asia Asia, and Lock Stock & Barrel.
Read the interview in full with Donovan Cooke in the February 2017 issue of Caterer Middle East.
