Time Out Market is coming to Dubai early this year; the market will bring together some of the city’s best chefs and homegrown restaurant talent, all set in Souk Al Bahar and views of the Burj Khalifa.
You can expect three bars, a large outdoor terrace and loads of top notch food from 17 local restaurants (and all just a stone’s throw away from The Dubai Mall – the world’s largest mall by total area.
Ahead of Time Out Market Dubai, we sat down with some of the restaurants already confirmed at what will be the largest food hall in the city, and the wider UAE.
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Chef Prashant Chipkar, Masti
Explain you restaurant in three sentences (or less):
Masti means ‘fun and mischief’ so for us it’s all about breaking the stigma around Indin Cuisine. Our food is fun, creative and approachable – effectively, we want to create an urban Indian experience.
What attracted you to Time Out Market Dubai?
Time Out Market strives to showcase the diversity of each location, by getting the best of the best restaurants. The brand strongly supports local talent, and that’s why we were keen to be involved.
Outside of your restaurant, what are you most excited about trying during the event?
It’s a really strong lineup of brands, which makes it very hard to choose. We are really excited to be trying what’s on offer from Folly by Nick & Scott as they have been doing some really great things at their restaurant for years now. We are also excited about Pitfire – the best pizza in Dubai – and the amazing desserts from BRIX.
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Spero Panagakis, Co-Owner BB Social Dining
Do you think Dubai has enough interesting food concepts like Time Out Market?
Dubai has loads of food concepts, and unfortunately many have been duplicated which causes saturation in the workplace. It’s nice to see Time Out Market leading the way then, by celebrating local home-grown concepts. The beauty of the Market will allow us to set up without duplication; so no competition just a celebration of culinary experiences.
What will you be bringing to the Time Out Market
A key focus for us will be our specialty Bao buns – which is where our humble beginnings began. We will also bring along a selection of bites that support an inclusive, and not exclusive approach; meaning there will be something for everyone, whether vegan, vegetarian or meat-eater.
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Lily Hoa Nguyen, founder and executive chef Vietnamese Foodies
How will what you present at Time Out Market differ from your regular restaurant experience?
We have created a menu of some of our most-loved Vietnamese dishes. Highlights include prawn and squid pho (which is based around our 14-hour bone broth), which will be a Time Out exclusive.
Outside of your restaurant, what are you most excited about?
There are so many great concepts and great chefs represented, so that’s a tough question. Being from Vietnam though, we’re very serious about coffee. So I’m personally most interested to try Nightjar, as their coffee brewing is truly an art.
Does Dubai have enough food concepts like this one?
I think the presence of Time Out Market here reinforces and boosts Dubai’s reputation as a culinary capital of the world. And I think it also pushes us – the culinary community – forward, to continue to innovate with new concepts and even better food.
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Michele Johnson, co-founder and managing director Pitfire Pizza
What’s the restaurant (in three sentences or less):
We are a homegrown pizza joint that is best described as ‘New York meets Neapolitan’. We’re famous in Dubai for our legendary crust, which is gorgeous to look at and bursting with flavor, and yet remains soft yet crispy.
Why did you join forces with Time Out Market?
The prestige of the brand, the location they have for the venue, as well as the success that Time Our Market has had in other cities. We have been following the Market in other places such as Lisbon, and the ones that launched in North America last year.
How are you going to represent Pitfire Pizza at Time Out Market?
We won’t bring along the whole menu (at the restaurant, we do pasta, salads, a load of sides and desserts) but a curated list of our most popular pizzas, and just one of our sides – garlic knots. It’s limited, but still represents the absolute best of what we do.
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Nick Alvis and Scott Price, Folly by Nick & Scott
For those who haven’t visited, what’s your restaurant concept?
Folly is meant to be something a little out the ordinary, and serve unique tapas-sized dishes that you won’t taste anywhere else. We’re going to be showcasing the best of our current menu at Time Our Market, allowing with some new dishes. We want to serve up some approachable food that doesn’t lose any of our Folly creative flair.
Are you looking forward to working alongside other home-grown restaurants?
Absolutely. I think there will be the traditional market stall mentality of looking after your neighbors, as well as trying and tasting what’s going on in other kitchens (and hopefully becoming inspired for new menus). We’re really looking forward to what we expect to be a fun environment to work in, along with some good old market banter.
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Steve Flawith, founder Pickl
What makes Pickl different than other burger joints?
The general idea is fairly simple to understand, but challenging to execute. We wanted to create a fast food concept that honored real food; all cooked to order and with the freshest ingredients possible. All our meet is hormone and antibiotic free, and we make our own pickles every week. This truly is fresh, fast, food.
Do you think there are enough concepts like Time Out Market in Dubai?
I think there has been a recent surge in shared restaurant concepts, but for me Time Out Market stands out. It has the best talent in the city, at an incredible location. And I think the vibe, atmosphere and collection of food and beverage offerings will make it stand apart from the rest.
What other restaurants are you most interested in trying at the Time Out Market?
We are a fairly close-knit culinary community here in Dubai, and we love that Pitfire and Nightjar will be there, too. Both concepts (hopefully, like us) have truly perfected their craft, and don’t just offer up cracking food but have nailed the service aspect as well.
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Chef Carlos Frunze De Garca, Brix
Why did you want to be a part of Time Out Market?
We really wanted to showcase our handcrafted chocolates and decadent desserts. We think that dessert can be so much more than cake slices and custards; desserts can be a journey on its own, exploring sweet and savory through fantastical flavours – and can’t think of a better way to do that.
Should there be more concepts like this in Dubai?
Yes, absolutely. Events like these bring together the best local talent cities like Dubai has to offer. We are so pleased to be part of it.
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Time Out Market Dubai is set to launch in the first three months of 2021. For more information, head over to our friends at Time Out Dubai and Time Out Market Dubai.
