Brazilian chef Alex Atala is joining chef Grégoire Berger at Ossiano for a two-night, ten-course collaborative dinner drawing inspiration from both chefs’ native countries.
“Ossiano talks a lot about the sea and at D.O.M, we talk a lot about the Amazon, so I think it’s a meeting of the river and the sea,” Atala explains. “A fun menu is coming from talking a little about this aquatic world.
“I think, from our side, we want to bring a little taste of the Amazon to Dubai. Everyone, somehow, has a picture in their head of the Amazon, but nobody knows the taste. I think the dinner has implied to us a mission of trying, at least, to bring each of these people who comes to eat for a trip to the Amazon and to Brazil.”
It’s a vision that Berger, Gault&Millau UAE 2022’s Chef of the Year, says he’s very excited about hosting in his kitchen. “I think what people can expect is the unexpected,” he smiles.
“At Ossiano, when we have a guest chef, we don’t do Ossiano food. Ossiano is the platform of expression when we do such events, so expect to dive into the Amazon and into some interesting products from there, and to see what D.O.M is bringing to Dubai, with just a tweak from my side on Brazilian cuisine.”
Revered as one of South America’s greatest culinary talents, Atala is the chef-owner of Brazil’s D.O.M Gatronomia Brasileira, an avant-garde eatery in São Paulo famed for bringing traditional Brazilian produce such as açaí, priprioca and pupunha palmetto back into culinary use.
This weekend’s menu, entitled ‘Euphoria of a New Departure’, will feature oceanic-inspired dishes from Berger, including sea urchins with sour milk and XO, langoustines with feijoa and nasturtiums, and black Onyx churrasco with chimichurri and padron peppers, while Atala’s dishes will include pão de queijo, Osso Iraty with açaí, and toothfish with tapioca and tucupi, a wild root found in the Amazon.
“D.O.M. is, I think first of all, a Brazilian restaurant,” Atala explains of his approach. “This commitment to our location goes not only in our food but in all the small details, from music to the design of objects, shapes and drinks that we use. There’s a great deal of research goes into not only delivering Brazilian flavours, but above all a Brazilian experience.
“Grégoire and I work in very different ways, no doubt, he as a Breton speaking of the sea and I as a Brazilian talking about the beauties of my country. But I think we have in common a classic basis and modern results, so this collaboration is a big moment. I think more than anything, we go to this exchange to learn and leave something in place.”
For Berger, a successful collaboration is one in which the learning comes from both sides. “I love to work with chefs that will show me another perspective on what they do and open my eyes to lots of different techniques worth thinking more about.
“It’s also a chance for the guests here to experience Alex’s food and we take that very seriously. We don’t just have events to make noise. We select our guests chefs very carefully, people who want to cook with us and who we want to cook with. It’s not about business. It’s a real, genuine collaboration.”
For Berger, hosting renowned guest chefs also offers an opportunity to continue engaging Dubai’s demanding audience of international diners. “I think that Dubai has a food scene that is very unique,” he says. “You’re going to find what you find in Dubai, only in Dubai. We are extremely strong in pleasing the world, because Dubai is the world.”
“For every professional cook, stepping into Dubai and cooking in Dubai is a great dream,” adds Atala. “Both chef Grégoire and Ossiano are, I think, part of an important and emerging scenario that makes Dubai one of the bubbliest, hottest, most emerging cities of gastronomy. The world’s greatest chefs have their restaurants in Dubai. No doubt, now, Dubai is part of every chef’s desire.”
The two chefs’ collaborative dinner at Ossiano, Atlantis The Palm, takes place on October 14 and 15. Prices start from AED1,250 per person and a waiting list is in place.