Alain Ducasse to debut restaurant in Beirut
Star chef Alain Ducasse will be opening his first restaurant in Beirut. “We have signed an MOU and are now in the process of negotiating details,” Rita Saad, director of marketing and public relations at Le Gray, Beirut told HN. She explained that the plan is for a...
Château Kefraya collaborates with designer Yvan Debs
Having put the spotlight on women for 20 consecutive vintages by adorning the bottles’ labels with the work of Lebanese female artists, Château Kefraya is now teaming up with young Lebanese talents to ornament the special edition of Les Bretèches with the launch of each new vintage. This year,...
Maya Bekhazi Noun launches new catering concept
Lebanese entrepreneur Maya Bekhazi Noun has launched The Food Studio, a new catering concept. “Catering has always been a complementary business for me. I did not shift from restaurants to catering as I have always done a bit of catering on the side,” she told HN. She explained:...
Alshaya debuts Chef Thomas Keller’s bakery
Bouchon Bakery, part of Thomas Keller Restaurant Group, has made its debut in Kuwait with the opening of its second store in the Middle East at Grand Avenue, The Avenues, in partnership with international retail franchise operator M.H. Alshaya Co. Chef Keller, the American chef, restaurateur, cookbook writer, and...
Samih Sawiris invests in Dutch online booking platform
The award-winning online booking platform Dutch startup, Bidroom.com, secured substantial investment from Egyptian businessman Samih Sawiris, founder of the Orascom Development Group, a conglomerate of companies operating in many different areas, like tourism and hospitality, but with a primary business focus on developing, constructing and managing whole tourist destinations. ...
Richard Branson to invest in Saudi Red Sea project
Virgin airlines founder Richard Branson will invest in a Red Sea project that aims to turn 50 Saudi Arabian islands into luxury tourism destinations, the Saudi government announced. Branson is the first international investor to commit to the project, Saudi Arabia’s information ministry said, in what officials called ‘a...
5 questions with Bilal Ballout, CEO of BMB chocolate
HN chatted with Bilal Ballout to highlight the latest trends and challenges in the chocolate industry. What are the major challenges you are facing and how are you going about overcoming these? The challenges today come in many different waves. In the past, you could split the demand between clients...
Grand Millennium Al Wahda appoints new GM
Grand Millennium Al Wahda announced the appointment of Enad Tannous as its new general manager. Tannous brings over 21 years of hospitality experience within the GCC region, with almost ten years in senior General Management positions. He joins Grand Millennium Al Wahda directly from Rotana where he also held...
Carlos Malliaroudakis new GM of Intercontinental Jordan
IHG has announced the appointment of Carlos Malliaroudakis as general manager for InterContinental Jordan. He was most recently the general manager of Al Ain Rotana, a five-star hotel in the UAE. He is no stranger to IHG where he spent 15 years of his career progressing through several roles and...
Thomas Cook to open its first own-brand hotel in the UAE this year
Thomas Cook, the British global travel company, announced it will open its first own-brand hotel in the United Arab Emirates later this year. The Ras Al Khaimah Beach Resort will open on November 1, 2017 and is part of Thomas Cook’s plan to open 22 new own-brand hotels around the...
