Dubai’s trending Culinary Boutique

September 25,2019 0 Rita Ghantous

In this exclusive interview, Hodema consulting services talks with Hessa Al Qassim, founder of a new F&B concept currently making cool waves in the sizzling emirate.

How do you describe the concept of ‘Culinary Boutique’?

In essence, Culinary Boutique is a gourmet café and cooking school where we celebrate food and the culinary arts. We embody a strong sense of community through our sharing style culture and unique service philosophy.

What are the attributes differentiating your café from similar local concepts?

Dubai has a plethora of restaurants with unique concepts, so what makes Culinary Boutique stand out is its exquisite menu dishes combined with a state-of-the-art cooking school. Our concept is to integrate a homey gourmet café with a lifestyle-oriented cooking school. We are a one-stop-shop providing first-rate dishes, state of the art development kitchen facilities, smart solutions for team building activities, as well as out of the box catering and event products.

What are the challenges faced during the development phase of the project?

Culinary Boutique is not located in an area that provides actual footfall. Therefore, the challenging part was to convert, from a fit-out perspective, a residential building into a fully-fledged commercial unit that serves the required purposes and generates awareness.

How do you describe Dubai’s F&B market and what evolution do you perceive in the future?

Currently, the spaces allocated to F&B in Dubai are growing at an annual rate of almost 9%. Concurrently, the clientele is decreasing and shifting towards more budget-friendly options. This is leading to high competition between not only the existing F&B retail players but also the upcoming concepts. Therefore, the weak demand versus the increasing existing and future supply creates uncertainty whereby numerous F&B outlets will struggle to survive. As for the next five years, they will be instrumental for operators since they need to be able to sustain increased demand from Expo 2020 and maintain it afterward.

What are the future plans for Culinary Boutique?

Culinary Boutique aims to launch branches across the GCC while promoting the importance, and spreading awareness, of high-quality F&B ingredients, dishes and services.

culinaryboutique.com

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About author

Rita Ghantous

Publication Executive

Rita Ghantous is a hospitality aficionado and a passionate writer with over 9 years’ experience in journalism and 5 years experience in the hospitality sector. Her passion for the performance arts and writing, started early. At 10 years old she was praised for her solo performance of the Beatles song “All My Love” accompanied by a guitarist, and was approached by a French talent scout during her school play. However, her love for writing was stronger. Fresh out of school, she became a freelance journalist for Noun Magazine and was awarded the Silver Award Cup for Outstanding Poetry, by The International Library of Poetry (Washington DC). She studied Business Management and earned a Masters degree from Saint Joseph University (USJ), her thesis was published in the Proche-Orient, Études en Management book. She then pursued a career in the hospitality industry but didn’t give up writing, that is why she launched the Four Points by Sheraton Le Verdun Newsletter. Her love for the industry and journalism led her to Hospitality Services - the organizers of the HORECA trade show in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Jordan, as well as Salon Du Chocolat, Beirut Cooking Festival, Whisky Live and other regional shows. She is currently the Publications Executive of Hospitality News Middle East, Taste & Flavors and Lebanon Traveler. It is with ultimate devotion for her magazines that she demonstrates her hospitality savoir-faire.