The 2008 Festival of Taste returns

Jumeirah, the Dubai-based luxury international hospitality management group, has announced the return of the much anticipated Jumeirah "Festival of Taste" event which will take place in Dubai’s leading hotels and resorts from 9 to 13 November 2008.
The biennial Jumeirah Festival of Taste will draw on the unrivalled experience from seven celebrity chefs from America, India, France and Great Britain. This year’s event will feature the UK’s favourite TV kitchen personalities including Ainsley Harriott, who will host "The Ainsley Live Show" at The Emirates Academy, Brian Turner and Cyrus Todiwala, one of the world’s foremost Indian cuisine chefs, who owns and manages Café Spice Namasté in London.

They will be joined by returning world-class celebrity chefs James Martin, Jean-Christophe Novelli and Michel Roux, who cooked up a storm during the inaugural event in May 2006 and are back by popular demand to deliver outstanding food at a series of interactive dinners and events held at a number of Dubai hotels.

The event will take place at Jumeirah’s hotels, kicking off with a grand opening event on Sunday 9 November at Al Qasr, Madinat Jumeirah. Over five days, nine events will take place including intimate dinners at destinations such as the Rib Room and Vu’s in Jumeirah Emirates Towers. A boat trip departing from the Jumeirah Beach Hotel and a grand gala dinner in the ballroom of the Burj Al Arab hotel is also set to be included in the festivities.

For reservations, call +971.4.301 7781

Ronda Locatelli among famous culinary names to choose from at Atlantis

The family is at the heart of celebrity chef Giorgio Locatelli's business and nowhere is this more evident than at his new restaurant Ronda Locatelli at the Atlantis hotel on The Palm. The Ronda Locatelli eatery has a pizza oven at its very centre, with bar-style seating for children all around it.

But Locatelli, 44, is a Michelin-star chef – and a family man himself. He says his flagship London outlet, Locanda Locatelli, which counts Tony Blair and Madonna among its guests, is the only Michelin-star restaurant in the British capital to welcome children, and he wants to be able to do the same here in Dubai. "My business is about hospitality, and if we cannot deal with kids it is ridiculous. You can come to eat, but if you cannot come with your kids, forget about it.”

The 210-seater restaurant, finished in earthy tones to convey a country feel, the casual-dining venue will source organic ingredients regionally and import authentic products to serve up the traditional Italian food Locatelli specialises in.

When Kerzner International's Atlantis opened on September 24, 2008, 17 restaurants, bars and lounges were added to Dubai’s culinary. Besides Ronda Locatelli, there will be Nobu Matsuhisa's Nobu Atlantis, whose Asian-fusion cuisine has seen it become world-renowned with a celebrity status that is matched by its famous clientele; Santi Santimaria's signature seafood restaurant Ossiano and Rostang – The French Brasserie, by acclaimed French restaurateur Michel Rostang.

For Reservations, call +971 4 426 2626