FOOD FOR THOUGHT

With a new generation mining local flavours, Dubai's dining scene is no longer defined by superstar global chefs and popular international brands.

- Samantha Wood.

Inside Boca, a breezy tapas restaurant in the heart of Dubai's financial district, the afterwork crowd is drinking at the bar. Downstairs I've joined friends for dinner in the private dining room located in the restaurant's wine cellar. Many bottles in the collection are from Morocco, Lebanon, and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa. We start with oysters harvested from Dibba Bay in Fujairah, the easternmost of the United Arab Emirates, on the Gulf of Oman. Opened a decade ago, Boca has become a pioneer in using ingredients sourced from across all seven emirates.

The oysters share a menu with khansour, a mountain plant often used in salads, and kingfish from the Arabian Gulf, served ceviche-style. Technically Boca is a Spanish restaurant, but its Dubai roots and commitment to local ingredients make it uniquely Emirati.

Not long ago, Boca's approach was atypical for Dubai. Since 2001, when Gordon Ramsay flew in to raise the curtain on Verre, inside the Hilton Dubai Creek, the city's culinary circuit has been dominated by celebrity chefs opening glitzy restaurants at equally glitzy hotels. In the years to follow, Michel Rostang, Nobu Matsuhisa, and Massimo Bottura all lent their names to restaurants in the UAE, creating a food scene with a global reputation for glamour, excess, and exorbitant prices.