I have had the pleasure of working in many places and many countries but my dearest and most heartfelt experience was living and working in Dubai one of the small Emirates belonging to the United Arab Emirates. It is a very young and thriving city steeped with old architecture, culture and customs new to me. The city is a melting pot of true Sub Continent, Asian and Middle eastern culture where all live in harmony in the true essence of cultural diversity, I worked as the Italian chef at the Intercontinental hotel Dubai, the oldest 5 star hotel in the city and even though it is more than 30 years old, it still has the grandeur and opulence that one associates the Middle East and in particular with Dubai. The hotel is situated on the nicest and oldest road in Dubai, it leads to the Gold Souks, the oldest fish markets and the loading docks where still to this day goods are left unattended because no one touches anything. The Dubai creek is a transitory waterway where it only costs only a few fils to get across on a small motored boat. My trips from one side of the river to the other represent many small moments that have woven into an amazing collage of respect, life, love and most of all friendship. My team in the kitchen was made up of 15 staff members, Indians, Sri-Lankans, Pakistanis, Filipino and 2 amazing Germans to this day thousands of miles away I am still their boss, mentor, friend and most of all brother.
My team was an amazing contrast of Muslim, Catholic, Hindu and Buddhism believes that somehow found the right connection and respect for one and another through my strong vibrancy and openness to all. This helped us achieve amazing results as we worked together in more ways than one. I was the head chef to the most respectful, most behaved and best result oriented team I have worked with. They were the Dream team UAE.
Iftikhar / Francis / Charles
Jaime / Nicholas / Gnanavel
Iranga / Sathik / keelango
Leo / Sarath / Pryantha
Colin / Frank / Noorani
Mohammad Ishfaq
