JOIN USFrom TV to plate...
Seated at a wooden table, I waited eagerly for the menu to arrive. Soon a wooden container with ‘Mystery Box’ written on it, was placed in front of me. Much to my amazement, as the waiter took the lid off, I noticed there was meat, bok choy, ginger, peas, orange and lettuce.
“What ingredients would you like us to cook with,” he asked sliding the box closer to me. As I speculated on the ingredients for my dish, I felt no less than a contestant on a cookery show. And why not. I was at the MasterChef, the TV Experience restaurant in Dubai, the only MasterChef restaurant in the world that offers dishes curated by the MasterChef contestants themselves.
I tried various combinations with the ingredients that were offered but found it difficult to choose so I opted for the menu instead. The menu featured specially curated dishes by MasterChef contestants and personally selected by Head Chef Margarita Vaamonde-Beggs.
“These recipes belong to MasterChef finalists from various international seasons,” said the waiter proudly pointing to the names of the contestants against every dish. I was impressed and couldn’t wait to place my order.
The idea...
The idea for the restaurant came about when Duncan Fraser Smith woke up one night and wondered if a MasterChef restaurant existed. Having admired the dishes on MasterChef TV show, he wanted to create a unique dining experience where guests could taste dishes that have won MasterChef competitions from all over the world. Upon contacting Endemol Shine Group, the brand owners and creators of MasterChef globally, he learnt that there wasn’t a MasterChef restaurant in the world where people could partake in the dishes prepared on the show. For Fraser, that was a start for things to come. In April 2019, he opened the first MasterChef restaurant in Dubai that was the first MasterChef restaurant in the world.
At the restaurant, Duncan has not only attempted to create an authentic and relevant experience but also something that conveys the emotional experience felt by both competitors and fans during the cooking challenges.
Thus, the Mystery Box experience was introduced and so was the MasterChef clock. The Mystery Box experience allows adventurous diners to pick their choice of up to five ingredients from a selection of ten, inclusive of protein, vegetables and condiments. Once these are picked, a dish is prepared with these ingredients. Mystery Box ingredients are updated and rotated weekly, based on seasonal availability. Diners opting for the mystery box get to take home a handwritten recipe of the dish they order which helps foster an emotional connect for fans of the MasterChef TV show. The restaurant also features the MasterChef clock and the MasterChef logo. Moreover, inspired by the show, the interiors feature industrial fittings and an open kitchen. The restaurant has also been set in different sections — a casual one, a more formal one and a kitchen section where you can pull your stool and watch the chefs at work. These elements help deliver an authentic MasterChef experience for diners.
Curating the menu
Curating the menu wasn’t easy but through a series of international roadshows, Smith brought former MasterChef finalists and champions together around a large table and built up a recipe vault of over 130 dishes, whilst at the same time forming a strong global alumnus of the MasterChef contestants. To start with (our dinner), Clara, my host in Dubai, and I ordered for a figs, halloumi and hazelnut salad curated by the winner of MasterChef Australia Season 8 Champion, 2016 - Elena Duggan. The caramelised figs coupled with oregano leaves lent a surreal taste to the dish.
Moving on to the mains, I ordered for salmon fillet paired with mushy peas while Clara ordered for Fried Chicken Waffles with South-East Asian salad. The salmon dressed with saffron buere blanc was the star on the menu. It won me over with its subtle lemony flavour balanced with the sweet muted flavour of the salmon and peas.
This dish has been curated by Mimi Baines-MasterChef Australia Season 8 finalist. The chicken waffles were crunchy and fun to bite into.
The salad lent the much-needed freshness to the dish. This recipe is the work of Tamara Griffen, MasterChef Australia Finalist Season 9, 2017. We finally ended our meal on a sweet note with a dessert prepared by Mimi Baines.
The Whisky Granules and Honey Chocolate Mousse won us over with its crunch and subtle whisky flavour.
We wanted to have more but this was all we could stomach. “I wanted to have a menu that stood up against the best in the world, curated by home cooks whose passion for food translated onto the plate,” says Smith on his website. And rightly so. The menu is indeed world-class.
Emotional connect
The show, MasterChef, is about the emotional connection with food and so is the premise of the restaurant. Each dish on the menu brought back memories of the show and displayed a unique cooking technique and ingredients.
For instance, the caramelised figs that lent a smoky-sweet flavour to the salad or the whisky gel granules used in the desserts — that tasted like whisky but were not whisky in liquid form. While watching the show, I had always wondered if I would ever get a ticket to be on the show.
And here I was flipping through the menu, relishing the dishes prepared by the MasterChef contestants.
Dining at the restaurant was an episode from MasterChef unfolding on my plate. I felt no less than a contestant — watching and tasting every dish that I ordered.