Claudia de Brito is a Dubai-based food and travel journalist, content creator, and hospitality consultant. With over a decade of experience as an editor for publications like Hotelier Middle East and Caterer Middle East, she is also the Gulf Academy Chair for MENA’s 50 Best Restaurants and a Middle East Academy Chair for World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Please introduce yourself to our members.
Born to Portuguese-Cape Verdean parents in Singapore, raised in Dubai and educated in London, I have covered hospitality and travel for over a decade as the editor of several publications including Hotelier Middle East. In 2021, I was appointed Gulf Academy chair for MENA’s 50 Best Restaurants and I’m a Middle East Academy Chair for World’s 50 Best Restaurants. I’m a freelance journalist, moderator, presenter, content creator and consultant based in Dubai where I live with my cherished rescue cat, Oscar. You can follow me on Instagram @claudebrito.
Tell us about your current project.
I'm preparing to present to a group of hospitality students on the importance of the guest experience. As much as I love speaking to established chefs and industry professionals, it's a privilege to be able to share some of the knowledge I gleaned over the past two decades with the people who are going to be the future of the industry.
Tell us about the restaurant scene in Dubai.
I might be a bit biased but Dubai's culinary scene is very dynamic and probably one of the most exciting to cover at the moment. The range is incredible, from 20-seater white table cloth tasting menus to AED20 street food places in old town and everything in between. I was raised here so I feel immense pride at how the restaurant industry has evolved in the past 30 years to the point where it's mentioned in the same breath as established food cities like New York, London and Paris. Within the past five years, with the arrival of MENAs 50 Best Restaurants, the Michelin Guide and Gault & Millau, we've definitely seen a step up in quality, welcomed more homegrown concepts and started to cement the idea of Dubai cuisine.
What are your three favorite restaurants in Dubai and why?
TakaHisa It's one of the most authentic Japanese restaurants in the city with incredible ingredients imported from Japan. It's one of the rare fine dining restaurants where the team, led by GM Mika Ueda, that really succeeds in making you feel at ease despite the surroundings.
Jun's I think Jun's resonates with a lot of people in Dubai because it's rooted in third culture cuisine and the majority of the city's residents are from more than one place. Kelvin arrived in town just over a year ago and his culinary creativity and outgoing personality have already made a mark on the city.
Sufret Maryam The place to go for Palestinian cuisine, it's a special place rooted in family, legacy, tradition and the importance of honouring your roots. Chef Salaam and her daughter Nada are always there to welcome diners with big smiles. It feels like a home away from home.
Tresind Studio I'm cheating here but I couldn't not mention Tresind Studio. Not only is Himanshu Saini extremely talented, he has worked tirelessly to make people rethink their perceptions of Indian cuisine and redefine the limits of what a Dubai-based restaurant can achieve.
"Sufret Maryam is the place to go for Palestinian cuisine. It's a special place rooted in family, legacy, tradition and the importance of honouring your roots."
Any new restaurant in Dubai that you think is doing great things?
Gerbou, an Emirati-inspired fine dining restaurant just opened in Dubai. Not only is it a beautiful restaurant that has already struck a chord with diners, it's exciting because we need more representation of Emirati cuisine at the fine dining level. Hopefully its success will inspire more Emirati chefs to take the plunge.
Do you have any hidden gem that you want to highlight in Dubai?
I just want people to venture out of their comfort zones and not just stick to new Dubai. There are 100 nationalities in Dubai and the cuisine from most of those countries is very well represented. International city has some great Schezuan cuisine, the chaat in Bur Dubai is some of the best I've had, Filipino food in Satwa, Ethiopian food in Karama, Shawarmas on Beach Road, I could go on...
What’s your favourite kind of restaurant and why?
I love a warm, intimate, unfussy that serves lots of small plates. I like to try a little bit of everything and I'm a savoury person through and through so tapas, pintxos, petiscos, mezze are all right up my street.
What are your three favorite food cities and your favorite restaurants in those cities?
1. Canalha in Lisbon - João Rodrigues' ingredient focussed eatery is a love letter to a dying breed of Lisbon restaurants. It's no frills and it's open all day and all week making it popular with the city's hospitality professionals. It may be a neighbourhood restaurant by day with locals coming in for one of the three constantly changing daily dishes but by night Canalha is a destination attracting diners from across the city and in fact, the country.
2. Merito in Lima - Nestled in Lima's Barranco district, Merito is a rare find of non-tasting menu fine dining in a rustic space. The dishes are beautiful and feature both the traditions of his homeland of Venezuela and the ingredients of his adopted home of Peru. I like to sit at the counter but if you're in a group, get comfortable upstairs.
3. Swan Oyster Depot in San Francisco - If you're in the Bay Area and like seafood, this 100-year-old institution is a must. There are no reservations and people start lining up at 11. Once you get in, you cozy up to your neighbour at the counter and order from the selection of whatever happens to be available that day. I would just speak to your server and let them decide for you. The service is efficient and gruff in a good way and when the bill comes, it's hand-written. A dying breed for sure.
What is your favorite dish and where is your favorite restaurant to have it?
I know I'm going to trigger the Italians when I say this but I got really into making fresh pasta during the pandemic and Padella in London is the kind of place I'd like to have one day. Whenever I'm in town, that's where I go. The menu changes constantly but they have a ricotta ravioli and a beef ragu pappardelle that are to die for.
Who is an up-and-coming chef you are keeping an eye on?
Abhiraj Khatwani just opened Manão in Dubai in partnership with Mohammed Orfali of Orfali Bros Bistro. The menu is thai-inspired flavours but very different to what anyone might have expected in terms of presentation. He's a creative young chef with hopefully a very exciting career ahead of him.
Who is a food expert whose restaurant recommendations you’d like to see?
I can't pick the legend and my fellow World's 50 Best Restaurants Academy Chair Alex Carlton because she's just done this but I implicitly trust the opinions of Kaja Sajovic and Micheal Zee. We've been around the world together, and shared memorable meals in some of the most amazing places from coveted tables at fine dining restaurants to century-old tascas surrounded by grumpy old men.
Find Claudia De Brito on Instagram: @claudebrito
