Emirates Woman

WORDS: OLIVIA MORRIS
The New
Hotspot
As sister to Zuma, the new Business
Bay restaurant ROKA has a lot to live
up to and it certainly does
Business Bay hotspot ROKA has taken the
challenge of being the new contender headon
and has become an instant hit amongst
the Dubai restaurant crowd. Situated in The
Opus, a building designed by Zaha Hadid,
ROKA has brought its unique style of con-
temporary Japanese Robatayaki cuisine to
Dubai and it’s an absolute must-try. Like
its elder sibling Zuma, ROKA’s flagship
restaurant is located in London, but it’s
undoubtedly already carved its place in the
F&B space in the emirate under the leadership
of executive head chef Libor Dobis.
Emirates Woman sat down with the critically-acclaimed
chef to find out what it has
been like opening a restaurant in the middle
of a pandemic, how he believes the Dubai
restaurant scene sets itself apart from other
places, ROKA’s hero dishes and the future
of the establishment in Dubai.
Can you talk us through your career history?
My career really kick-started in London in
2004 when I started working at I Sapori
by Stefano Cavallini, an Italian restaurant.
My passion for food always stemmed from
South-East Asian flavours and cooking
techniques so I developed to work for the
likes of Nobu, Nahm, a famed Thai restaurant
at the time, and Naamyaa by Alan Yau.
Finally, I landed at ROKA and worked both
in the Mayfair and Canary Wharf locations
where I worked my way up to Head Chef before
moving to Dubai.
What eventually brought you to Dubai? From
a career perspective, I was ready for the next
step and a new opportunity but there was
no way I was leaving the ROKA family so
when the project in Dubai presented itself, I
jumped at it. From a family perspective, we
were also looking for a new adventure and
Dubai seemed like the ideal place at this
stage in our life.
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