DUBAI: Ducasse in AlUla, the brainchild of renowned French Chef Alain Ducasse, will return to Saudi Arabia for a pop-up from Dec. 18 to Feb. 21.
The five or seven-course culinary experience will offer guests “cuisine using local produce, inspired by Saudi tradition but prepared using French techniques,” according to Ducasse AlUla’s Dining Room Director Michel Lang.
Diners can expect pate en croute (meat pie wrapped in crust pastry) with green date condiment; blue crab cake with burnt lemon and fennel; slow-cooked camel with foie gras and puff potatoes; grilled spiny lobster accented with tamarind and curry leaves for the starters and mains, among other treats.
The interiors of Ducasse in AlUla. (Supplied)
“Around 80 percent of the products we use are sourced locally. From the outset, we have forged very close ties with local producers,” Lang told Arab News.
“Among all these local products, we must of course mention dates, which are traditional in the oasis, but also citrus fruits, particularly lemons, all kinds of vegetables and even flowers used in drinks such as hibiscus. I mustn’t forget the spices that play an important role in Saudi and Arab cuisine in general — cardamom, coriander — and finally, there is fish from the nearby Red Sea,” he added of the wide-ranging menu, highlighting a salad made with smoked fish caught just off Saudi Arabia’s coastline.
Diners can expect pate en croute (meat pie wrapped in crust pastry) with green date condiment; blue crab cake with burnt lemon and fennel; slow-cooked camel with foie gras and puff potatoes; grilled spiny lobster accented with tamarind and curry leaves for the starters and mains, among other treats. (Supplied)
“The most typical dish is undoubtedly the young camel … It is an excellent example of the cuisine we offer, combining Saudi ingredients with French techniques,” Lang added.
Desserts are equally indulgent, with hot chocolate with hazelnut, frozen lemon with mint and tarragon or apple puff pastry with vanilla and tahini served up for guests. “Saudis enjoy rediscovering familiar flavors but interpreted in an original way (while) tourists appreciate discovering Saudi-inspired cuisine with a contemporary style,” Lang said of the restaurant.
The third edition of the pop-up brings Executive Chef Alessandro Guardiani to Saudi Arabia. Originally from San Remo, Italy, Guardiani has more than 10 years of experience working in Ducasse’s kitchens, including Le Grill at the Hotel de Paris in Monaco, Le Grill at The Dorchester in London and the two-Michelin-starred Le Meurice Alain Ducasse in Paris.
The five or seven-course culinary experience will offer guests “cuisine using local produce, inspired by Saudi tradition but prepared using French techniques,” according to Ducasse AlUla’s Dining Room Director Michel Lang. (Supplied)
Most recently, he led the kitchen at Muni Kyoto in Japan for three years before taking the helm at the upcoming Ducasse in AlUla, the first Ducasse outpost in Saudi Arabia. Ducasse restaurants currently hold 17 Michelin stars worldwide.
But it is the Saudi location’s setting that offers guests a unique experience, according to Lang.
Located near the ancient heritage site of Jabal Ikmah, “in a magnificent and enchanting landscape, at the foot of spectacular cliffs and in the heart of a huge palm grove,” Lang says that guests can “really feel the ancient history of this oasis and the serenity of the desert” as they dine.
