Dubai's Most Discreet Members Club Is Headed To Mykonos
The cool press of a martini glass against your cheek, the salty haze of sunset over the Aegean, and summer hits playing low in the background, this is what the season might look like for you. That is, if you're part of L'invité's new lifestyle series, set to launch in Greece.
Hosted at the iconic Belvedere Waterfront Villa in Mykonos, the weekend will mark the launch of L'invité's new experience, a carefully scheduled calendar of events that extends the private members club beyond the UAE. For the Mykonos edition, members, tastemakers, and media will gather for an evening shaped by Belvedere 10 martinis, a caviar station, and DJ sets from local artists.
Founded in Dubai in 2020, L'invité has grown into a community that values access, elegance and connection. Perfectly defined by its name, French for 'the invited one', the club remains intentionally selective, offering its members exclusive events, 24/7 concierge support, and access to a network of premium venues and experiences.
As it approaches its fifth anniversary, L'invité is spreading to have a global presence. The upcoming Mykonos launch speaks to their broader vision, to create a rhythm of seasonal gatherings that feel both grounded in place and connected by purpose.
While it's a soft launch of their new outlook, the next step is clear. L'invité is no longer just a secret kept in Dubai.
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The National
an hour ago
- The National
Ten cool art exhibitions to breeze through the UAE summer heat
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Rather than define what the street is, the exhibition reflects how it's used, as a space that's chaotic, curated, lived-in and constantly rewritten. Monday to Saturday, 10am-7pm; until August 30, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai Cartographies, Revised at Manarat Al Saadiyat This exhibition is the culmination of a four-month residency at The Photography Studio at Manarat Al Saadiyat. Seven emerging artists from across the world take a cartographer's approach to image-making, using it to chart personal histories and narratives. Aman Ali's photographs, for instance, trace maternal love through worn hands. Reem Hamid projects shifting rhythms of stillness and movement via sand and performance. Fares Al Kaabi mourns demolished homes and a bygone time through windows and doorways. Monday to Sunday, 10am-8pm; until September 1; Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi Upside Down, by Morteza Khazaie at Leila Heller Gallery In Upside Down, Morteza Khazaie uses wood to make tall, curved forms inspired by trees bending to wind and storms. The sculptures show how trees endure without breaking by adapting to the elements. The works evoke a powerful metaphor for individual and societal change, transforming under pressure but nonetheless enduring. The use of wood in this context is also interesting. The material carries a sense of growth and history, while underscoring the resilience found in nature. It embodies the juxtaposition between pliability and strength. As curator Farshad Mahoutforoush said: 'Through these works, I wanted to explore how softness can be strength, and how being 'upside down' might simply mean seeing things differently.' Monday to Friday, 10am-7pm; Saturday, 11am- 7pm; until September 15, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai Architectures of the In-Between at Aisha Alabbar Gallery The three artists featured in this exhibition all identify architecture as a bedrock to their practice. Yet, they have gone on to reinterpret the discipline in new and diverse ways. Atefeh Majidi Nezhad hangs lace like memory in her Zero-G series. Nevine Hamza gives form to nebulous metaphysical ideas through photography, digital art, collage and painting. Finally, Layla Juma renders social structures into minimalist geometries, revealing coded systems through drawing, installation and sculpture. Monday to Saturday, 10am-6pm; until August 23; Aisha Alabbar Gallery, Dubai Between Sunrise and Sunset, by Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim at Maraya Art Centre A seminal work by important Emirati artist Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, Between Sunrise and Sunset was commissioned by the National Pavilion UAE and featured at the 2022 Venice Biennale. 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Saturday to Thursday, 10am-7pm; Friday, 4pm-7pm; until August 1; Al Qasba, Sharjah New acquisitions and a VR experience at Louvre Abu Dhabi While Louvre Abu Dhabi is not holding a special exhibition this summer, there are plenty of new attractions to make it a worthwhile visit – no matter how many times you've gone before. The museum has introduced a new rotation of loans and acquisitions across its permanent galleries. The additions range from Roman portraiture and South Asian courtly art to modernist works. Highlights include a finely carved Roman cameo thought to depict Agrippa Postumus, mounted in an 18th-century British setting; a luminous ivory-and-gold casket from 16th-century Sri Lanka; Juan Luna's enigmatic Una Bulaquena (1895), on loan from the National Museum of the Philippines; and Kandinsky 's White Oval (1921), which marks a moment of transition for the legendary artist. Louvre Abu Dhabi has also launched a virtual reality experience. The Quantum Dome Project is a VR installation that unfolds over 25 minutes. It immerses participants in digitally reconstructed environments from three disparate and historic corners of the globe: ancient Rome, medieval Baghdad and Mughal-era India. Tuesday to Thursday, 10am-6.30pm; Friday to Sunday, 10am-8.30pm; Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi Everyman's Mountain, by Omar Al Gurg at Lawrie Shabibi Emirati photographer and designer Omar Al Gurg is presenting his first solo show with Everyman's Mountain. The exhibition at Lawrie Shabibi features 24 archival prints from a six-day trek up Kilimanjaro in 2021. From misty forests and regenerating moorlands to the fragile icy summit, Al Gurg's work shows the mountain as a shifting ecosystem, shaped by nature and human activity. The exhibition is as much a personal odyssey as it is a broader environmental mediation, a tribute to nature's quiet transformations and our collective duty to preserve them. Monday to Saturday, 10am-6pm; until September 12; Alserkal Avenue, Dubai The Peasant, the Scholar and the Engineer, by Asuncion Molinos Gordo at Jameel Arts Centre Spanish artist-researcher Asuncion Molinos Gordo's first major retrospective in West Asia surveys 15 years of her work on rural knowledge, land use and food systems. Gordo's work draws on anthropology and cultural studies. It reframes farmers as not only food producers, but also intellectuals and engineers. Their vernacular practices, she points out, may hold keys to sustainability. Works that are being featured in the exhibition include her famous World Agriculture Museum, which was first staged in Cairo in 2010 and won the Sharjah Biennial Prize in 2015. Another highlight is Como Soliamos, a 2020 rammed-earth installation echoing Andalusian and falaj irrigation techniques. Saturday to Monday, Wednesday to Thursday, 10am-8pm; Friday; noon-8pm; until September 28; Jaddaf Waterfront, Dubai Unstable Grounds at 421 Arts Campus Unstable Grounds, the MFA graduate exhibition from NYU Abu Dhabi at 421, is a layered constellation of practices that reveal not just what is shown, but also what resists visibility. The exhibition features the works of eight artists, exploring themes of environment, displacement, memory and human connection, through installation, performance, video, sculpture and print. Highlights include Consequences of Circumstance by Hala El Abora, where images of birds, neither definitely dead nor alive, are carved on slabs of stone, disrupting the historical trope of the bird as a symbol of beauty and freedom. In The Sea is a Body which Moves, Adele Bea Cipste explores her evolving relationship to Abu Dhabi's shoreline across several works. In Gridlines, Jude Maharmeh presents hand-cut and incised clay-tiles that draw from the capital's urban aspect. Other installations question the limitations of materials, form and meaning. Danute Vaitekunaite, Mowen Li and Bao all examine their personal histories while experimenting with materials. Tuesday to Sunday, 10am-8pm; until September 7; Zayed Port, Abu Dhabi Time Heals, Just Not Quick Enough… at Efie Gallery Time Heals, Just Not Quick Enough… is a group exhibition curated by Ose Ekore. It features works by five contemporary artists: Samuel Fosso, Aida Muluneh, Kelani Abass, Abeer Sultan and Sumayah Fallatah. The artists come from different generations and use film and photography to reflect upon themes of growth and healing, while also showing how the mediums are barometers of change. Fallatah, for instance, reflects on experiences of the African diaspora in the Arab world by examining personal and family narratives. Sultan uses imagery of marine life to re-examine her family's migration from West Africa to Saudi Arabia in the 1930s. Abass, inspired by his father's letterpress printing company, layers images, texts and found objects to explore the passage of time. Fosso's self-portraits challenge identity and representation by embodying stylised personas. These are inspired by African-American fashion and West African pop culture, and draw on the magazine images that were brought to the Central African Republic by Peace Corps volunteers. Finally, Muluneh's surreal photographs show face paint, masks and Ethiopian motifs to subvert stereotypical representations of African women.
The National
2 hours ago
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Meet the Indian-Syrian chef duo behind Manao, a Michelin-starred Thai restaurant in Dubai
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The National
11 hours ago
- The National
Romeo Lane review: Pani puri with ponzu and other fusion bites with a twist
If ever there were a classic dish that has been experimented to the hilt with, it would be the Indian pani puri. Meant to be a simple hollowed-out semolina shell served with sweet and spicy tamarind chutneys on the side, the dish has inspired experimentalist amateur and award-winning chefs alike. There are even tippler-friendly versions. Standout iterations I've tried include one with edible flowers, preserved lemons and cumin-scented aerated water at the Michelin-starred Tresind Studio in Dubai; one with Hokkaido corn white mousse and hibiscus powder at Ms Maria and Mr Singh in Bangkok; and, most recently, pani puri filled with tartare of bluefin tuna (the most expensive of the tunas) and served with ponzu water alongside the more typical tamarind water. My reality? The citrusy soy-based ponzu tasted far better than the authentic tamarind-infused chutney. It's just one of many fusion dishes that Romeo Lane, a Goa and Delhi import that opened in Pullman Hotel Dubai this year, does well. Here's how my meal at the restaurant – that offers the altogether rare combination of Indian and Japanese cuisines – fared. The vibe A glass lift from outside the main entrance of Pullman Hotel Dubai opens out on to an arched entranceway adorned with faux foliage studded with blossom-shaped lights. The ornate mood lighting and rustic-chic woody vibe extend to the main dining room, which offers bar stools and high tables alongside regular indoor and outdoor seating. The vibe, on the Friday evening my dining partner and I visit, feels celebratory thanks to the mood lighting and a DJ belting out foot-tapping pop tracks, from Adele's Rolling in the Deep to Makeba by Jain. The foliage-studded ceiling is dominated by amorphous accent lights, giving off a purple gleam and flashing to the beat of the music, proving this is not only for diners. In fact, Romeo Lane transforms into a proper nightclub at weekends, complete with high-octane percussionists and guest DJs spinning desi-techno tracks. The kitchen remains open until a respectable 1.30am, and the dance floor even beyond that. The menu Given how excellent the pani puri (Dh95) proves to be, my partner and I bypass the straightforward appetisers that purists might prefer, in favour of two fusion-tastic options, plus a satisfying side of truffle-masala fries (Dh50). One is a resounding success. Textures of mushroom takes the form of a trio of nutty yet velvety galouti kebabs (Dh60) made from morels, served in a saffron roti and garnished with seiyoshoro snow. The oozing richness of the pate-like mushroom kebab is balanced by the thickness of the roti and stickiness of the truffle snow, and it's altogether possible to eat an entire dish by oneself. The same cannot be said of the chicken biryani arancini (Dh75). A mix of breadcrumbs and poppadom made this a deep-fried indulgence, but the ultra-thick coating means the tang of the biryani rice is lost. Even the odd piece of delicately spiced chicken found within cannot quite make up for the overwhelming flavour of Indian pappad. Fortunately, the mains make the best of the combination cuisine. First up is an udon bowl (Dh95) served with fluffy tofu, crunchy bokchoy and salan, a coconutty curry spiced with chilli peppers, sesame and mustard seeds. Traditionally enjoyed with authentic Hyderbadi biryani, the salan lends itself surprisingly well to the Japanese noodle dish. Indian ramen broth, anyone? Our final dish of the night, seafood moilee (Dh175), takes curry to its creamiest proportions. Kerala-style moilee sauce made from coconut milk is known for its mild, almost saccharine flavour profile, despite the use of ginger, pepper and tempered green chillies. Combined with tiger prawns, onion confit and bokchoy, and sopped up with a chilli-cheese naan (Dh35), it makes for a satisfying – and sweet – end to the meal. Next, I can't wait to try the hamachi and curry leaf ceviche (Dh85), and the chef-recommended Amritsari fish karaage (Dh110). To order or not to order I'd return any day for the tuna-ponzu pani puri, which also comes topped with togarashi-infused spicy mayo. I'd refrain from the chicken biryani rice balls, though, an odd choice on this menu given arancini is neither Indian nor Japanese. Save or splurge A three-course meal at Romeo Lane can cost between Dh170 and Dh680. On the high end of the price spectrum across starter, main and dessert are: Amritsari sea bream karaage (Dh110); A5 Wagyu striploin with brown garlic and kizami wasabi (Dh495); and Hokkaido cheesecake or Romeo kulfi falooda with whipped rabdi foam (both Dh75). The three most reasonable dishes for a three-course meal are: corn miso masala (Dh45); slow-cooked black daal makhani with brown garlic butter (Dh75); and two types of mochi (Dh50). The restaurant also serves sashimi, nigiri and maki rolls, ranging from Dh45 to Dh125. A chat with the chef Executive chef Aakash Tyagi is from Delhi, and has worked at storied kitchens including Taj Land's End in Mumbai, Masala Library in Delhi and Pincode by Kunal Kapur in the UAE. Part of the opening team at Romeo Lane Dubai, Tyagi says he is now focused on 'curating experiences that bridge bold Indian flavours with Japanese finesse'. As such, he describes his menu as inventive and playful yet refined. 'My cooking philosophy is rooted in curiosity and respect – for ingredients, traditions and the people I'm cooking for. Blending regional Indian flavours with global techniques keeps the food playful while maintaining depth and meaning. For me, every dish should either evoke a memory or create a new one. That's always the goal.' The chef cites miso as one of his favourite ingredients to cook with. 'It brings a rich umami depth that instantly elevates a dish. At Romeo Lane, we use miso blended into chutneys, brushed on to grilled meats, and stirred into sauces to create layers of flavour without overpowering the dish. It's a beautiful convergence of Japanese techniques and Indian boldness, subtle yet powerful.' Other than the dishes we sampled, Tyagi's top recommendations include mushroom and cream cheese gyoza with spicy momo chutney for vegetarians; bhatti-spiced lamb chops grilled over robata flames for meat lovers; yuzu-grilled prawns marinated with garlic and yuzu juice for seafood lovers; and Hokkaido cheesecake for dessert. Contact information Romeo Lane, located in Pullman Hotel Dubai in Business Bay, is open from noon to 2am on weekdays and noon to 3am at the weekend. Reservations can be made by calling 050 307 6961.
