Words By Allegra Salvadori
In a city that never ceases to dazzle, Gerbou has quietly emerged as one of Dubai’s most thoughtful new destinations—where design, gastronomy, and Emirati identity intertwine with grace. Now officially named one of the World’s Most Beautiful Restaurants 2025 by the Prix Versailles—UNESCO’s prestigious architecture award—Gerbou joins a global list of just sixteen restaurants recognised for their aesthetic, cultural, and experiential excellence.
A collaboration between Atelier House Hospitality and Tashkeel, Gerbou offers more than a meal—it offers a sensorial journey. The space, designed by Kristina Zanic Consultants, unfolds like a contemporary majlis. Camel leather sofas, Ghaf-wood dining chairs, Sadu-patterned tables, and sculptural lighting all speak to a deep reverence for place. Even the door handle—engraved with motifs of palm trees, ocean waves, and desert sand—becomes an invitation into memory.
But the narrative doesn’t end with interiors. Helmed by Chef Ionel Catau and pastry chef Sahar Al Awadhi, the menu reinterprets Emirati culinary traditions with quiet innovation: from underground pit-cooked meats redolent of smoky heritage to fwala, a refined take on Emirati high tea. Every bite is anchored in origin, yet unafraid of dialogue with the global.
Gerbou’s cultural significance is amplified by the vision of Her Highness Sheikha Lateefa bint Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who describes the restaurant as a “testament to collaboration” and an “experience rooted in the UAE’s cultural identity.” This ethos is evident in the design’s symbolic gestures—from a herbarium chandelier that preserves native foliage in glass to a bronze sculpture honouring the desert rose and collared dove.
At Gerbou, architecture doesn’t merely house cuisine—it extends its meaning. Here, form and flavour come together in a celebration of continuity, creativity, and care.
