There’s something undeniably exciting about a chef collab.

Two (or sometimes more) culinary minds coming together, merging styles, cultures and flavours – it’s the restaurant industry's version of a feature track.

In a city like Dubai, where the food scene is always on the move and levelling up, collaborations can bring an extra sense of play, creativity and surprise.

But while we’re here for the hype (and the bites), it’s worth asking: are we getting all we can from these collabs?

Too often, it feels like two menus are being served under the same roof rather than two minds genuinely coming together. And sometimes, we're left wishing we had more dishes that blend both chefs' styles into something totally new.

And then, there are some who totally nail it.

Take the Zaatar and Zhen collaboration between San Wan Hand Pulled Noodles and Palestinian restaurant Yava, for example. You're getting a proper East-meets-Middle East experience with dishes like sujuk and labneh wontons, hummus dandan noodles and zaatar biang biang noodles (delicious btw).

Or the upcoming one-night-only event between pitmaster Hattem Matter and chef Kyung Soo Moon at Hanu. Here, you can expect dishes like smoked duck tteokbokki with cherry and Korean tea, sujuk gyoza with kimchi hummus and a wagyu beef burger with sticky date barbecue sauce.

Now those are tables we want a seat at. Tables where both chefs merge their stories and challenge each other’s techniques. And suddenly, you're not just eating dinner, you’re part of a limited-time creative experiment.

So what do you think about chef collab dinners? Love them? Want more of them? I want to hear from you at yousra.zaki@itp.com.

Until then... Stay hydrated besties,

Yousra