Stepping into Chef Faisal Alharmoodi’s kitchen is like entering a delightful world that blends generations of family culinary know-how with Gen Z gastro influences. It’s a world in which his mother’s cooking looms large and inspirational, where his aunt’s spices sit alongside his father’s later blessing to pursue a dream that has long been considered culturally untraditional. A world that honours Emirati cuisine’s past and present while being unafraid to stir in the extra ingredients that will take the nation’s hitherto regionally contained dishes out onto the global stage.
The first Emirati chef to win a prestigious Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand, Chef Faisal also won the Opening of the Year award for his restaurant Ryba at the 2025 Michelin Guide Abu Dhabi ceremony. But, if this rising culinary star is feeling the pressure to live up to the Michelin standard, it doesn’t show. The man is the definition of chilled out.
“When I received the email inviting me to the awards ceremony, I told my partners this just means we have been selected, not that the Bib Gourmand or Opening of the Year was coming my way,” he says in his laughing lilt, turning every statement into an expression of joy. “It was not in my mind that I would get that award. When I saw that it was me getting the Bib Gourmand, I was so happy. Michelin has given me a lot of value.”
As the founder of Abu Dhabi-based Ryba, Lets Café, and Oosh Café, it has always been in Chef Faisal’s nature to look ahead with a global focus. This award has further ignited a desire to expand his burgeoning empire “to Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Europe – for Emirati food to go to the world.”
His world used to be a lot smaller. Like, size-of-a-kitchen smaller. Helping his mother with cooking duties when he was “a very young child”, he remembers noting down her recipes and watching her processes carefully until “cooking became my passion”.
However, although he had his heart set on studying to become a chef after graduating from high school, his father was initially sceptical of his career choice. “He said, ‘Sorry, but traditionally the man does not go into the kitchen,’” Chef Faisal recalls.
“I told him, ‘Okay’. So I graduated with a civil engineering degree and began working in government in engineering,” he recounts. But here’s the thing about dreams – it’s impossible to forget them. So, finally, ten years ago at the age of 27, the aspiring chef enrolled at the International Centre for Culinary Arts in Dubai, kick-starting his journey to becoming a trailblazer for Emirati cuisine.
“When you love something, you can no longer delay it – it won’t stop,” Chef Faisal says. “When you dream something, you can do it – that is what I truly feel in my heart.”
And so, in October 2023, Ryba opened as a seafood restaurant with a Mediterranean concept and Emirati cuisine. “I brought in all the spices my aunts use in their homes,” he says. “I also try to support local farmers through buying cheese and milk and all the ingredients I use to build my unique menus.”
When asked about his favourite things, Chef Faisal hesitates at first, momentarily unsure of where to start. Then, he quickly recovers.
His favourite ingredient? Dry black loomi, that Middle Eastern staple that adds complexity to the simplest of dishes and which he uses in stocks and olive oil. On his rare nights off, he likes checking out restaurants across the region with friends, confessing to a particular penchant for pasta.
He loves introducing Emirati cuisine and flavours to the world – in fact, on the eve of our interview, he’s getting ready to head to Japan to represent the UAE at Expo 2025, where lucky visitors can taste his date cheesecake and caramel with Arabic coffee.
His dream dinner guest? His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Abu Dhabi. “This is one of my dreams to one day to meet him,” he says, “to show him my success to try my food.”
And what about a recipe book? “It is one of my dreams, but now I have a lot of projects, and to create a recipe book requires a lot of effort,” he says. So…that’s not a no, then? “I already have ideas,” he smiles, “but I have lot of information I want to include, such as my methods, not just recipes.”
Tradition is important to Chef Faisal, but so too is progress, a mindset perfectly exemplified by the nation he calls home. “I like to learn from international cuisines,” he says. “I have French techniques I use in my Emirati dishes to create fusion cuisine. I have some traditional recipes, but I like to mix cultures to create a new Emirati dish. Tradition is still everywhere. I still use my aunts’ spices and my mother’s methods – these are still in my heart. That is part of my success, my mother is a part of that.”
“A friend asked me one day why Emirati food doesn’t go worldwide,” he says in conclusion. “I told him, ‘Because all the people keep their stories and ingredients inside the home.’ But now, I’m the chef, and I have a message that Emirati food can be out there in the world. I want to share my skills and my country’s traditions globally. My message is to promote peace through my food.”
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