Atelier will be bringing Morini, a high-end Italian restaurant from Manhattan, New York, to the Saudi capital; and also will be taking its homegrown chic Indian brand Mohalla to the city from Dubai, in November

Panchali Mahendra aims to bring homegrown chic Indian brand Mohalla to Riyadh. Image: ITP Media Group

The Dubai arm of Atelier House, the celebrated hospitality advisory, development and operations management firm, is set to sizzle the emirate and Riyadh with the launch of five high-end restaurants – one of them an out-of-box culinary concept – starting from November.

Atelier has slated two high profile launches in Riyadh for November – it will be bringing Morini, a high-end Italian restaurant from Manhattan, New York, to the Saudi capital; and also will be taking its homegrown chic Indian brand Mohalla to the city from Dubai.

As for Dubai itself, Atelier, headquartered in New York City (NYC), has lined up two high-end and novel restaurant project launches – 11 Woodfire, with chef Akmal Anuar, set for opening in November 2021; and RSVP, a modern French fine-dining restaurant, slated for opening in January 2022.

“We are also excited about joining hands with some of the celebrity chefs to work on some novel concepts, which will be the first for the industry in the Middle East and probably in many other parts of the world,” added Mahendra, a highly admired figure in the industry who has conceptualised, operated, and opened over 55 restaurants regionally and internationally in her career so far.

Mahendra, who has featured in the Power 50 and the Power Women list twice – in 2020 and 2021- also revealed that Atelier will be looking to take its ethnic Indian restaurant brand Mohalla to New York and a few other cities in the US, besides opening it in other markets in the GCC.

“Mohalla will be one of the few homegrown brands to have a vision of opening in NYC in 2022, besides 10 confirmed new openings in Saudi Arabia. We have also received queries for Turkey and Qatar and are in the process to streamline our opening strategically,” she said.

Panchali Mahendra, Dubai-based managing director of Atelier House.

Morini will be the second mega launch of an internationally celebrated brand for Atelier in the Gulf region, after bringing the Michelin star restaurant Marea to Dubai.

“We already have this brand – Morini – existing in two places – Manhattan and Istanbul. So Riyadh will be the third one,” Mahendra said.

The Atelier top executive, who is the first woman in the F&B and hospitality industry to receive the UAE Golden Visa, revealed her excitement about the firm’s plans on 11 Woodfire.

“11 [Woodfire] is an ingredient-based concept and also high-end. Every dish will be cooked on different kinds of wood sourced from all parts of the world. It will be the most talked about project this year. The location, the concept, the interiors – it will be mind blowing,” an ecstatic Mahendra said.

“Along with these, we are closely working to launch a very big Indian fine dining concept in Riyadh by the third quarter of 2022,” Mahendra said, without disclosing any more details of the project.

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