Gordon Ramsay’s First Overseas Venture: The Rise and Fall of Verre at Hilton Dubai Creek

Mr. Gordon Ramsay opted to take his culinary empire beyond the boundaries of the UK. Since Dubai was becoming one of the world’s luxury and fine dining destinations fast, he found it fit to settle there. Verre was the result — one of his fine dining houses that tried to bring together Ramsay’s passion for food with the elegance of Dubai’s fast-emerging culinary scene. Verre became a symbol of his global ambitions and changed the gastronomic landscape of Dubai, bringing gourmands from every corner of the globe onto these shores within ten successive years, between 2001 and 2011.

A Heritage Venture for Fine Dining in Dubai When Dubai Creek Hilton’s trademarked doors opened to Verre in 2001, it was a first time that a world-renowned celebrity chef from Western Europe dared to venture into the fast-growing hospitality hub of Dubai. Having already blazed a trail of angry expression and Michelin-starred restaurants, Gordon Ramsay pushed the boundaries a step further by opening Verre as his first restaurant outside the United Kingdom. He was one of the few leading lights in the evolution of Dubai’s then-emerging culinary world, setting the scene for Gary Rhodes, Michel Rostang, and Marco Pierre White, who would all tread the same path. Actually, Verre means “glass” in French. It is supposed to be a reflection of a form of sophistication of simplicity. Initially, it could accommodate 70 diners but it was downsized to 55 so that the experience will be somewhat exclusive. The design was sleek, created by a major architect, Carlos Ott, though Ramsay and his team are not sparing words about the wooden floors and general lack of soft furnishing on the ambiance of the place. However, despite this, Verre’s launch was highly anticipated and became one of Dubai’s most-debated dining destinations quickly.

On Verre, it was much more than just a platform where Gordon Ramsay showcased his culinary skills in its form; it was a launching ground for the development of now-famous chefs Angela Hartnett and Jason Atherton. Hartnett acted as the first head chef of the restaurant in its pioneering stage and greatly contributed to establishing the credibility of Verre in its initial years. Was an oeuvre of modern European cuisine destined to attract rave reviews during a year spent at Verre, leading her to return to London to open her own restaurant, Angela Hartnett at The Connaught, where she claimed her first Michelin star. She was replaced by Jason Atherton, who had performed the same position under Hartnett and was installed as head chef at Verre. Atherton continued to hone his skills under those auspices and eventually returned to London to become maestro de casa in Ramsay’s Maze, which he also won a Michelin star for. Both Hartnett and Atherton did well at Verre under their leadership.

Verre, which enjoyed all its current accolades, was struggling with retention. Its biggest problem was staff retention. He brought many of his UK-based staff over to Dubai for Verre, but on Hilton-based wages, and this did not sit too well with them. So he introduced a top-up system that made the salaries accordingly accustomed, which proved to be almost worse than the disease when international travel and fine dining bookings plummeted in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. Later, Ramsay admitted that such financial complements had stretched the profitability of the restaurant at its early years.

The management agreement that was created between Ramsay and Hilton also turned out to be problematic. Ramsay received a percent of the collection that the restaurant made along with a signing amount while Hilton controlled the décor and the employees that operated the restaurant, creating difficulty for Ramsay to exercise any influence in the restaurant. Eventually, after so many negotiations, the salary structure was altered which helped Ramsay to stop making top-up payments to his staff and thereby smoothened the operations of the business.

Nothing seemed to deter Verre’s progress, and 2010 saw it declared as the “Best Restaurant in the Middle East.” The restaurant went under renovation the same year with a chef’s table to increase exclusivity. When all was said and done, Verre began to stand for luxury fine dining in Dubai in a way that foodies from all over flocked to it for a taste of high-quality gastronomy. The restaurant lease expired in 2011 after ten successful years of operations. Ramsay decided not to renew but to pull out of many of his overseas ventures. Rumors had gone round that Ramsay would open a new restaurant in one of Dubai’s hot locations, but that never came to be. By October 28, 2011, Verre closed shop, ending the ten years of Ramsay at Hilton Dubai Creek.

Long since it closed, Verre still is a reminder as the pioneer of fine dining in Dubai. For sure, it established cosmopolitan Dubai as one of the best leaders on the international culinary scene. Foodies and Ramsay fans should find an unforgettable page in the history of gastronomy in Dubai with Verre.