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The Iranian Club Dubai: A Cultural Hub in the Heart of Oud Metha

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Situated deep within the glamorous district of Oud Metha, The Iranian Club Dubai is an iconic example of the strong cultural interaction that exists between Dubai and Iran. It is a strange amalgamation of Persian culture, heritage, and modern facilities and is open to Iranians and people from other nationalities. Whether you wish to sample authentic Iranian food, partake in cultural activities, or perhaps enjoy sports facilities, The Iranian Club Dubai is a haven for cultural enjoyment as well as community engagement at the heart of Dubai.

History The Iranian Club Dubai is a pulsating hub for Iranian culture in Dubai. Founded back in 1990 by Sheikh Rashid Al Maktoum, this is the perfect place to taste local flavour and explore the flavours of life in Iran. The club, which is located in Oud Metha, was inaugurated for the purpose of promoting Iranian cultural activities and providing ground for community affairs. This club has been sponsored by the Iranian government and hosted through the Mostazafan Foundation based on a non-profit basis. It evolved into a warm space for Iranians and non-Iranians in various cultural, educational, and recreational pursuits.

The Iranian Club Dubai has been one of the prime destinations for over 50,000 square feet of space that has been covered by thousands of members. The club had approximately 10,000 Iranians and 5,000 non-Iranian members as of 2002, which made up a diverse composition. Membership is free, making access to the club open to anyone interested in attending some Iranian event or activity. Free membership is accorded, while participants pay for certain services and activities like sport programs, cultural events, and educational courses offered by the club.

The Iranian Club Dubai is characterized by its long list of facilities that cover wide-ranging interests. For overnight guests, it has a 22-room hotel to stay, which means club members and their visitors can stay close to the club activities and events. Iranian restaurant, situated within the venue, offers a delicious menu of traditional Persian food, establishing this place as a culinary affair great for locals and international visitors alike. The venue offers sports facilities at world class standards for people who love sports. Besides, the members can access tennis, basketball, and volleyball courts along with gymnasiums and swimming pools. A football ground is also present on site, which has a wide range of possible participation levels from just play to competitive levels. Sports facilities make these areas highly preferred for both Iranian and non-Iranian people living in Dubai due to the fact that they incorporate exercising along with a community feel to it.

The Iranian Club Dubai acts as an arena for cultural and educational purposes. There are continuous cultural events in the auditorium and theatre of the club. The culture shows various performances, theatre activities, and cultural shows. Thus, the residents of Dubai come to experience the nuances of Iranian art, music, and culture in a whole year. The cultural department of the club organizes all this varied activity to promote the culture of Iran. From art exhibits to poetry readings, this club gets people from all walks of life to gather and appreciate Persian culture. The educational department offers classes in languages: Persian, Arabic, and English. This is great for those wanting to expand their knowledge of languages or want to get further into Persian literature and linguistics. The club organizes several school-level activities, giving an opportunity to students to be engaged in educational pursuits.

The Iranian Club Dubai houses an impressive library that holds thousands of books in Persian, Arabic, and English. It serves as a repository for those seeking knowledge about the history of Persians, literature, and culture but also houses books from around the world. Members can immerse themselves in a wide array of genres, thereby improving their understanding of not only Iranian culture but global perspectives as well.

The Iranian Club Dubai is more than a social and cultural hub; it’s also an event venue. It offers two spacious halls for weddings and other important gatherings. It also hosts business conferences, graduation ceremonies, and community events with the help of perfectly formal, modern-amenity-equipped settings quite often.

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Pickl: The UAE’s Home-grown Burger Chain Making Waves Internationally

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A Home-grown Success Story Pickl is a burger joint in Dubai, launched early April 2019, with an aim to shake up the fast-food industry by focusing on fresh, quality ingredients. Somehow, the first such branch in Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT) became a hit for its mouth-watering cheeseburgers, crispy chicken sandwiches, that is, actually, called “s andos,” and plant-based burger options. The promise of “fresh fast food” was really appealing to a city’s sophisticated foodies. Pickl’s serves burgers using only high-quality ingredients, not containing hormones, antibiotics, and preservatives, and thus establishes the brand as a healthier option of taste for a more conventional fast-food chain.

About six months later, Esquire Middle East is calling Pickl “one of the city’s top burger joints,” an accolade that will fuel the brand’s rapid growth. By the end of its first year, Pickl had opened new outlets in Dubai’s Motor City and Al Safa as well as its third outlet in Madinat Badr. A brand’s so swift ascendance to fame points out to a growing demand for high-quality fast food that does not compromise flavour or ethics.

Being among the finest home-grown brands that Dubai has in its arms is quite a commendable feat accomplished by Pickl during April 2021, and that automatically inducted the restaurant into the highly reputed Time Out Market. This means that it ranked with some of the top-of-the-class eating places in Dubai, such as Reif Kushiyaki, Mattar, Masti, and BB Social Dining.  Pickl’s success in Dubai led it to expand throughout the UAE quickly. It has launched in Abu Dhabi, and the first opening is on Soul Beach in Mamsha, at the end of 2021. By the beginning of 2022, a second outlet had been added to the Abu Dhabi World Trade Centre. Sustained demand further helped Pickl continue to expand its footprint across the emirates; by the end of 2022, the locations were spread across Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah. It was indeed the badge of their appeal as a brand across emirates: universal appeal and consistent quality.

Pickl did not end its journey across the UAE boundaries. Early in 2023, the brand entered the international market with its first franchised outlet in Bahrain in a partnership with Zayani Foods. The first store was followed by another store in Juffair Square later in the same year. Such releases meant that Pickl was finally out of the UAE and its fresh fast food into a new audience in the region.

A year later, in 2024, Pickl opened its first location outside Australia in Doha, Qatar. It did so through a franchise partnership with Golondrina Hospitality. To continue the global expansion plan, the company also recently ventured into the Egyptian market as it opened three restaurants at the same time in the North Coast in 2024 with Sky Restaurants. International locations of this nature prove that the brand remains committed to showcasing its premium fast-food brand to an even larger customer base.

Pickl’s expansion into the international market only begins now. Characterizing the brand are ambitious plans to open 30 restaurants across Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Kuwait, over the coming years, in partnership with Sky Restaurants, reports Caterer Middle East. These expansions will bring Pickl from being a household name within the UAE to one throughout the Middle East.

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Global Investments, Local Roots: The Story of Istithmar World

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Istithmar World is a private equity company with alternative investment opportunities. The group offers an investment portfolio across North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. It focuses on investments in consumer goods and financial services, real estate, and industrials. With majority and minority stakes in companies, joint ventures, and fund investments, Istithmar World aims at improving value creation and growth.

The firm incurred significant losses when the global financial crisis hit hard in 2008. This affected a few of its high-profile investments. However, Istithmar World proved determined to go by the international growth and value creation way.

Istithmar World operates its business through three divisions in business. They are specialized in key sectors of international investment. First, Istithmar World Capital is focused solely on private equity and alternative investments and has executed over 35 transactions to date. Its investment strategy is centered across sectors such as finance, hospitality, and real estate while following a strict approach to value-driven growth. Istithmar World Aviation, the company’s second division, focuses on investments in the aviation sector, such as airlines, aircraft leasing, and aerospace manufacturing. It looks at exploiting the growth of the global aviation industry, investing in both the engineering and operational sectors. Last is Istithmar World Ventures, the company’s venture capital arm that supports start-ups and Greenfield ventures. This business line provides not only financial support but also managerial resources to new companies with innovative business models, making them grow and develop in competitive markets.

Put together, the verticals allow Istithmar World to invest in opportunities in various markets across multiple sectors and geographies. Key personalities in the Dubai financial landscape head the company’s board of directors, including Chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum and other board members with experiences spanning considerable periods in finance and governance. A few significant leadership changes occurred with the company, especially during and after the financial crisis. Such changes included restructuring in 2009 and 2010 when some big names, including those from Istithmar World Capital, left the organization, but still, the organization continued to transform itself toward an even stronger global presence.

Many investment companies suffered blows from the financial crisis. Istithmar World faced a series of problems with its parent company, Dubai World having to live with high levels of debt that have been followed by major financial restructuring activities going toward late 2009. Istithmar World avoided overt inclusion in the restructuring processes, which were mainly focused on property-related subsidiaries such as Nakheel, but it faced problems managing its investments and had several asset sales and some of its major loss-making businesses.

But Istithmar World continues to invest globally even today. The company focuses on alternative investments, private equity, and asset management as it continues to seek new markets and emerging trends for investment opportunities. Meanwhile, headquartered in Dubai with offices in New York and London among the major financial hubs, Istithmar World is well-positioned against its peers to bank on the global network it enjoys as well as the experience to nurture future growth. Its future course is very likely to be deeply influenced by its strategy to create value through strategic partnerships and active portfolio management.

Istithmar World’s profile is characterized by the visibility of opportunities and risks of global investing. With a diversified approach that has been well supported by adaptive strategies, it seems to have drawn strength from its ability to navigate the changing investment landscape despite earlier challenges.

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Hell’s Kitchen: A Taste of TV Stardom at Gordon Ramsay’s Iconic Restaurants

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Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen is more than a good restaurant; it is an expression of the foodie reality world for those who admire the million-dollar culinary show. Infused with fiery energy, special dishes and experience, the restaurant brings to its diners in several locations in the US the same level of scorching experience while being within Ramsay’s kitchen. Whether you are looking to dine at his famous Beef Wellington or simply want a throng of exploding excitement over the combinations of reality TV and fine dining, Hell’s Kitchen delivers more than just a meal; you get an experience that combines entertainment and flavour.

Conceptualized from the hit reality show, Hell’s Kitchen, this unique restaurant concept brings high energy to cooking and gourmet experiences. The first one opened last year in Las Vegas, by then having swiftly spread throughout the country. The restaurant chain stretches across landmark cities: from Lake Tahoe to Atlantic City, Southern California to Washington D.C., and the newest of which opened its doors in Miami. Every one of the restaurants has distinguished elements directly inspired by the show, full of red and blue team motifs and exclusive Hell’s Kitchen branding. Hell’s Kitchen is more than just a fine dining restaurant because its menu offers selections that closely resemble dishes prepared on the popular TV show. Some of Ramsay’s signature dishes will be served, such as pan-seared scallops, lobster risotto, and Beef Wellington, all meticulously prepared to meet standards reportedly seen on the show. The theme of fun extends into imaginative cocktails named after some of the fiery stunts of the show, such as the “Notes from Gordon,” light-hearted insults á la Ramsay’s on-screen persona.

What sets Hell’s Kitchen apart from its peers is how deeply it immerses visitors in the world of a working kitchen-a theatrical world. Open kitchens at each location allow diners to watch chefs prepare their meals with precision and passion. The restaurants are designed in such a manner that brings in the sport of a live cooking competition into the ambiance. Decorations are mainly fiery, and even team-coloured sections add up to the participation in the contests for cooking led by Ramsay. The brand has prospered since its inception as a combination of culinary expertise and showmanship of Hell’s Kitchen. Even the very popular location at Las Vegas has served more than a million Beef Wellingtons as of date, standing testimony to the legacy of the show. A big draw will be the experience in Hell’s Kitchen that draws fans from all over the world and provides viewers a first-hand experience of what they saw on TV.

Hell’s Kitchen emphasizes quality and global sourcing. Luxury items on the menu include Japanese Wagyu beef, king crab, and fresh seafood all prepared with attention to detail. Every venue strives to implement sustainable practices in pursuit of a larger commitment by Gordon Ramsay Restaurants to be environmentally responsible. Accompanying this is waste less and feature fresh seasonal ingredients.

One is the pride that the restaurant chain has in professional service, so every guest is entertained and appreciated. Helped by sous-chef Christina Wilson, who won a season a few years back, in opening several Hell’s Kitchen locations, she brings her enthusiasm and experience from the show into reality in terms of dining.

Hell’s Kitchen is operated under the networks of the Gordon Ramsay North America and keeps on increasing its chains. U.S. locations: Many cities in the U.S host Hell’s Kitchen. International Locations: Dubai also had the outpost of the restaurant but it appears that the brand has gained a global status. Ramasay, in fact, has hinted the future openings are most probably going to be based on the popularity that the chain enjoys both in the television version and the restaurants.

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