Recipient of 9th Golden Excellence Awards 2026 for F&B Excellence By: Shaneer Siddiqui
1. Tell us about yourself, your business journey and your contribution to the UAE.
I opened my first restaurant, a fourteen-table seafood grill in Al Rigga, in 2008 with savings from my family’s fishing business. Saffron & Sea now runs eleven restaurants across the UAE, celebrating Gulf coastal cuisine alongside international flavors. My contribution has been keeping Emirati culinary heritage on the table even as the dining scene here has become one of the most international in the world — showing that local cuisine can hold its own on the same street as any global brand.
2. What does receiving the 9th Golden Excellence Award for F&B Excellence mean to you?
It’s validation that heritage cuisine, done properly, belongs in the same conversation as international fine dining. Receiving it under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Nahyan Mabarak Al Nahayan means a lot, because our kitchens are themselves small models of coexistence — chefs from a dozen countries cooking Emirati recipes with total respect for where they came from.
3. How do you view the role of the Ministry of Tolerance and Coexistence in shaping the UAE’s society?
Food is one of the fastest ways strangers become neighbors — you eat someone else’s dish, and suddenly their culture isn’t foreign anymore. The Ministry’s work gives that everyday exchange real institutional weight, and it’s part of why Dubai’s food scene has become such an easy, natural meeting point for so many nationalities.
4. What opportunities do you see emerging in your industry over the next few years?
Sustainable, locally-sourced seafood is becoming a genuine differentiator, not just a marketing line, as diners get more conscious about sourcing. Ghost kitchens and delivery-first concepts are also opening up formats we couldn’t have justified with a full dine-in restaurant a decade ago.
5. What are your company’s key plans and growth priorities for the future?
We’re launching a sustainable-sourcing program directly with regional fishing communities and opening our first restaurant outside the UAE next year. Above all, we want to keep Gulf cuisine on the menu as this city’s food scene keeps growing more global.
