SimplyAbuDhabi XLIX

Simply Abu Dhabi: You grew up in a family of restaurateurs, but every founder eventually has to define their own vision. What was the idea behind the very first tashas café that you felt simply didn’t exist elsewhere? Natasha Sideris: My father was a restaurateur and an incredible cook, and I learnt so much from being by his side from a very young age. When I opened the first tashas in 2005, I wanted to create something that reflected my own style and the kind of place I wanted to go to. At the time, I felt there was a real gap in the market. You could find good food or you could find a beautiful environment, but it was difficult to find both together with genuinely warm, engaging service. For me, all three mattered equally. That’s where the idea of beautiful food, stunning environments and engaging personal service came from, and twenty years on, those principles haven’t changed. I’ve always believed that people remember how you made them feel. My father taught me the generosity that comes from feeding people, while my mother taught me that where you eat is just as important as what you eat. Bringing those two things together was really the beginning of tashas, and they’re still the principles that guide us today. That sense of belonging is something I feel particularly strongly in Abu Dhabi. Over the years, tashas Al Bateen has become part of the rhythm of the community, with guests returning for everyday moments as well as celebrations. It is something I am incredibly proud of, and it reflects exactly what I have always wanted tashas to be. Many of your venues are as celebrated for their interiors as they are for their menus. How important is design in shaping the overall dining experience, and where do you draw inspiration when creating a new space? I believe that long before a guest tastes the food or speaks to a waiter, they’ve already started forming an emotional connection with the space. I’ve always believed that restaurants are theatre. Every detail matters – the architecture, the lighting, the music, the flowers, the tableware, the artwork, even how a chair feels when you sit down. All of those elements work together to create a feeling. People might not consciously notice every detail, but they always remember how a place made them feel. Travel has always been one of my greatest sources of inspiration. I’m endlessly curious and constantly collecting ideas, whether it’s a tiny café in Athens, a beautiful hotel in London, a market in Al Ain or a beach club in St Tropez. But it’s never about recreating somewhere I’ve been. It’s about capturing a mood or a memory and interpreting it in a way that feels authentic to the concept and the location. I also believe that every restaurant should have its own personality. Each of our concepts has a very clear identity and point of view, and at tashas, this has always been expressed through our ‘Inspired By’ philosophy, where each location takes its inspiration from a particular place or time. The UAE has become home to some of the world’s most exciting hospitality concepts. What made Dubai the right place for your first international expansion, and what opportunities did you see here that perhaps others didn’t? When I first came to Dubai, I loved the energy of the city. It felt ambitious, it was growing quickly, and people really embraced dining out. I remember thinking that if there was anywhere outside South Africa that would appreciate what we were doing at tashas, it would be Dubai. What also struck me was how international the city is. People come here from all over the world, bringing different tastes, cultures and expectations. That challenges you to be better every day. It pushes you to keep evolving without losing sight of who you are. When we opened our first restaurant here in 2014, we didn’t come with the intention of changing who we were to suit the market. We brought the same philosophy that had guided us from day one, but we also listened. Every city has its own personality, and I think it’s important that every restaurant reflects the community it’s part of. Twelve years later, Dubai has become so much more than the place where we opened our first restaurant outside of South Africa. It’s where Tashas Group is headquartered, it’s where we’ve launched many of our newer concepts, and it’s home. As our journey in the UAE has grown, Abu Dhabi has become an equally meaningful part of the Tashas Group story. The way people have embraced tashas Al Bateen, and more recently Flamingo Room Abu Dhabi and tashas Al Ain, has been incredibly special. It reflects what we have always hoped to create wherever we go — places that become part of the communities they serve. When someone walks into one of your venues for the very first time—whether in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, London or Johannesburg—what do you hope they remember long after they’ve left? I hope people leave feeling like they’ve found a place that feels a little like home - somewhere they’ll want to return to again and again. Of course, I want them to remember the food, the design and the service, because we’ve put an enormous amount of thought into every one of those things. But more than anything, I hope they remember how everything came together. I’ve always believed that hospitality is emotional. It’s about generosity, warmth and making people feel welcome. Those are the things that stay with you long after you’ve forgotten what you ordered. The greatest compliment we can receive isn’t that someone visited us once, it’s that they choose to celebrate their birthdays with us, bring their families, introduce us to their friends and make us part of their lives. At the end of the day, restaurants are about people. If we’ve created a place where people can connect, celebrate and make memories together, then I think we’ve done our job.