“We're like seeds thrown into the sands of Dubai”, with Kraken’s Chef Grégoire Berger

The Chef’s Counter: Shaw Lash’s beef barbacoa tacos

Co-host Tiffany Eslick is in conversation today with Chef Shaw Lash, known for her dedication to authentic Mexican cuisine. Chef Shaw has spent decades refining her craft across Mexico, the U.S., and Europe. Today, she brings that dedication and passion to Dubai through Lila Taqueria and Lila Molino, using traditional methods of nixtamalisation to create authentic tortillas, chips and exceptional masa. This episode continues our new micro-series called The Chef's Counter, an extension of our recently launched in-store initiative to support the chefs, founders and food entrepreneurs shaping the UAE’s dining scene. The past three weeks have been a great start, with cookies, bagels, salads, pastelitos, and baklava launched in stores from a range of talented chefs. Chef Shaw also shares the mouth-watering dish coming to select Spinneys stores this week, and how collaboration and food connect people and communities.

The Chef’s Counter: Stasha Toncev and Chef Milan Jurkovic

We’re continuing The Chef’s Counter, our new micro-series and an extension of our recently launched in-store initiative to support the chefs, founders and food entrepreneurs shaping the UAE’s dining scene. Co-host Tiffany Eslick is in conversation with Stasha Toncev and Chef Milan Jurkovic, the team behind 21grams, the much-loved homegrown restaurant that has introduced Dubai to the warmth, soul and generosity of Balkan hospitality. They’re bringing their signature chocolate hazlenut baklava into Spinneys as part of The Chef’s Counter. They also talk about how Dubai’s hospitality community has rallied around one another during challenging times and the power of food to bring people together. We’ll be spotlighting a different voice from the community in stores each week, so come check it out! Music ID: 5ROQ12DERYHSUUVQ

The Chef’s Counter: Kelvin Cheung

Today we’re introducing a new micro-series called The Chef’s Counter, an extension of our recently launched in-store initiative to support the chefs, founders and food entrepreneurs shaping the UAE’s dining scene. Co-host Tiffany Eslick sits down with Chef Kelvin Cheung of Jun’s and 852 Bakery to launch the series. Chef Kelvin continues to actively champion fellow chefs and is now bringing a selection of dishes to select Spinneys stores as part of the Chef’s Counter. They talk about the power of community, and the importance of showing up for one another. We’ll be spotlighting a different voice from the community in stores each week, so come check it out!

“We're like seeds thrown into the sands of Dubai”, with Kraken’s Chef Grégoire Berger

Our first repeat guest is the one-and-only Chef Grégoire Berger, now leading Kraken. Co-host Devina Divecha sits down with Chef Grégoire to talk about his own evolution from pure culinary ambition to building personal connections. He also shares more about Kraken's focus on local ingredients and suppliers, how his management style has evolved, and the roots of Dubai's culinary scene. Chapters 0:00 Coming up... 2:09 Personal growth 7:54 The rise of mocktails 9:03 The philosophy behind Kraken 14:03 Dubai's dining scene 22:10 Beyond Kraken

“Turning a wreckage into something sweet,” with Faim's Nadia Parekh

Hosts Tiffany Eslick and Devina Divecha are off to Business Bay to sit down with founder and cake-maker Nadia Parekh. They talk about Nadia's pivot from clinical psychology to food entrepreneur, and the lessons learnt from the closure of Mélange and the launch of Faim. They also taste three of Nadia's signature cakes: The Quarantine (Chocolate salted caramel), Everybody's Birthday Cake (Chocolate praline and cereal) and the Jaded (Olive Oil, lemon, mascarpone and mixed berries). Chapters: 0:00 You can't control things outside! 3:31 From clinical psychology to cakes 6:15 Becoming a food entrepreneur 15:11 Pivoting after Mélange 23:23 Behind Faim 27:20 Cake trends 36:23 We taste cake!