This incredible menu in Dubai was created by the world’s best chef

Now there’s no need to travel to France for the best food on Earth…

Dubai is a city of superlatives. We’ve got the world’s tallest building, biggest mall and largest candy store… and now we can add dining from the world’s best chef to our list of bragging rights.

Chef Mauro Colagreco is the charming Argentinian-born chef behind Mirazur, the three-Michelin-starred restaurant in the South of France that was rated the World’s Best Restaurant in 2019.

It’s virtually impossible to secure a table at his French Riviera hot spot, but Mauro has now brought his exceptional cuisine to Dubai, designing the menus for Celebrities by Mauro Colagreco, and The Beach Bar & Grill by Mauro Colagreco, at One&Only Royal Mirage.

Mauro recently zipped into town to man the pans at Celebrities for two nights, cooking a seven-course menu that showcased his elegant Mediterranean cuisine.

We’re a bit out of practice when it comes to degustations, so our first thought when we’re told about the seven-course feast is how on earth are we going to finish it.

We needn’t have worried. It soon becomes clear that Mauro’s greatest culinary skill is a deftness of touch, creating an impeccably balanced meal that leaves you perfectly sated, without feeling stuffed.

A trio of amuse-bouche set the tone for this elegant sufficiency. The one-bite morsels include a crisp potato puff filled with basil puree, compressed carrot coated in black sesame seeds, and a tiny clam encased in a delicate garlic jelly.

Next, a freshly baked loaf of bread is served with zesty ginger-and-lemon-infused olive oil from Menton, accompanied by a poem from Pablo Neruda. This earthy, generous loaf is essential to the Mirazur experience, paying homage to the sustenance of this daily staple.

The first of the official seven courses soon follows. Sweet crab meat is topped with diced avocado, fine threads of apple and celery, snips of mint and coriander, and a hint of kaffir lime.

Next is one of Mauro’s signatures from Mirazur – an intriguing dish of oyster in pear broth with tapioca pearls, compressed pear, eschalot cream and pretty blue borage flowers. It’s a compelling combination that delivers a clever riff on textures and sweet-saline flavours.

A tartlet of finely diced asparagus and parmesan cream, covered in wafer-thin slices of autumn black truffle, is tasty, although a tad tricky to eat with a knife and fork (and in such swanky surrounds, you do not want to be going in with your fingers).

Our favourite dish of the night follows: turbot in a luscious butter sauce, lightened with Japanese sodashi citrus, yuzu pearls and the salty pop of turbot roe.

Before the final savoury course is sliced, it’s first presented on a bed of hay at our table. Roasted duck with burnished, golden skin sprinkled with peppercorns, salt and coriander seeds. It’s then sliced and served medium-rare, along with an earthy spinach puree, refreshing nubs of celery and crunchy tapioca crisps.

There’s a pause before a small bowl of pineapple sorbet, roasted pineapple and meadowsweet cream is served as a palate cleanser, providing the perfect segue to a dessert of grapefruit segments, candied grapefruit rind, grapefruit sorbet and pillows of elderflower cream. Tangy, floral, and not overly sweet – it epitomises Mauro’s light touch and masterful way with textures.

We’re treated to five petits fours to finish, then it’s back up the sweeping marble staircase to the lantern-lit lobby, with a lightness in our step that doesn’t normally follow such indulgence.

Chef Mauro may be back in the kitchen at Mirazur now, but you can still experience his cuisine at Celebrities by Mauro Colagreco, with an ever-changing ‘Surprise Menu’ ­– and stay tuned for more appearances from the man himself.

Celebrities by Mauro Colagreco, One&Only Royal Mirage, Dubai Marina. Sun to Fri, 8am to 10.30am, 7pm to 11.30pm. Tel: (04) 399 9999. oneandonlyresorts.com  

Images: Facebook/supplied