What to Do in Dubai | 36 Hours Travel Videos | The New York Times

Dubai, it's a city
that you come visit.

It's young.

It's vibrant.

It's energetic.

It's cosmopolitan

Everyday you wake up,
it's sun,

you can go to the beach.

(inaudible)
and beautiful,

beautiful parks,

incredible architecture.

Locals in Dubai are
some of the warmest,

friendliest people.

All people are here.

The population
of Dubai are two million.

More than 92% of these
are foreigners.

It's a dream city.

Anything you can dream

in Dubai, you can do it.

Zaroub means
the narrow streets

or the alleys

that Syria, Lebanon

and Palestine
are famous for.

And there are small
restaurants

in every one of
those narrow alleys.

We wanted to join
all these

small restaurants
in one spot.

My favorite dish
is the shawarma.

The meat shawarma
is a sandwich,

wrapped in either saj
bread

or Lebanese pita bread.

We add pomegranate
molasses,

and that's our specialty.

Other restaurants
don't use it

in their shawarma.

We were the first
place in

Dubai to really have

a restaurant
in the middle

of the industrial area.

Dubai is very well known
for its five star hotels,

and its shopping malls,

but not so well

known for its food
and dining scene,

in a more grungy sort
of way.

I change the menu
every two to

three weeks,

so that people
can come and try

something new every time.

Dubai is one of my
favorite places to eat.

It's always
a great atmosphere.

Everybody was doing
fusions,

but we never heard
of an Arabian fusion.

Our food is exquisite,

our design is
captivating.

We deconstructed
that felafel sandwich

to form it into a salad.

We took the regular
chickpeas in a

felafel.

There's a compressed
cucumber with it.

I would love Qbara
to give an

impression that
the Arabian culture

has much more to give
than what is

basically perceived
by the world today.

Most of the places
of Dubai are

new and modern.

So where is that
tradition of Dubai?

It is here.

We have saffron, spices,
mixed spices of

all kinds, perfumes,
incense--

everything you want
we have it here.

If you want to see
a traditional Eastern

city, you come
to the spice market.

SPM,

it's a very dynamic,
contemporary,

vibrant art place.

It all started
with the private

collection
of Mr. Salsali.

We do have a collection
of over 800

art works.
Artists from Iran,

European artists,

and American artists.

There is a very,
very vibrant scene

going on here.

And I would love
people to know that

Dubai became the art
spot of the

Middle East right now.

Dubai taught us
to be different.

Burj Khalifa
is the tallest tower

on earth.

From the front angle
you can see the

old Dubai, the new Dubai

and the new upcoming
projects in Dubai.

If you go back
43 years, all Dubai

was just a desert.

Building the tallest
tower is not only

an achievement,
it's American.

Everything in Dubai
goes bigger {unclear)

The biggest nightclub and
the biggest restaurant

and the biggest this
and the biggest that.

We wanted to kind of go

against the current,
and we said,

you know what,
why don't we

open something small.

We were actually
the first open rooftop

lounge to open in Dubai.

We did a whole
new signature cocktail

menu for this season.

One of my absolute
favorite of our

signature cocktails
is one called Say Yes.

Visually stunning.
It comes

with this ice bowl,

which has a rose petal
frozen into it.

I've never met anyone
who doesn't like it.

2013, we inaugurated the

music hall of Dubai.

The idea is to bring
culture

to nightlife.

On the stage of the music
hall, you have

more than 12 bands
per night,

each band
only performing for

10 to 12 minutes.

It's a unique world
night.

In one night,
flamenco, Cuban music

jazz, rock,
Oriental music.

We are shifting
from different worlds

within 2 to 3 minutes.

I like the people
to feel that they

travel in space
and in time

Pacha is one of
the largest nightlife

brands in the world.

We change
our entertainment team

every 8 weeks or so.

So we have everything
from singers to

dancing acts,

to jugglers,
to aerial acrobats,

that kind of stuff.

But we do have

other aspects to
us as well.

We've got a very
popular roof terrace,

which has great views.
It's a great place to be.

It's a very very fun
atmosphere.

Very vibrant.

Full of people
who are generally

happy and here
for a good time.

Dubai is a cultural
hotpot really.

There's just so much
to do here,

so much to see.

You could spend
a lifetime and not

get everything done.