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Ossiano

Dubai

Picture-perfect seafood plates in a suitably aquatic location

On the Pass

Gregoire Berger

The experience: Guests enter Ossiano via a dramatic sweeping staircase that descends to a dining room situated almost inside an enormous aquarium, with everything from sharks to colourful extras from Finding Nemo gliding serenely past the floor-to-ceiling glass windows as you eat. Despite such a theatrical setting, it’s actually the exquisite dishes on chef Gregoire Berger’s tasting menu that leave the most lasting memory, aided by beautifully choreographed service.

Tell me more about the chef: Raised in Brittany in north-west France, Berger trained in high-end restaurants across his homeland before venturing to the Middle East almost a decade ago. He established Ossiano – the most gastronomically advanced restaurant at the iconic Atlantis The Palm property, at the head of Dubai’s most famously shaped peninsula – over a number of years before a brief, pandemic-driven sojourn elsewhere. Since his return in early 2022, he has elevated the dining experience further with a series of tasting menus that mirror his personal heritage and travels.

And the food? Delivered in ‘waves’ (aka courses), Berger’s dishes are largely focused on the sea or the coast, invariably artfully plated and frequently involve a degree of table theatre. Now in its third iteration, the tasting menu embraces an almost narrative quality, taking diners on a gastronomic international tour via some of Berger’s formative memories. Berger’s ‘Kissing the sea on the lips’ – a delicate pairing of smoked salmon, caviar and plankton – or ‘Dreaming under the starlight’ – a bite of uni, seaweed and XO sauce – are just a few examples of his unbounded creativity. While the cooking is technically advanced, Berger never loses sight of fun or flavour.

Team effort: Despite the Frenchman’s high profile, Ossiano boasts a talented and international young team including chef de cuisine Aurelien Durand, GM Julien Gardin and head sommelier Thomas Domingues. Their aim is for diners to leave with cherished lifelong memories of the experience – and they are delivering on such ambition.

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