There’s a special kind of joy one gets seeing someone from one’s own country make it big on an international scale, isn’t it? Especially when you know firsthand how talented & deserving said person is. As part of my recent visit to Dubai for the fifth edition of MICHELIN Guide Dubai, I had quite a delectable opportunity – enjoy an exquisite meal at some of the city’s best Michelin Star restaurants and experience their culinary best. There’s something about Dubai and food that’s a perfect match – over the years, the city has come to be known as much about its F&B scene as it is for luxury, style and all things spectacular.
One such extraordinary meal happened to be at Manāo, easily my most favourite part of the visit, where Chef Mohamad Orfali and Indian-origin Chef Abhiraj Khatwani blew my mind with their modern Thai fare. And when restaurant retained its Michelin Star at the award ceremony and the duo got on stage to receive it, I was one of their loudest cheerers.
Chef Khatwani, in particular, piqued my interest, and of many others. He’s one of Dubai’s youngest, most exciting chefs who first made headlines after winning a Michelin Star just a few months after opening Manāo and even won the Young Chef of the Year award at the 2025 Michelin Guide Dubai ceremony. Despite these accolades, he remains rather unassuming, letting his work do most of the talking.
But getting him to talk is exactly what we did. Here’s Chef Abhiraj Khatwani talking about everything from his journey to Dubai's changing culinary landscape, and more.
Edited excerpts:
Congratulations on retaining your Michelin Star for the second consecutive year. How does it feel?
The first time, there was a lot of disbelief. You are so involved in getting the restaurant going that something like this takes a moment to sink in. The second time feels more grounding. It tells us that the work we are putting in every day is holding up.
Earning a Michelin star is one thing; retaining it is another. What has it taken to maintain that level of consistency while continuing to evolve creatively?
A lot of repetition, tasting and paying attention. A recipe gives you a framework, but ingredients change. A chilli can be hotter, a lime can be sharper, a batch of fermented rice can develop differently. You have to keep tasting and responding. Creatively, we give ourselves room to test things, but a new dish has to earn its place on the menu. Sometimes the most useful change is a small adjustment to something we already serve. The challenge is making sure the team understands the flavour we are looking for, so that consistency becomes something everyone takes responsibility for.
Has the Michelin recognition changed the way diners experience Manāo, or the expectations they bring to the restaurant? How do you balance the pursuit of accolades with the desire to create food that people genuinely connect with?
People arrive with more expectations, understandably. Some guests discover us because of the star, and that is a lovely opportunity to introduce them to what we do. But once someone sits down, I want them to feel comfortable. They should be able to ask questions, laugh and enjoy their dinner without feeling they have to understand every technique on the plate. Recognition matters to us, but the feedback across the counter matters too. Is someone finishing the sauce? Are they curious about an ingredient? Do they want to come back? Those things tell you a lot about whether the food is connected.
For someone who hasn't experienced Manāo, how would you describe its culinary identity?
I would describe Manāo as Thai inspired, but very personal to us. It comes from my time in Thailand, the flavours and ways of cooking I learnt there, and the conversations Chef Mohamad and I have around food. There is heat, acidity, fermentation and a lot of attention to balance. We want the flavours to stay with you. From the beginning, we wanted to share a side of Thai cooking that people might not have encountered before, in a restaurant where they could feel comfortable and enjoy themselves. That sense of discovery was important, but so was the pleasure of simply having a good meal. As Manāo has evolved, we have become more confident in our own cooking. We question things more, taste more and understand when a dish needs something added or something taken away. The vision is still the same, but we are getting clearer about how to express it.
The lobster Khanom Krok was my standout favourite. As was the king crab shoulder. Could you tell us a bit about these dishes – your inspiration behind these, the creative process & what makes them special?
With the lobster Khanom Krok, we were interested in taking something familiar in Thai cooking and exploring it in a savoury direction. Our version brings fermented rice custard together with grilled lobster tail and coriander flowers. You have the softness of the custard, the sweetness of the lobster and that flavour from the grill. The proportions are important because you want to taste everything together.
The king crab shoulder is more direct. We serve it grilled, with fermented green chilli nam jim and coriander stems. The crab has a beautiful sweetness, so the dressing needs enough acidity and heat to give it contrast without overwhelming it. They express two different sides of the menu. One is about reworking a familiar form; the other is about knowing how much an ingredient needs.
As an Indian-origin chef working with Thai cuisine in Dubai, are there Indian flavours, ingredients or techniques that you instinctively return to?
Rice is probably the clearest connection. It is so familiar, but there is an enormous amount you can do with it through soaking, grinding, fermenting and cooking it in different ways. Our sticky rice roti is one example of that connection finding its way naturally into the menu. It began with an experiment and developed into something that made sense within Manāo. My Indian background will always influence how I think about food. But I don’t feel the need to put an Indian reference into every dish. Often it is an instinct about texture, spice or comfort that comes through.
India and Thailand share a rich appreciation for bold flavours, spices, fermentation and regional food traditions. Do you see parallels between the two cuisines, and have these connections influenced the way you develop dishes?
Yes, especially in the way flavour is built. Both have such a strong understanding of aromatics, spice, acidity and the role of something fermented or preserved in a meal. There is also the relationship between rice and everything around it. A curry, a relish or a pickle changes how you eat the rice, and the rice changes how you experience those stronger flavours.
Is there an Indian dish or regional culinary tradition you'd love to reinterpret through your own lens? And conversely, is there something about Indian food that you feel is often misunderstood or underappreciated internationally?
I would be interested in exploring rice and fermentation more deeply. There is so much knowledge in Indian regional cooking about batters, texture and time. I would want to spend time understanding a particular preparation before deciding what my interpretation could be.
Dubai has become an increasingly important destination for ambitious chefs and globally minded diners. What makes its culinary landscape exciting to work in today?
For me, there is something very meaningful about building a restaurant in the city where I grew up. Dubai brings together people with very different relationships with food, and that makes cooking here interesting. You might serve someone who knows Thai regional cooking very well alongside someone encountering these flavours for the first time. You have to be clear about what you want to say through the food. It is also encouraging to see restaurants develop such individual identities here. As a chef, that gives you confidence to commit to your own point of view.
What impact has the Michelin Guide had on Dubai's restaurant industry?
It has brought more international attention to the work happening here and given people another reason to travel to Dubai for food. For restaurants, that visibility can make a real difference.
With diners from so many cultural backgrounds, how do you create a menu that feels distinctive and authentic while still resonating with an international audience?
I don’t think you can build a strong menu by trying to predict what every nationality will enjoy. You need a clear point of view and confidence in your flavours. Then you think carefully about how someone moves through the meal. Where do they need freshness? Where can you introduce more heat or intensity? How much explanation will help them enjoy something unfamiliar? Hospitality makes a big difference. When guests feel comfortable asking questions and the team can explain a dish naturally, they are often very open to trying something new. We can make the food approachable while keeping its character.
Beyond Michelin-starred dining and high-profile restaurant openings, what developments in the UAE and wider Middle Eastern food scene excite you most?
I am interested in smaller restaurants where you can feel the person behind the food. Places with a clear idea, a focused menu and something personal to share. I also think there is a lot to discover through regional ingredients and the people who grow, catch or produce them. Those conversations can change how you cook. There is so much food knowledge across the Middle East, including within homes. I would love to see more of those specific traditions and individual stories being given space. They make a city’s food culture richer.
How has working with Chef Mohamad Orfali influenced your culinary thinking? What have you learnt from collaborating with someone who brings a different perspective and creative sensibility to the kitchen?
Chef Mohamad has helped me trust my ideas while being much more demanding about how I develop them. He will encourage you to explore something, but then ask the questions that force you to make it clearer. Working together has also shown me how two different backgrounds can lead to a productive conversation about food. We might approach an ingredient differently, and that can take a dish somewhere I would not have reached on my own. One of the biggest lessons has been to stay open during that process. You need enough confidence to put an idea forward and enough humility to keep working on it.
What is your relationship with food like when you're away from the professional kitchen? Do you gravitate towards elaborate meals, or is it the simplest, most familiar food that you crave?
Away from the kitchen, I like being able to enjoy food without analysing every detail. When you cook professionally, it is very easy to carry that habit everywhere. I am drawn to food that feels comforting and satisfying. Something freshly cooked, well seasoned and eaten in good company can be more than enough.
I still get curious, of course. I might taste something and start wondering how it was made. But I think it is important to keep that simple pleasure of eating. That is what we hope to give our guests as well.
Having established Manāo as a Michelin-starred restaurant, what would you like the next chapter of your culinary journey to look like?
There is still a lot I want to do at Manāo. I want the cooking to become more precise, the team to keep growing and the restaurant to feel more assured in every part of what we do. I also want to keep learning. Spending time with people who cook differently from you is important, especially once you become busy running your own kitchen.
Would you ever consider bringing your culinary vision to India? If you did, what kind of restaurant or dining experience would you want to create for an Indian audience—and how might it differ from Manao?
I would be open to it. There would be something very personal about cooking in India, but I would want the idea to grow from the place and the people we were cooking for. An Indian audience would bring its own knowledge and expectations to the table, which would make that conversation interesting. Manāo belongs to the story we are building in Dubai. If I did something in India, I would want it to develop its own identity and give people a reason to connect with it on its own terms.