00:30We're eating our way through Doha, one bite at a time.
00:34I'm Laila Humaira and this is Qatar In Motion.
00:41Did you know that among Qatar's population of more than 3 million people,
00:4688% of residents are from a diverse spectrum of nationalities?
00:51With that comes an extensive palette of flavours that forms the country's food culture.
00:57From Qatari cuisine to Korean, Mediterranean and Italian,
01:02the steady growth of the culinary scene has caught the eye of international observers in recent years.
01:09The country was inaugurated into the Michelin Guide in 2025.
01:14This year, the list includes three one-Michelin-start restaurants,
01:19eight Bib Gorman establishments and 33 Michelin-selected restaurants.
01:26Well, the newest one-Michelin-star restaurant in Doha,
01:30joining Idam by Alan Dukas and Jamavar,
01:33is Alba, serving modern Italian cuisine here at the Raffles Doha.
01:38Named after a northern Italian town famous for its white truffles,
01:42Alba brings the essence of its namesake to Qatar.
01:47These twin-curved towers, which have become one of Qatar's most distinctive architectural landmarks,
01:54is home to a restaurant that promises a unique dining experience,
01:59where artistry is as important as flavour.
02:02Leading Alba is specialty head chef Christian Seraino.
02:06It's a contemporary Italian restaurant, so we have tradition but also innovation at the same time.
02:12So we take the classic dishes and then we transform them using different textures,
02:17different flavours and sometimes even local ingredients from the farms that are here.
02:24On top of receiving the one Michelin star for the restaurant,
02:27the 31-year-old Italian was also awarded the Young Chef Award,
02:32an accolade given to promising young chefs.
02:35That was definitely a surprise.
02:37The Young Chef Award, I did not expect.
02:39It was pure happiness.
02:41For a chef, you just dream of it since you are very young.
02:44Of course, me and my team, we were absolutely amazed.
02:48Teamwork is another thing that a lot of people underestimate,
02:51but then at the end of the day, it's a lot of people who are involved
02:54and it needs every one of them to be really giving their best to achieve any of these goals.
03:01Christian credits his culinary successes to his upbringing,
03:05where he developed a deep respect for food and flavour and understanding of fresh ingredients.
03:12In Italy, there are so many regions and then in each region there are so many ingredients,
03:18so that helps.
03:19Italian cuisine is all about simplicity at the end of the day,
03:22but the quality of the ingredients is the key.
03:25We want to do something simple but elevated with amazing ingredients
03:29and that's normally more than enough and, of course, a lot of passion.
03:33One of Elba's highlights is the Chef's Table,
03:36an intimate eight-course dining journey personally guided by Christian.
03:41We call it the humble onion.
03:43The Chef's Table, I think, is the best experience for sure
03:47because you get to talk to me throughout the whole meal,
03:51so you get to know really a lot of things that you wouldn't really know if you are in another
03:55table.
03:56You get to see the team working, how they cook, how they do the things.
04:00And, yeah, sometimes even the heat of the service you don't see when you're sitting outside.
04:05But then in the kitchen you see the real heat.
04:08It's almost like a TV show.
04:09It's not only about serving food.
04:11We want to be memorable.
04:14A truly sweet ending to an unforgettable Chef's Table experience here at Alba.
04:23Another new addition to the Michelin Guide Qatar can be found here at the Old Doha Port's Mina District.
04:29With roots from Beirut's most artsy neighbourhood,
04:33Barron prides itself with simple and informal dishes but with sophisticated flavours.
04:39It's a Middle Eastern restaurant.
04:42We are serving authentic and levantine food.
04:46We are focusing on fresh ingredients and the most important to give the great hospitality.
04:53Simple yet scrumptious, that is the restaurant's signature style.
04:58In fact, it was an unassuming ingredient that gained them culinary recognition,
05:03being selected as a Bib Goman restaurant.
05:06We got listed under Michelin because of the cauliflower.
05:09To have this award, it means a lot for us and we are very proud.
05:14Once you will taste the cauliflower, you will, in every spoon, you will taste a different taste.
05:20First, the spices with the charcoal because it's on the jasper.
05:24So, it's a combination of spices.
05:27Other than the charred cauliflower, Barron lists its fatouche salad and slow-cooked lamb shank with spice much boost risotto
05:35as the must-haves in the menu.
05:38While a meal at Barron takes you to the Mediterranean, the journey of Qatar's growing appetite doesn't end there.
05:46More than a collection of world-class restaurants, the nation is a one-stop shop for global cuisines,
05:53truly a melting pot of culinary culture.
05:56In Qatar, there is a lot of cuisine.
05:59So, any restaurant you will go and try the food you will enjoy and you will feel like you are
06:03really there in the country that they are bringing this concept of the food for this restaurant.
06:08But beyond the Michelin Guide and fine-dining restaurants, there's also space for entrepreneurs to add new culinary identities to
06:18Qatar's food spectrum.
06:26Slow Mayhem started from the idea of creating a concept that brings community together,
06:32that can create moments and experience more than just a bread brand.
06:40So, this feeling, you notice it in the kitchen when you spend full two days, three days preparing the bread,
06:47kneading, putting in the fridge, taking out of the fridge, noticing the starter.
06:51It takes time.
06:53This is the slow moments that you live.
06:55And then the mayhem comes whenever it comes into the table.
06:59Hands reaching, stories being shared.
07:02It's this chaotic moment where people receive good, homemade food and they just gobble it up so quickly, you know,
07:09and this is the mayhem you're bringing everyone together.
07:14I have a background in nutrition and I was really, like, obsessed with sourdough.
07:19And we realised, like, wow, this is something really, really cool here.
07:24Let's start to create a menu around it and create a recipe.
07:29We have everything from sourdough bread and then we use that same starter to make crackers,
07:35to make sourdough cookies.
07:36And then we also have another side of the menu that's very, well, it's all health-focused, you know,
07:42sourdough, as we know, is so good for you as bread.
07:44But we wanted to create something quite intelligent.
07:47We have these affirmation stickers because they're gentle reminders to the customer and to people that receive it.
07:53Like, I allow myself to arrive fully in this moment.
07:56I find joy in the simple things, you know, like, this is very important to us as well to bring
08:02that in.
08:02We don't seek really perfection. Perfection for us is very relative and a bit boring.
08:09So we allow the love to perfect itself, herself, and we seek perfection in the taste, in the experience,
08:18in the packaging, in the intention, in the affirmation.
08:24We chose Qatar as expats, as our home, you know, and we feel so safe here and we love living
08:30here and we feel so supported.
08:32And to be able to bring something from both of our backgrounds and both of our cultures,
08:39it feels really special and like it's bringing these little pockets of magic up
08:43and bringing some creativity and some culture into, you know, a city that it's coming alive.
08:50So we make small batches. We want everything to be fresh and we also don't want to waste food.
08:56So we don't over make. We want to run a sustainable business.
09:00When we see Slow Mayhem is growing, we don't necessarily see it growing in quantity of bread or in quantity
09:07of crackers to sell.
09:09We see it more growing in concepts, objects, curating this table to eat it or exhibit it.
09:20The next step is calling us, telling us now you can't stay the way you are doing.
09:24But we just want to make it in the right way, right concept.
09:34I feel like I've been transported to somewhere in Beijing or Shanghai,
09:39but I'm actually in the heart of Doha, in Sukhwakif.
09:42And this is Yellow River.
09:45It's both a Chinese restaurant and an Asian supermarket.
09:48And I'm here to meet one of Qatar's most prominent food bloggers
09:52to get her take on the country's evolving culinary scene.
09:55And of course, to sample some dishes.
10:00Rachel, thank you so much for suggesting to come to this place, Yellow River.
10:04There's a huge spread in front of us.
10:06And I know that you're a big fan of Yellow River.
10:09So tell us what are the dishes and let's get right into it.
10:13This is the star of the show, which is the Malatang hot pot.
10:17The really cool thing about this place is that it's a self-serve buffet.
10:21It's got seafood, veggies, meats, noodles, and a lot of different things.
10:27And then you pay by the kilo.
10:29And then you choose the spiciness level.
10:31This is like a sweet and sour kind of fish.
10:33They've butterflied it and they've presented it beautifully.
10:36This is a little bit sweet, a little bit sour, a little bit of spice in there.
10:41Now, you're hitting my soft spot here, my sweet spot.
10:44This is a jang bing, pardon my pronunciation.
10:48It's a classic Chinese street food.
10:51I first encountered this maybe 10, 15 years ago when I first traveled to China.
10:55You know, when I first came here, there just wasn't the diversity.
10:58And as the population grew, so did the need and the interest in food.
11:05I can only see it getting even more diverse.
11:07Like, for example, to a certain extent, we do reflect other trends around the world.
11:13People come here and they bring their own food traditions.
11:16What I am seeing, and I kind of like, more emphasis on Qatari food and golf food.
11:23So we're seeing a lot of smaller brands popping up here with a lot of support locally.
11:28And I hope that some of these brands will get a bit of traction globally.
11:37Well, Rachel, thank you so much for bringing us to Yellow River.
11:40Pleasure.
11:40But enough with the talking, let's continue indulging ourselves in this amazing spread.
11:45You don't have to ask me, Twoy.
11:48It's been fun showing you all the different flavors of Qatar, but that's all the time we have for now.
11:52Thanks for watching Qatar In Motion and see you next time.
11:55Let's dig in.
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