From fire-led collaborations in Dubai to Tuscan craftsmanship in Abu Dhabi, January opens with a series of chef-led dining moments that place collaboration at the centre of the experience. These limited-run dinners bring together distinct culinary identities, offering guests a chance to experience technique, provenance, and perspective through shared menus. Here are the four-hands dinners and collaborative dining events worth knowing about this month.
Salvaje Dubai
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Salvaje Dubai opens the year with Between Flame & Form, a one-night four-hands dining experience bringing together chef Brando Moros of 11 Woodfire and chef Koyi Tanabe, executive chef of Salvaje Dubai. Taking place on 15 January, the collaboration explores the tension and balance between instinctive, fire-led Latin American cooking and the disciplined precision of Japanese technique. The menu, priced from AED490 per person, is designed as a considered progression, moving from clean, acidic openings into deeper, smoke-driven mains, with fire acting as a unifying element rather than a visual statement.
Quick Summary:
- 🔥 Collaboration: chef Brando Moros × chef Koyi Tanabe
- 📅 When: 8pm, 15 January
- 🍽 Format: one-night four-hands tasting menu centred on fire-led cooking
Rosewood Abu Dhabi
On 23 and 24 January, Rosewood Abu Dhabi welcomes chef Matteo Temperini, the two-Michelin-starred chef behind Campo del Drago at Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco in Tuscany, for a two-day culinary exchange alongside chef Liborio Colonna. The collaboration begins with a wine-led evening at La Cava, featuring Castiglion del Bosco wines paired with refined canapés. The following night continues at Rosewood Terrace with a six-course four-hands tasting menu, priced at AED750 per person, that reinterprets Tuscan cooking through a contemporary lens. Standout dishes include gambero rosso with caviar, carnaroli risotto with ‘dolce forte’ duck, and rabbit and Swiss chard agnolotti finished with black truffle.
Quick Summary:
- 👨🍳 Collaboration: chef Matteo Temperini × chef Liborio Colonna
- 📅 When: 7pm–10pm, 23–24 January
- 🍽 Format: wine-led evening followed by a six-course four-hands dinner
rosewoodhotels.com/abu-dhabi, @rosewoodabudhabi
avatara, Dubai Hills Estate
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avatara hosts a four-hands dinner on 22 January, bringing together chef Rahul Rana and guest chef Aphisith Phongsavanh of Al Naqa. Known for its technique-driven vegetarian cooking, avatara uses the four-hands format to explore shared flavour philosophies across Indian, Laotian, and Middle Eastern cuisines. The evening is presented as a cohesive tasting menu rather than a series of individual highlights, reinforcing avatara’s precise, ingredient-focused approach to collaborative dining.
Quick Summary:
- 🌿 Collaboration: chef Rahul Rana × chef Aphisith Phongsavanh
- 📅 When: 22 January
- 🍽 Format: four-hands vegetarian tasting menu with regional influences
Bord Eau by Nicolas Isnard, Abu Dhabi
As part of the Middle East & North Africa’s 50 Best Restaurants Signature Sessions, Bord Eau by Nicolas Isnard hosts a one-night collaborative dinner on 31 January. The experience, priced from AED650, brings together chef Nicolas Isnard and the Orfali Brothers for a multi-course tasting menu created specifically for the occasion. Blending French technique with modern Middle Eastern influences, the dinner is hosted in Bord Eau’s refined waterfront setting and forms part of a wider programme of chef collaborations taking place across Abu Dhabi.
Quick Summary:
- 🍷 Collaboration: chef Nicolas Isnard × Orfali Brothers
- 📅 When: 31 January
- 🍽 Format: one-night tasting menu as part of 50 Best Signature Sessions
bordeauabudhabi.com, @bordeaubynicolasisnard
50 Best Signature Sessions, Abu Dhabi
Running from 31 January into early February, the 50 Best Signature Sessions programme brings a curated run of chef collaborations to Abu Dhabi as part of the Middle East & North Africa’s 50 Best Restaurants week. Rather than a single venue, it’s a city-wide calendar of one-off tasting menus that pair two restaurant teams for a shared dinner built around technique and cultural crossover. Highlights include Maārtabān by Hemant Oberoi × Trèsind Studio, which leans into modern Indian cooking with a collaborative format, Taparelle × Le Petit Cornichon, a pairing that brings together Mediterranean and Levantine influences, and NIRI × ALEE, a session designed around Japanese precision meeting Jordanian flavours.
Quick Summary:
- 🤝 Collaboration: multiple chef pairings
- 📅 When: from 31 January
- 🍽 Format: ticketed one-off collaborative dinners across multiple venues
