Celebrities by Mauro Colagreco.

Pass the salt.

Obviously, with a name like Chef Mauro Colagreco (yes, that Mauro of celebrated and former #1 in the world, Mirazur), my expectations for Celebrities were high. Maybe too high? After all, I realize what the concept of a celebrity-backed restaurant in Dubai translates to — that is, there’s a name and a vision and a chef who might be in the kitchen a maximum of seven days a year.

After opening (slightly) late (?), we’re ushered to our table. Not much (if anything) has changed since my last visit to the interior. It remains an understated OTT (Dubai’s favorite approach).  With the menus presented, we’re asked if we’d like to start the meal with a glass of champagne. This offer feels very ‘fine dining’ even if we’re told that this is not a fine dining restaurant (could’ve fooled me). The glass is not poured at the table, which always bothers me from a service standpoint. Given the bubbles aren’t so bubbly, our guess is the bottle had been open for a bit…

The staff is kind enough to point ou…