We started our evening at Soirée, a wine bar located on the first floor of the ME Hotel, The Opus Tower by Zaha Hadid, which features natural alcohol products. The vibe is cool even if, yes, it’s predictably empty during August. The team at Soiree definitely knows their stuff, the selection is unique, and if price points were a little bit lower, I would consider returning on a regular basis. Owned by the same management company — OY Hospitality — we make our way downstairs to Sfumato, and I wonder if the leadership might have been better served in switching the locations (Sfumato upstairs and Soiree downstairs), thus giving Sfumato a fully enclosed restaurant and locating the wine bar in the lobby. This being Dubai, I have to assume there is some issue about ‘openly’ serving wine, but I can still have my preference.
While sectioned off nicely and branded quite well (including the chic khaki staff uniforms), Sfumato can’t quite overcome the fact that they are located in a hotel lobby. P…
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