Weekly A to Z, December 17th.
The reflective one.
Easing into one of the last weeks of the year, starting with a steady day at K9 Friends and a very Bookers Christmas. During the holidays, we prefer to have a meet-up at home, and Le Meridien, The Tasting Class, MMI, and Maison Duffour made this possible with some brilliant deliveries. The Tasting Class has a number of pre-boxed wine sets in specific MMIs around town, and I highly recommend giving them a try. #gifted
On Tuesday, I was over to Caesars Forum for the quarterly Dubai Tourism gastronomy update, and it was great to see so many friends, as well as hear what’s coming up in 2023! #watchthisspace
On Thursday, I was back to Caesars for a drink at the Sunset Bar — perfect for sundowners this time of year — and then up to Takahisa for their festive omakase. Want to see? Click here. #invited
Some deliveries? No surprise; it’s been a busy week! Spinneys showing up with the new classic Camembert wreath, along with mince pies and other treats, was a welcome addition. MMI sent through some of their premium range to showcase excellent gifting ideas (who doesn’t want wine)?). There are a number of offers and promotions on, including gift boxes. Risen Bakery sent through a ton of yummy festive products, so we have everything needed for a tasty weekend ahead. #gifted
And a final note — the Below Farm grow your own mushroom kit has given us so much weird joy since we received it! I don’t have kids, but I feel like it would be such a fun ‘science experiment’ to have at home.
Links, please.
So CRAZY proud of everyone in this article. Dubai F&B, we’re here. NYT
Also, delighted to share the first of my collabs with The Tasting Class x Jacob’s Creek. Instagram
Please consider donating to K9 Friends this festive season — it’s an easy gift and helps us so much! K9 Friends
My first article for The Ethicalist. The Ethicalist
My life isn’t complete without this product. Amazon
How to style charcuterie. Food52
What are the name of your group texts? I have a very small number of overlapping Venn diagrams, but I can’t live without Seggsy Bookers and Life-Sharing BonBons™️. Cup of Jo
If I was Stateside… Food52
What are you looking forward to? Cup of Jo
Are VIPs at restaurants worth it? Vine Pair
How patterned ice conquered Instagram. Vine Pair
America has a food waste program. Axios
South Korea doesn’t. The Guardian
Talk to me about baked brie. The Kitchn
And then tell me about pimiento cheese crackers. Bon Appetit
Food television highlights from 2022. Eater
Honestly, looking back at 2022, I’m super proud of all that I accomplished. I published in new publications, including Vogue Arabia, Destinations of the World, Travel Curator, and The Ethicalist. I liked my steady work with Spinneys and have enjoyed contributing to Sapaad. Some projects haven’t worked out — I’m talking about you, dream airline role — but others are on the horizon and will (hopefully) give me a chance to continue to share the love and culinary talent of Dubai. I’m also delighted with the number of amazing press trips in 2022 — Estonia, Italy, Portugal, Oman, and Bahrain (and personal trips to Sri Lanka, the US, and Lapland). All in all, I’m (wildly) optimistic about 2023.
I wrote a novel (yay!) and almost finished editing another one (fingers crossed for a December 31st second draft).
I visited a total of 20 Michelin stars this month, including 3 green-starred restaurants.
I’m also delighted with the growth of this newsletter. I started 2022 with 4,989 subscribers and am ending with 5,363. This is sustained organic growth. And yes, paid subscribers also saw an uptick (feel free to join the fun for $5 a month).
This weekend? Seeing out the World Cup in style at the Chivas Regal FC Penthouse at 25hours for the third-place match (obvs cheering for Morrocco).
Next week? The BonBons are out to Marina Social for bubbles and caviar; I’m going to finish filming our Jacob’s Creek series with Lindsay and attending a very special at-home dinner with the beautiful and talented Zahra.
Finally, I’m also busy at work on my ‘best of’ for 2022. Want to know my favorite experiences, dishes, and other musings? Gotta subscribe.
If you enjoy this newsletter and want to support me, consider sharing this newsletter on social media, ordering from these restaurants, purchasing my books (or these novels — all free to read on Kindle Unlimited), or buying me coffee. Archives of the Weekly A to Z can be found here.
C.
Congrats Courtney on all your accomplishments this year 👏🏽