Jumeirah Festival of Taste takes on great new flavours

The bi-annual Jumeirah Festival of Taste will draw on the unrivalled experience from seven celebrity chefs from America, India, France and Great Britain. This year's event will feature the UK's favourite TV kitchen personalities, Ainsley Harriott who will host The Ainsley Live show at The Emirates Academy, Brian Turner and Cyrus Todiwala, one of the world's foremost Indian cuisine chefs, who owns and manages Café Spice Namasté in London.

They will be joined by returning world-class celebrity chefs James Martin, Jean-Christophe Novelli and Michel Roux, who cooked up a storm during the inaugural event in May 2006 and are back by popular demand to deliver outstanding food at a series of interactive dinners and
events.

Giving a further international twist to the event, Kerry Heffernan, Executive Chef at Jumeirah Essex House in New York, who runs South Gate restaurant, a popular destination for some of the world's most famous actors and musicians will join the outstanding chef line-up. Heffernan brings 20 years of culinary experience and achieved many accolades in the US during his time as Executive Chef at Eleven Madison Park in New York.

The Jumeirah Festival of Taste will take place at Jumeirah's prestigious hotels, kicking off with a grand opening event on Sunday 9 November at Al Qasr, Madinat Jumeirah. Over five days, nine events will take place including intimate dinners at destinations such as the Rib Room and Vu's in Jumeirah Emirates Towers, an exclusive boat trip departing from the Jumeirah Beach Hotel and a grand gala dinner in the ballroom of the world's most luxurious hotel, Burj Al Arab.

The Ainsley Live Cooking Show, new to the Festival in 2008, will place an emphasis on getting creative and having fun in the kitchen, brought to Dubai's residents in Ainsley's inimitable style. Supported by the other celebrity chefs, this will be a fantastic opportunity for food enthusiasts to get up close to the experts.

'Dubai's diversity is celebrated through its dining and Dubai is now affirmed as a global culinary destination,' said Marco Nijhof, Senior Vice President Middle East, Africa and South Asia. 'Jumeirah embraces this reputation by hosting bi-annually the Jumeirah Festival of Taste with founding sponsor American Express and regional partners Evian, Siematic and Time Out Dubai Magazine.'

'Our guests and visitors will be able to talk to the chefs, ask questions and draw inspiration from them. We plan to make this a distinguished event on the Dubai calendar,' Nijhof continued.