Cooking up a storm

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Okku owners: Ramzy Abdul-Majeed (left) and Markus Thesleff (right).

For anyone who thought there were not enough truly sophisticated and exclusive places to eat in Dubai, a new restaurant and club will open this month that aims to change all that.

Okku will be located inside the exclusive Monarch Hotel at One, Sheikh Zayed Road, and will be the first of a planned global brand of luxurious, fashionable - and exclusive restaurants.

Okku owners, Markus Thesleff and Ramzy Abdul-Majeed shipped in a number of celebrity chefs, bartenders and trainers to assist with the grand opening. The list of chefs reads like a who's who of the Japanese cooking scene - Hugh Gardiner, of Matsui, Hisashi Iwata, from KOI and Ono, and Chie Shirahata from Nobu Matsuhisha, who will all act as executive chefs.

The restaurant also aims to set new standards in style. It will span two levels, including a catwalk and a wall-length jellyfish aquarium.

"The concept is that you are always on display. Everybody sees everybody all the time," explains Thesleff.

"The lounge is positioned so you can see the whole restaurant and the private rooms will look into the lounges.

Thesleff is no stranger to such high end concept projects. He is the man behind the phenomenally successful Pangea club - a fashionable private members club that has turned into a worldwide brand, famous for attracting celebrities as brand ambassadors and for a door policy that focuses on admitting only the most interesting people.

"We're interested in creating a brand [with Okku]; quality and consistency are the most important components, they are everything," says Theslaff.

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