Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab opens 1206 Under Head Chef Stephanie Haywood
The Dubai restaurant, which opens on 30 October, celebrates British cooking at its most meticulous.
The langoustine at 1206 goes through several stages before the kitchen is done with it. The tail sits at the centre of the plate. The shells go into a bisque and the offcuts into the bar’s drinks. What remains goes back into the soil of the terrace herb garden, which then supplies herbs to the kitchen and botanicals to the cocktail list.
1206 opens on 30 October, the last of Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab’s restaurants to be unveiled. It has built its identity around that cycle more than around its setting, though the dining room looks across the water from Jumeirah Burj Al Arab to Burj Khalifa.
The restaurant takes its name from a room on the property’s fourth level that was once hidden. The kitchen is helmed by Head Chef Stephanie Haywood, who grew up in the Sussex countryside and worked through Michelin-starred kitchens in the UK, Scandinavia, and the Gulf.
Chef Haywood believes that that technique should serve flavour.
Along the way Chef Haywood learned fermentation, foraging, butchery, and open-fire cooking, and that range shows in how she uses each ingredient in full. Her menu starts from British cooking and the influences it has absorbed over centuries from France, the Mediterranean, and Scandinavia.
She explains that technique should serve flavour. In practice that means fewer elements on the plate, each one made to count.
The kitchen works closely with local farms, and vegetables get as much space on the menu as protein. Bones and offcuts become stocks, broths, and sauces. Fermentation, curing, and slow cooking are there to build depth, not for show.
The wine list follows the same approach. It favours small producers, grower Champagnes, and low-intervention bottles.
AvroKO designed the interiors of 1206, drawing on Levantine coastal architecture: earthy tones, carved marble, handcrafted textures, and custom cabinetry.
Planted displays and joinery built into the garden blur the line between kitchen, terrace, and landscape, so the herbs heading for the plate are rarely out of sight. An expansive terrace extends the room outdoors.
Diners will no doubt find the skyline at 1206 a draw, but truly, a more telling view sits closer to the table.