Sergio Lopez — half of Dubai casual dining duo Tom & Serg — says the prolific restaurateurs “create places that we want to go to”.
Right now, they want to go to out for Mexican.
Lopez and partner Tom Arnel on Thursday launched Muchachas, the latest restaurant concept from their Bull & Roo group, with a preview at the Taste of Dubai food festival.
Sergio Lopez at the launch of Mexican cantina Muchachas during Taste of Dubai on March 10, 2016.
Describing it as “Mexican fun food”, Lopez said they were aiming to open an outlet that’s sassy, sexy and feminine — a contrast to their more masculine sports bar, Brunswick, due to open next week.
“We always try to find what is new, what the market needs, what are the new trends worldwide, and Mexican is popular all over the world,” said Lopez at Taste of Dubai, as Muchachas staff danced around him with inflatable donuts and pink candy floss topped with sour candy.
The drinks -- sangrias and passion fruit agua -- showcased at the preview of the upcoming cantina Muchachas.
“We wanted to create something more feminine than what we normally do, because Brunswick is more masculine, so we wanted to bring that sassy, feminine, sexy concept, [and] we thought that Mexican is the way to go — it’s fun, different, casual.”
Muchachas means “ladies” in Spanish, by the way.
Ever secretive, Lopez said Muchachas will be “in a different location than what you are normally used to finding in Dubai” — that’s par for the course for the duo who started off by opening a hit cafe, Tom & Serg, in the wasteland that was Al Quoz industrial area (it’s now the centre of all that is hip in Dubai). “It’s unique, a really quirky, cool area in Dubai. It’s going to be really unexpected.”
Skirt steak tacos.
Only those two could have us as excited about the location as the food. Speaking of the food, the Taste of Dubai stand showcased tacos — fish and skirt steak varieties — as well as yucca fries, grilled corn on the cob topped with spicy condiments.
“The menu is all about sharing, tacos, corn on the cob, yucca, little nibbles. It’s a place you want to go with your mates or your partner and share a meal. I am Spanish, the Mexican and Latin food is all about sharing because we like to spend a lot of time eating, enjoying and talking.” The restaurant, like Brunswick, at the Sheraton Mall of the Emirates, will be licensed.
And this is nowhere near the end of new concepts from Bull and Roo. “We are opening a few things this year, this is not our first not our last, says Lopez. “I can say we are hiring close to 350 people this year. [The venues are] similar to Muchachas, small nice fun places.”
Finally, good news for fans of Rule The Roast, the nightly roast dinners during Ramadan at Tom & Serg: They will be back this year.
