Tennis legend Rafael Nadal and football star Cristiano Ronaldo have brought their global chain, Tatel, to downtown Dubai which opened on Monday.

LA Lakers champion Pau Gasol is the third celebrity backer at Tatel, which has branches in Madrid, Ibiza, Beverly Hills and Mexico City.

The Dubai outpost is located in Hotel Boulevard, Autograph Collection and set to offer traditional Spanish gastronomy with cosmopolitan global influences catering to Dubai’s global tastes.

At its global locations, it pairs its modern Spanish cuisine with live music and a vibrant bar scene.

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On the menu are dishes prepared with ingredients imported from Spain, including classic potato omelette, Spanish potato salad, Balfego tuna carpaccio, slow-cooked beef ribs, semolina risotto with black truffle, and a dramatic torrija vasca for dessert.

Dubai is home to a vibrant food scene, and has seen plenty international outposts as well as globally renowned chefs setting up restaurants in the glitzy gulf.

For perspective, 2023 saw a 61% surge in the amount of residents dining out in Dubai, and a significant increase in satisfaction with the food scene’s value for money among international visitors, according to Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET).

This growth has also been reflected Dubai earning its inaugural Michelin stars.

Dubai also experienced record tourism in 2023, seeing 17 million tourists.

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