And it's Friday, which means food. And today I'm joined by a couple who together have helped shape Dubai's premium casual dining scene. Ziad and Rowan Kamel are the co-founders of Rosy Hospitality, which brought Kukle to the UAE almost a decade ago and built it into a neighbourhood favourite.

Now the pair are stepping into a new chapter. They're rebranding, they're expanding and they're saying goodbye, sort of, to the brand that they helped create. So how do you know when it's time to walk away from something that you built yourself? We are going to find out now.

Hello to you both. Thank you so much for joining me. Hello.

So nice to be here. How are you both? We're well. Thank you for having us.

Good to see you as always. Good to see you too. I always love having you in, but we felt like we had to have you in today because obviously this week you went on social media, you made a bit of an announcement about the plans that you have for Rosy.

And I wonder, first of all, before we get to that, if you could take me back in time a bit. How did Kukle first come to life back in Beirut? And why did you decide to bring it to Dubai back in, I think it was, was it 2016? At the time we were living in Beirut and we had a bunch of F&B projects there. One of them was Kukle, which I co-founded with some partners in Beirut in 2008.

I went on to open two branches in Lebanon and I moved to Dubai in 2014. And we opened Couqley and JLT in 2016. And that was the story.

So we were one of the co-founders and we brought it exclusively to the UAE. During that period, we decided it was best to part ways. And back in 2016, when you opened in JLT, what was it like sort of as a neighbourhood starting what was at the time quite unusual in that it was a sort of a licensed dining experience? It was in JLT, which was still a lot less busy than it is now.

What sort of, what was the experience like then and how has it changed over those nearly 10 years? It was very challenging in 2016. And like you said, JLT wasn't as prominent and known as it is today. So it was a challenge getting it up and running and integrating into a community that still didn't flourish and wasn't mature.

And just raising capital to build that restaurant from investors was a huge challenge because of the non-maturity of that beautiful community. And because it was our first major project in the UAE. So in one word, it was a challenge.

But looking back at it, it was one of the best decisions we had made. And Rowan, how do you feel about it now sort of looking back over the past 10 years and seeing the amount of growth from that first spot in JLT? Because it must feel like a bit of a whirlwind. You know, in the beginning, people would call us and message us and say, how do we even get to your restaurant? They had no idea.

We don't get those calls anymore. Now they know. We're surrounded by, when I walk outside, when I'm at the restaurant, there's so many pedestrians in JLT.

It's so nice. And now we even have bike lanes in JLT where people are on their mobile scooters or on their bicycles. And there's lanes for people to walk in.

That's how crazy it's gotten over there. We're surrounded by really amazing restaurants, right? We've got Fijian ceviche place. We've got Pitfire there.

We've got Mithos and Nola as our neighbors. And there's so many new things that are being built in JLT. So, you know, we're really happy with Cluster A. And it's really interesting, actually, all of those restaurants that you mentioned are sort of small, they're homegrown concepts, they're homegrown restaurateurs.

It must feel very much like a community there at this point. It does. It really does.

And we have, I will be in the restaurant most days and I see the same faces repeatedly at the same time. So, you know, our guests are coming more than four times a month to our restaurant. We are the place for lunch.

Sometimes they're already at the door lining up even before 12 o'clock. So it's a shock. And, you know, so we have to keep things fresh because it's so community driven and JLT has become so popular.

And you are both now stepping back from Couqley. But I wanted to get a bit of clarity on this for people because I know a few people who were sort of going, what? There's no Couqley anymore. But you guys are staying in JLT.

So tell me a bit about what's happening now with the restaurant. Well, so we are Rowan and Ziad, Rosie Hospitality. The future is Rosy.

So we were one of the founders of the brand. And in 2023, we took the difficult decision, but the right one to step away from the brand. And we exited to our former partners.

However, we fulfilled our contractual obligations to operate the brand Couqley until the contract expired at the end of 2024, after which we put in our own homegrown independent brand, which we built with love and care. And we built for family and friends and to integrate in the communities in Dubai. And our mission is very simple.

We want to have a place that is loved by friends and family. And that's how we built it. And we built it for Dubai.

We built it for communities. And so that is why we came up with CQ French Brasserie, our own independent brand, which took over the lease in the JLT location that was formerly Couqley. And that is now owned and fully controlled and operated by Rowan and I. So for anyone who panicked when they you're exiting Kukli, the steak fruits are still there.

They're still in JLT. It's just at CQ now. Oh, absolutely.

I mean, CQ French Brasserie is a tribute to French Parisian dining. So any menu item that you would find in the hundreds of amazing French Parisian restaurants and brasseries, you will find in our restaurant. In addition to a lot of new things that we developed, a lot of new menu items, a whole style and feel of the place is very different.

And it really tips the hat to the French culinary partners in Paris. It must feel quite refreshing to you. It sounds as though it's been quite freeing.

Absolutely. It's a wonderful feeling to be independent, right? And to be able to do the work that you do and have full control over it and be able to have a vision and work towards that vision, right? So this is where we're at. It's been one year since our JLT location that we have was converted and changed completely to a new independent restaurant called CQ French Brasserie.

Everything is different, but also it's still a French restaurant, right? So it's a great thing. Just kind of one brick at the moment, isn't it? And that whole Tetris puzzle that you guys have got going on. I want to touch on all the other brands and how you're expanding and everything next.

My guests right now have spent 20 years proving that hospitality is as much about heart as it is about operations. Ziad and Rowan Kamal are the husband and wife duo behind Rosie Hospitality.

They launched Couqley in Beirut before bringing it to Dubai and more recently created CQ French Brasserie as part of a new independent direction. Now, you guys were saying before the break that CQ Brasserie and JLT is now yours. I understand there's still a Couqley in Business Bay area.

So is that yours? This is not ours. As of November 15, we are no longer involved in Couqley in the Pullman downtown. So you have one branch, which is CQ and JLT.

CQ French Brasserie and JLT. And we are now working. We actually were just on site now before heading here.

We're going to be opening up in January in Barsha Heights. That's so exciting. And another real kind of neighbourhood area rather than a real sort of city centre.

Absolutely. It's going to be in the Grand Millennium Hotel. Amazing.

Where everybody knows Lucky Voice and Lock, Stock and Barrel are. So there's going to be a lot of fun nights to be had in Barsha Heights very soon. A nice close by evening out after you finish service.

Exactly, exactly. And which of you is the better singer? Sorry? Which of you is the better singer? Oh, of course me. I noticed he had some good rapping by the way.

He's a really good. He's an old school hip hop Dr. Dre, Snoop rapper. I defer all singing to my daughter.

So karaoke aside, it's lovely that that means you're going to have sort of two branches that are both going to have that real kind of neighbourhood, somewhere you can walk to feel. And I always feel like with all of your brands, that's sort of the thread because it's not just CQ you guys have got. You've got Girl and the Goose.

You've got Butted by the Dozen. Is it about that? Is that the thread for you guys, that idea that is a sort of community thing or what is it for you that ties them all together? We love creating restaurants that make us feel good. We like playing long-term games with long-term people.

So that means our business partners, our co-founders and our team. And we like to integrate into communities. Our passion or our raison d'être is to integrate into the communities and be a net positive value for our team, for our partners, for our investments and especially for the community.

And if you see how we select our locations very carefully, we select them based on longevity. We select them based on making a dent in the social fabric of Dubai and really contributing to the dining culture and to create a space where friends and family can get together without having to feel anxious. They can just walk in with their kids, with their parents, with their colleagues and we'll just take care of them.

That's what we strive to do. You mentioned there about partners and of course Girl and the Goose with Gabby came from a supper club. Butter started very much as a sort of independent.

How is it that you choose the people that you work and the businesses that you want to get involved in? Because they're very sort of close to the heart of the people behind them, right? Yeah, you know, it wasn't intentional. It really happened so naturally. I think the friendship was formed first and then the idea just Siad and I are very led to things that we are passionate about.

If we don't feel that passion, we don't really feel like working on it. So when we met Gabriela, we mostly just met her to meet. She had asked for some advice.

She was on that track anyway. But then we started meeting her more, giving some, you know, advice here and there. And before we knew it, we're like, you know what, maybe we should be doing this together.

And the same thing happened with Asma and her husband, where she used to actually work. She handled our account when we had the Go Brands in Deliveroo. And when she left, she started her cookie brand.

And then also she was just reaching out to us for some mentorship. And then again, one thing led to another. So it was nothing planned.

But at the end of the day, they have our same values. They want that, you know, approachable brand. They want those relatable brands.

They're very down to earth. And there's that resilience. They're very hardworking.

They're very hands on. Everything we do, we're so heavily involved in it. Each and every single one of us.

It's such a lovely part of Dubai's dining scene. I think that kind of the sort of nurturing that people do and how supportive people are of each other. Because I don't know that it's every city in the world that one person who wants to be a restaurateur would necessarily be reaching out to others saying, can you help? You know, it's such a nice part of it.

And I mean, you mentioned earlier being among the first at JLT. You were among the first to do kind of delivery kitchens. You've been a bit ahead of the curve.

I wonder what you think might be coming next in Dubai or what the dining scene here is still missing as we head into 2026. You know, that's a good question. And I think the dining scene, I'm a fan of the premium casual dining scene.

It's what we've always loved. It's what we've done. And I think Dubai doesn't have enough of it.

I think I would like to see more restaurants that have more affordable, approachable when it comes to their bookings and their their service with guests, with children and families. That's a really fair point. For us, it's really important for people to come to the restaurant and not feel like they have a two hour time limit.

Just come, enjoy yourself, feel like home and experience the restaurant as it should be. It's so true, the family part, because, you know, I mean, last winter when I had my family visiting, my son's 12. Now he can go and sit anywhere with us and he'll eat and he'll be fine.

But we had like the four year old and one year old niece and nephew who are just tornadoes. And CQ was one of the places that we went to because you do feel like you can sit there. As adults, you can have a good meal.

You know that there will be stuff that the grandparents are going to like, but also that the kids can sit there. And I wonder why that has been such a thing for you. Is it because you've been raising your own kids as you've been building these restaurants? Do you sort of almost build for yourselves? You know, we do.

But even without the kids, it's the way we believe restaurants should be. We're known to be a multi-generational restaurant for every brand that we've ever worked with or on. So you'll have grandparents with us.

You'll have your husband and wife. You'll have your children. We've met some people who told us that their father used to take them to the restaurant and then they continued going to the restaurant.

They proposed to their wife in our restaurant. And now they bring their child to the restaurant. That makes me feel really old.

However, it's nice, right? That's the kind of feel that we want. And that's why CQ's slogan is, we are a brasserie for friends and family. I'd like to add to that.

It's very deliberate strategically that we do that. So some of the maybe terms and conditions that you may find in other such restaurants, we don't apply, such as you can bring your kids after eight. Some restaurants don't accept that.

We don't impose time limits on your booking. So when you book, we assume that you can keep your table for as long as you want. You don't have a two-hour time slot.

And we don't also implement dress codes. We tend to think this figures itself out. Let's give the people what they want.

The freedom to enjoy hospitality. So these are some deliberate strategic decisions that we made that really brought the brasserie or restaurants for friends and family to life. I can't wait to see how that comes to life in the new branch.

If you're interested in finding out more, following more, you can send me the word steak on the text for 001. I will send you the info from Ziad and Rowan's latest venture CQ at Barsha Heights coming very soon. Thank you both for joining me.

I hope you have a fantastic holiday season. Thank you so much. Thanks for having us.