World's Top Chefs to Conquer Middle East's Palates: French Chef Alain Ducasse Will Be Opening His First Restaurant in the Middle East at the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar This Year According to Industry Whispers. He Will Join the String of the World's Best Chefs Who Have Launched a Culinary Assault of the Region for the Past Ten Years

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IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE ALAIN DUCASSE was to follow in the footsteps of other Michelinstar chefs and open a restaurant in the Middle East. The region is attracting a growing number of top hoteliers, particularly in the cash-rich GCC. There's obviously the financial attraction of the Gulf, but also the sheer potential and excitement of a new market.

"I love the Middle East. I think what I love is the fact that in the culinary world there's still an awful, awful long way to go to match many of the other great culinary areas of our world," noted Gary Rhodes. The British chef will be launching his third venture in the UAE, the new 44 restaurant opens at the St Regis Abu Dhabi hotel later this year, in collaboration with Starwood Hotels & Resorts. "We've got the Far Eastern food that is eaten all over the world; we talk about western food that is eaten all over the world; but is Middle Eastern food eaten all over the world on a mass scale?" Not yet …