A New Chef, Tasting Menu & Wine Pairings at Dinner by Heston

We had the most incredible night out at Dinner by Heston, trying it again since Chef Chris Malone took over the helm. This Aussie chef has worked in some of the world’s most prestigious kitchens, including the three-Michelin-star Eleven Madison Park in New York! He’s also been crowned ‘Apprentice of the Year’ and ‘Young Chef of the Year’ in Australia.

While you can order à la carte, we went for the full experience with their degustation and wine pairings.

It only makes sense at The Tasting Class to touch on wine first. The list is enormous, with around 1,300 bottles and a huge selection of premium wines available by the glass! That said, considering the award-winning wine team at Heston, we felt the best experience would be to follow the tried-and-tested pairings created with the resident sommeliers. There are two pairing menus to choose from, each with six fantastic wines (and very generous pours).

The Adventurers Wine Pairing for AED 850 takes you off the beaten path with wines from up-and-coming regions like Washington State, South Africa’s Paarl, and Chinon in the Loire Valley. The Maverick Wine Pairing for AED 1,550 features long-established, iconic producers who played a pioneering roll in their region, including the Tyrell’s Vat 1 Semillon from Australia’s Hunter Valley, Gaja Dagromis Barolo, and Cakebread Cellars, Napa Valley, Chardonnay.

Dinner’s entire philosophy is about showcasing elevated British cuisine, with inspiration pulled from historical recipes all the way to Heston Blumenthal’s trailblazing creations. The menu highlights traditional proteins like beef cheek, venison, turbot, and the best sweetbreads I’ve ever had, along with British garden vegetables like beets, cucumbers, peas, chestnuts, and raspberries.  Even though the much-loved Meat Fruit wasn’t on the official menu, we were absolutely delighted to get a miniature one as an amuse-bouche. And as a delightful nod to the chef’s Chris’ Australian roots, a sneaky lamington made its way onto the menu, too! The menu, excluding the wine pairing, is AED 980 per person, and even though the published menu says six courses, it ended up being nine by the end of the meal if you include all the other delightfully sneaky treats that landed on our table too.

Dinner by Heston isn’t just a meal; it’s a fully immersive experience. To enjoy the full menu, you’ll need three hours (we took closer to four). They also use a selection of tabletop postcards that let you silently communicate with your service team about the level of interaction you’d like. If it’s a date night and you only have eyes for your partner, you can display the “Adventurer” card for minimal interaction. If you’re a true foodie and want to know everything about the dish—from inspiration to cooking method to ingredient sourcing—you can show the “Maverick” card. There’s even a card for something in between.

This special-occasion restaurant isn’t just the meal before the activity on a night out, it is the main event.