Get ready for fun, films and a whole lot of food.
What The Food by Alserkal is back this autumn, turning Alserkal Avenue into a hub for ideas, flavour and future thinking. Taking place on 25 and 26 October, the fourth edition brings together chefs, creatives, and cultural leaders to explore where food is headed and how the industry can shape its future. The 2025 theme, “Disrupting the Table,” frames a programme that moves beyond trend talk to examine systems, provenance and practice through talks, workshops, masterclasses, installations and film.
Curation for the talks and workshops is provided by culinary tastemaker and Gulf Academy Chair of MENA 50 Best Restaurants, Cláudia de Brito. Expect conversations that probe power and provenance, separate true innovation from hype, and share practical techniques guests can bring back to their own kitchens and projects. Day one focuses on innovation and sustainability. Day two turns to hands-on experimentation and future outlook, with sessions designed to equip attendees for action.
A headline moment arrives with the opening keynote by British-Indian chef, restaurateur, and author Asma Khan, founder of Darjeeling Express in London. Titled “Redefining Food for Tomorrow,” the address challenges audiences to reconsider tradition and equity while acknowledging the broader impact of food across global systems. The weekend also places Dubai and the UAE at the centre of the conversation. “Dubai DNA” brings together culinary pioneers to decode the city’s identity and its evolution on the world stage. A dedicated panel of Emirati chefs explores the culture, cuisine and ideas amplifying the national story.
On 25 October at 2pm at Jossa, Douglas McMaster, the chef behind Silo, the world’s first zero-waste restaurant, leads a masterclass on closed-loop systems and resource-smart cooking. At 12:15pm, British filmmaker and cultural storyteller Nadir Nahdi moderates Back to the Future: Ingredients, bringing a third-culture lens that links food, identity, and global narratives, with Bahraini chef Tala Bashmi as a panellist exploring how reviving heritage produce can drive contemporary creativity and reinforce regional identity. The day culminates at 3pm with Future Food Markets and Global Impact, where Basque Culinary World Prize winner Fatmata Binta joins Ray Adriansyah of The Locavore Group and British-Omani chef Dina Macki to examine climate-resilient crops, indigenous grains, and community-centred supply chains.
Beyond the stage, visitors will encounter “Tindahan Sa Tahanan Co.,” an installation by Filipino art collective Sa Tahanan Co. that pays homage to tindahans, the neighbourhood stores that sell everyday essentials. The exhibition gathers eight Filipino artists from the UAE, UK, Italy, Qatar and the Philippines. Avenue stalwarts join the action too, with cultural activations and workshops from The Growhouse by OneLife, Lila Molino, Middle Child, Nightjar, Cinema Akil and Gulf Photo Plus.
Basmah El Bittar, Director, Alserkal Avenue, comments, “What The Food is where culinary craft meets cultural inquiry. Under our 2025 theme of ‘Disrupting the Table,’ we’re inviting audiences to reconsider assumptions and to participate in shaping tomorrow’s food culture. With the support of our strategic partner Dubai Eats, we hope that by bringing together critical thinkers from around the world—chefs, farmers, artists and innovators—and by incubating critical conversations, experiences, and learnings, we can effectively impact the forces shaping tomorrow’s food systems.”
Registration is open now for What The Food Festival in Dubai.
GO: Follow @whathefoodbyalserkal on Instagram for more information.