Five minutes with.. Yasmine Attieh, operations director, Em Sherif

How do you differentiate Em Sherif in the competitive Lebanese dining segment?

What differentiates Em Sherif from the rest is its charming décor, ambiance and a unique set menu concept consisting of the owner Mireille Hayek’s own recipes. The menu is traditional with a personal twist courtesy of Ms. Hayek herself. Another key factor that sets Em Sherif apart is its architecture. It’s designed to look like an antique Lebanese mansion. Each and every design as seen on the doors, the mirrors and the ‘unfinished’ painted ceiling is what adds to the charm of the place. The whole idea behind Em Sherif is to make people feel at home.

With so many new restaurants and bars do you think the market has become too crowded?

The market has become extremely challenging and competitive; It is a tough and heavily saturated market, therefore for a venue to succeed its experience and offer must be unique starting from the location of the venue, the design and the F&B offer and Em Sherif meets the criteria. We live up to the promise and consistently give our patrons many reasons to come back.

What are you franchise plans for the brand?

We are working on a couple of franchises within the region and outside of it but we cannot reveal anything just yet. Not until everything is signed and sealed.

Do you have any expansion plans for the brand in the UAE and elsewhere?

The Crystal Group’s mission is to create new concepts or bring in successful ones and franchise them across the UAE and outside of the region so we are always looking into new locations and hopefully our expansion plans will start materialising as of the first quarter of next year.

What are the key elements for success in the Dubai F&B scene?

As I have mentioned before, In order to be successful, differentiated brand imagery is what you need to stand out from your competition along with location, quality of the food and the service. We rely heavily on our customers feedback which is also a very important factor to our concepts success.

Are you hiring?

Our doors are always open for talent.

What makes the perfect employee?

They have to be detail oriented, skilled in customised service, be passionate about the industry and have sense of ownership and leadership.

In my spare time I like to…

In my spare time I like to cook and read.