The Dubai restaurant Titanic by Marco Pierre White shuts its doors for good

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, May 17, 2012. Interior of the dining are at the new Titanic restaurant by Marco Pierre White in the Melia Hotel, Bur Dubai. (ANTONIE ROBERTSON / The National)
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The UK chef Marco Pierre White and Meliá Dubai announced on Monday they have closed the restaurant, Titanic by Marco Pierre White. The move to shut down the restaurant at the Bur Dubai hotel follows a mutual decision between the two parties to end their partnership, which began last year.

“Since I launched Titanic with Meliá Dubai the hotel has evolved and it became necessary to adapt,” said Marco Pierre White in a statement.

The celebrity chef said it was a “strategic decision on both sides and we part amicably”.

The vice president of operations at EMEA Hotel Division at Meliá Hotels International, Enrique Ortiz, said they were “pleased” they launched their first hotel in the GCC “with a signature restaurant from such a recognised name in the industry and Marco Pierre White brought a great depth of knowledge with him”.

Mr Ortiz said, however, that after a year of partnership they were now “in a better position to understand the needs of our guests and it is time to take a different path”.

He added: “We wish Marco all the best.”

Pierre White recently announced a new deal with Rmal Hospitality, which will take control of his restaurant brands outside of the UK.

The restaurants in the UAE include Frankie’s Italian Bar & Grill in Oasis Beach Tower in Dubai Marina and Wheeler’s Of St James’s in Dubai International Financial Centre, as well as Frankie’s Italian Restaurant & Bar and Marco Pierre White Steakhouse & Grill at the Fairmont Bab Al Bahr in Abu Dhabi.

The first UAE restaurant to open following the deal will be the Marco Pierre White Grill at the new Conrad Hotel in Dubai, due to open in late August.

“It’s going to be a grill room; it’s going to be a straightforward grill room,” said Pierre White.

Plans for the new restaurant at Meliá Dubai will be announced over the summer.