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Mariam Al Mansoori

Emirati Culinary Ambassador

Founder and chief executive of Montauk Holding. The first Emirati chef to receive the Golden Chef award in France.

Request advisory The group
  • Montauk Restaurants
  • Montauk Café
  • Montauk Bakery
  • Montauk Gala
  • Amina
  • Kashtat Amina
  • MTK Smoke House
  • Sipette

When passion becomes a purpose, the impossible becomes possible.

Mariam Al Mansoori is an Emirati executive chef and the founder and chief executive of Montauk Holding in Abu Dhabi. She built the group around Emirati fusion, her own term for cooking that carries Gulf spice into dishes drawn from Europe, Asia, the Americas and the Arab world.

The first Montauk opened in 2019, named for the island on the South Shore of Long Island where her international career began. Eight brands now trade under the group across the Emirates, and her kitchens have been trusted with government events and major official occasions.

She works in the open, on the pass, in the bakery, and at the judging table. The awards came later.

Portrait of Chef Mariam Al Mansoori in her chef jacket

Recognition

Awarded in France. Appointed to judge in Abu Dhabi.

  1. Golden Chef, Best of Gastronomie

    The first Emirati chef to receive it, for creative work in the culinary arts.

    France
    Chef Mariam Al Mansoori receiving her certificate from the French Ambassador to the UAE
    The certificate, from the French Ambassador.

  2. Regional Culinary Judge

    Presented by Nicolas Niemtchinow, French Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, for her influence on cooking across the region.

    2024

  3. Chief Judge, Innovative Beverage

    Coffee category at the Qasr Al Hosn Festival, for the Department of Culture and Tourism.

    Abu Dhabi
    Chef Mariam Al Mansoori on the judging panel at the Qasr Al Hosn coffee championship
    On the panel at the Qasr Al Hosn coffee championship.

  4. Fact Dining Awards

    Best Homegrown Dining Restaurant in Abu Dhabi.

    2024
    Chef Mariam Al Mansoori holding the Fact Dining Awards plaque
    With the plaque, Abu Dhabi.

Qualifications

  • Master of Project Management Postgraduate
  • Master of Institutional Excellence Postgraduate
  • Government Accelerators Diploma, a United Arab Emirates government programme
  • Petroleum and Water Sciences Bachelor of Science

Alongside continuing study in leadership, marketing and problem solving.

Chef Mariam Al Mansoori in traditional Emirati dress

It began with the smell of spice in her mother's kitchen.

As a girl she stood beside her mother learning where Emirati flavour comes from, while her father told her to look past the recipe and build something of her own. Playing with dough and saffron turned into the work of a lifetime.

Her mother's name is Amina. Two of the group's restaurants carry it.

Family is still the centre of the work. Her husband, Chef Mohammed, cooks alongside her, and their son, Chef Fadhel, now runs a concept of his own.

She took the medal to her mother first.

The Golden Chef of Best of Gastronomie had never gone to an Emirati chef before. It went round her neck, and the first person she turned to was the woman who taught her to cook.

Then the roses, the certificate, and the brigade who had cooked the service.

Food is memory, storytelling, and culture preserved.

She goes and finds the ingredients herself.

The international career started in the United States, on the island that later gave the group its name. Japan produced Matcha Montauk, still on the menu. Every journey since has come home with a supplier, a recipe or a technique.

Chef Mariam Al Mansoori with her brigade at an outdoor event, the Abu Dhabi skyline behind

In their words

  • Culinary trailblazer.
    City Times, front page
  • الطبق التراثي قصة وهوية. The heritage dish is a story and an identity.
    Sayidaty Kitchen
  • A nation rises. Its women lead.
    Womenpreneur Middle East
  • الشيف الإماراتية ورائدة الأعمال المعروفة. Acclaimed Emirati chef and entrepreneur.
    Daawat Arabia

Where she speaks

The work outside the kitchen is about the next generation of Emirati women in business.

  • Empowering Emirati Women for the Next 50 Years On the role of Emirati women across the decades ahead
  • Abu Dhabi Thrive Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development
  • Let's Talk Food Abu Dhabi Business Women Council
  • IBC United Arab Emirates University
Chef Mariam Al Mansoori holding the City Times front page that names her a culinary trailblazer

Montauk Holding

Named for an island on the South Shore of Long Island, where her international career began. Eight brands, four Montauk locations, and a kitchen that caters the country's official tables.

Abu Dhabi, since 2019

  • A Montauk dish served on a banana leafMontauk RestaurantsEmirati fusion, four locations
  • The dining room at AminaAminaAl Reem Mall, Abu Dhabi
  • A Montauk Café cupMontauk CaféDesserts, coffee, matcha
  • The neon sign at Kashtat AminaKashtat AminaAljada, Sharjah
  • Croissants at Montauk BakeryMontauk BakeryCroissants and baklava
  • The MTK Smoke House truckMTK Smoke HouseGulf flavour, American smoke
  • Chef Mariam and her brigade platingMontauk GalaCatering for state occasions
  • The Sipette pavilionSipetteA room for women to sit and talk

Questions

Who is Chef Mariam Al Mansoori?

An Emirati executive chef, and the founder and chief executive of Montauk Holding in Abu Dhabi. She is the first Emirati chef to receive the Golden Chef award of Best of Gastronomie in France, and she works as a culinary ambassador for the country at government and official occasions.

What is Emirati fusion?

Her own term for the way she cooks. Gulf spice and Emirati technique carried into dishes drawn from Europe, Asia, the Americas and the wider Arab world. The intent is not to borrow a cuisine but to make a familiar dish answer to Emirati flavour.

Which restaurants does she run?

Montauk Restaurants, Montauk Café, Montauk Bakery and Montauk Gala catering, together with four standalone concepts: Amina at Al Reem Mall in Abu Dhabi, Kashtat Amina at Aljada in Sharjah with Arada, MTK Smoke House, and Sipette.

What has she been awarded?

The Golden Chef award of Best of Gastronomie in France, as the first Emirati chef to receive it. The Regional Culinary Judge award for 2024, presented by the French Ambassador to the UAE. An appointment as Chief Judge of the Innovative Beverage coffee category at the Qasr Al Hosn Festival. And the Fact Dining Awards 2024 for Best Homegrown Dining Restaurant in Abu Dhabi.

Does she cater private and government events?

Yes. Montauk Gala handles catering for state occasions, cultural festivals, corporate functions and private events, and her kitchens have served numerous government and official occasions across the Emirates.

Is she available for speaking and panels?

Yes. She speaks on entrepreneurship, women leading kitchens in the Gulf, and the business of heritage food, and has appeared with the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, the Abu Dhabi Business Women Council and United Arab Emirates University. Use the enquiry form below.

Enquiries

Advisory, partnerships, speaking, and press all reach the same desk.

Received. The executive office will reply shortly.