Jason Atherton expands overseas restaurant empire to Qatar
Chef-restaurateur Jason Atherton is to expand his international empire with the opening of a restaurant in the Marsa Malaz Kempinski hotel in the Qatar capital of Doha.
Pearl Social, which will launch as Atherton's 15th venture later this month, and follows on from the opening last month of three restaurants in partnership with Marriott International at the Shanghai Edition.
The kitchen will be headed by executive chef Karl Emsen, previously sous chef at Atherton's one-Michelin-star City Social restaurant in London. Emerson has previously worked abroad for Atherton at the Pig and Palm restaurant in Cebu, Philippines.
The menu will have a focus on seafood and will include dishes such as yellowfin tuna with lemon, radish and mouli; roasted fillet of sea bass with Amalfi lemon potato and a mussel and clam sauce; and Florentine ribeye steak with Provençal herb pesto, lemon, wild mushroom and artichokes.
The interior of the 80-cover restaurant has been designed by Rosendale Design. It features a 50-seat terrace in a contemporary art deco style, with a series of 1960s French Riveria-inspired pictures adding a Mediterranean flair. A cocktail bar, the Divers Club, will sit above the restaurant.
The Social Company launched in 2011 with the opening of Pollen Street Social in London, and today operates seven restaurants in London with a further eight in Hong Kong, Shanghai, New York, the Philippines, Dubai and Doha.
Jason Atherton launches three restaurants at the Shanghai Edition >>
Top 100: Jason Atherton, the Social Company and Jason Atherton Holdings >>