The M2 is the adopted name for a lucrative dining floor situated on the Mezzanine 2 of Salhia Complex in downtown Kuwait. Consisting of five restaurants, the M2 is nicely furnished and is redesigned with ceiling windows to watch the starry summer nights, and a balcony to overlook the shops below; all while enjoying a delicious meal from one of five unique choices of eateries. Khaleejesque had exclusive access to M2's private event, which was a tour around the nearly-finished restaurants.
M2's concepts and the people behind them are all local; from designers to architecture, marketing, branding and of course the restaurants. The tour started off with Dikakeen, a Kuwaiti fusion restaurant served by Kuwaiti chefs, then to Doppio, an Italian Pizzeria and Friggitoria, then to The Pantry, a local artisanal bakery. After which we moved to Life with Cacao, a fine dining and dessert restaurant, and lastly, Ridley's Burger, a local concept of a classic burger joint. The owners of the one of a kind regional bistros presented their ideas and views to an audience of other writers and bloggers. Each restaurant has a certain scheme and style of delivery of their food, variety of menus and interior ambiance, giving off a sense of uniqueness and differing choices for restaurant goers.
Owner of Doppio, Amr Al-Refai, had this to say during his tour: "Doppio is a new baby from Solo Pizza Napoletana, 'Doppio' means double in Italian, we chose the name double because it's not only a pizzeria that sells pizza" explains Amr, standing before a scratched and marked wall, giving off an immediate feeling of being inside an actual Napoletan pizzeria along a unique contemporary design that rhymes perfectly with leather chairs stretching at full length of the shop. "It's also a Pizzeria and Friggitoria, friggitoria is basically a shop that sells fried food, we [Doppio] take you deeper into the streets of Napoli, introducing more of the unique food only found in Napoli."
The private tour gave us an insight of what the restaurants will look like when finalized and the culinary inspirations behind them. We, like many of you, look forward to bite into a burger of Ridley's or dig in a Machboos from Dikakeen.
The M2's fine dining hall will open for public soon at Salhia Complex, Kuwait.
