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The new Adidas-Ravi logo is displayed on the wall as chefs prepare food at the Ravi restaurant in the Satwa district of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, June 22, 2022. Adidas has teamed up with the nostalgic family-run Pakistani restaurant in Dubai to release the Superstar Ravi sneakers. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
by Malak Halb
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — In a city of champagne brunches and ocean views, Michelin-starred restaurants and endless options for high-end Asian food, a diner with broken walls features plastic chairs and metal tables It is one of the must-see attractions in Dubai.
Ravi Restaurant is a small Pakistani family-run restaurant with roots in helping to build Dubai’s South Asian worker community. Over the past few decades, however, it has become a major part of the food culture in a city that’s usually drawn to all things ostentatious and ostentatious.
The restaurant opened in 1978 in the Satwa neighborhood of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, when it was a sandy field of big trucks and small construction shops. In the 1970s, the emirate was mostly a desert, with a low skyline overlooking the bay.
Ravi serves home-cooked food, catering mainly to South Asian construction workers.
Its founder, Chaudary Abdul Hameed, wanted to “find a way to provide better food to the working class,” said his son Waseem Abdul Hameed, who is also the restaurant’s operations manager. That means keeping prices affordable, with meals averaging $7.
Over the years, as Dubai has prospered, it has become popular among Emiratis, as well as Western and Asian expatriates flocking to the emirate.
Renowned food critic Anthony Bourdain helped put Ravi on the map when he visited Ravi in 2010 for one of his TV series. A few years later, rapper Snoop Dogg came along, and Ravi was promoted to must-see.
Aside from its portion size, price, and taste, Ravi’s irony lacks pretentiousness, which gives it cache.
Customers in everything from suits to traditional saris or sneakers pour into the restaurant for a feast or late-night snack. It is not uncommon to see long queues at the door, or people carrying food to eat on the side of the road.
Inside, patrons sit at tables covered in plastic covers under flashing neon lights. The chatter reduces the sound of the ceiling fan. Chicken biryani, roti chicken, dal and naan are served from the kitchen above the service counter, and the aromas of curry and roti waft through the air as waiters quickly bring plates to the table.
Last week, the low-key restaurant hosted a very Dubai-style extravaganza: a gathering of social media influencers to promote shoemaker Adidas’ brand collaboration with Ravi.
Adidas produced a specially designed limited-edition Superstar Ravi sneaker – green and white – with the restaurant’s name and year of opening printed on the inside of the tongue, along with a list of six famous dishes from the menu.
Ravi and Adidas both declined to disclose the terms of the deal to The Associated Press, and declined to answer a question about whether restaurants would profit from the sale of the shoes.
Waseem Abdul Hameed said this reflected that the restaurant was part of Dubai’s cultural fabric. “You have to eat at Ravi’s, that’s why they chose us.”
This is in stark contrast to other Adidas recently released collections, such as a collaboration with Gucci, which includes sneakers priced at $899 in Dubai and other cities. But the collaboration shows that brands like Adidas are finding new ways to connect with consumers looking for uniqueness.
On a recent hot summer day, customers lined up outside Ravi after the shoes were launched.
“It’s real, that’s it, that’s why I love it,” said Dana, a 32-year-old Dubai resident who has been visiting Ravi with her friends for years.
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