Dubai keeps growing with new spots — and this week is a good one to explore. One is a freshly opened Mediterranean restaurant straight from El Gouna; another is a hidden 10-seat listening bar that you really need to know about. Plus, there are great exhibitions and a unique healing experience we genuinely recommend trying.

Where? Alserkal Avenue, Warehouse 81

Until 1 December, you can catch Hujra, a new solo show by Miramar Al Nayyar, curated by Abeer Seikaly. The title Hujra (حُجرة) translates as “chamber” and traces back to the same root as ḥajar (stone), hinting at both enclosure and the material weight that anchors the work.

The exhibition explores how flow settles onto canvas, how light becomes material, and how painting carries the quiet weight of stone — its origins and its silence. It’s a dialogue between artist and curator, where inner states take shape through body, material, and space.

Where? GD-3, Gate Avenue — DIFC, Dubai

Villa Coconut just opened in DIFC’s Gate Avenue at the start of November, bringing that relaxed El Gouna vibe straight to Dubai. How would we describe it in a few words? Mediterranean food, good music, and a space that feels easy the moment you walk in. Time to try it, isn't it?

Where? SIRO One Za’abeel

Sanctum at SIRO One Za’abeel isn’t your typical workout — it is more like a guided release, a mix of movement and emotion carried by a powerful soundscape. The practice draws on kundalini, martial arts, animal flow, primal movement, and breathwork, all layered over cinematic electronic music that sets the tone and pace.

Daily sessions take place in the Yoga Studio: music, breath, intensity, stillness — and those moments when you suddenly realise you’ve let go of far more than just physical tension. Sanctum isn’t about perfect form; it’s about moving the way your body wants to move, shaking off whatever’s been stuck, and reconnecting with yourself.

What do you walk away with? A clearer head, a lighter body, and that quiet feeling of being a little more you again.

Where? The Courtyard, Opera Grand

Neha Mishra, the chef behind Kinoya, teams up with Panchali Mahendra, CEO at Atelier House Hospitality, to open Tezukuri this Friday at The Courtyard in Downtown.

Think of it as two spaces in one: up front, a small counter where temaki is rolled right in front of you, and behind a discreet door, a hidden 10-seat listening bar. It’s intimate, low-key, and very intentional: you watch the food being made, you actually taste every detail, and then you slip into a room where the music isn’t background noise — it’s the whole point.

Where? NYUAD Art Gallery

Maybe a Saturday trip to Abu Dhabi? There is a new show at the NYUAD Art Gallery — Past of a Temporal Universe by Ala Younis. It runs through the winter and brings together about twenty years of her work. Younis mixes archives, textiles, drawings, mosaics — all the things she digs up from the worlds she grew up around — and turns them into these quiet but very sharp connections between politics, everyday life, and the stories we inherit without noticing.

Where? 1484 By Puro, Ras al Khaima

1484 by Puro sits 1,484 metres above sea level on Jebel Jais, with panoramic views over the Hajar Mountains. Can you imagine how beautiful that is? You really have to try it and see it for yourself.

The menu leans toward feel-good global dishes — fresh seafood, grilled meats, pastas, and warm, mountain-style comfort plates. Think burrata with heirloom tomatoes, prawn linguine, a solid rib-eye, and desserts that somehow taste even better when you’re sitting above the clouds.

First day of winter. The only thing you’re expected to lift is a mug of something warm.