Outdoor cinema is back, white truffle season has reached the table, and there is a new coffee spot to work into your routine. This week, we are starting with two exhibitions at Dom Art Projects and finishing at Alserkal Avenue, where What the Food brings together family recipes, shared meals and the stories behind them. Here is your plan.

Where: Dom Art Projects

Start the week at Dom Art Projects, where The Matter of Light brings together 22 artists from Eastern Europe and the Arab world, including Zaha Hadid, Ilya Kabakov, Susan Hefuna and Akram Zaatari. Curated by Eugenia Kikodze, the exhibition explores how light shapes what we see — and the meanings we attach to it.

While you are there, step into Unveiled, a solo exhibition by Kirill Makarov opening on the same day. Working from online photographs and videos of armed conflict, he translates digital imagery into drawings and paintings, slowing down images we might otherwise scroll past.

Where? Crack Batch

Your midweek coffee comes with a new address to investigate. Crack Batch began its soft opening on October 15, making it a fresh addition to our list of places to check out. Drop by, find your order and report back — we are curious too.

Where? Il Gattopardo

Some seasonal arrivals deserve a dinner reservation. White truffle is back on the menu at Il Gattopardo, where double egg yolk tagliolini comes with a cream of 24-month-aged Parmesan, and risotto pairs wild mushrooms with freshly shaved truffle. There is also pan-seared veal tenderloin with foie gras, celeriac purée and mushroom jus if you are settling in for the evening.

Up on the 51st floor, the views give you another reason to take your time.

Where? DRIFT

Friday lunch can stretch a little longer at DRIFT. Its new Culinary Fridays bring a changing selection of seafood and seasonal specials to the table, with freshly prepared tartare, oysters and lobster-and-caviar pasta among the highlights.

For a smaller commitment, there is a particularly tempting starting point: six oysters and a glass of wine for AED 99. Order, look out to sea and see where the afternoon takes you.

Where? Cinema Akil, 25hours Hotel One Central.

Cinema Akil’s outdoor outpost at 25hours Hotel One Central reopens on October 30, just in time for a Saturday evening under the sky. This fourth season also brings a new kitchen resident: Ugly Noodles, serving dan dan noodles, scallion noodles and Sichuan wontons in homemade chilli oil.

Come hungry, leave room for popcorn and check the programme before choosing your film. Across the season, the space will also host live music, supper clubs, yoga and Pilates — plenty of reasons to return beyond movie night.

Where? Alserkal Avenue

Leave Sunday open for Alserkal Avenue. What the Food returns on October 31 and November 1, with a programme that follows food into family histories, art, design and everyday rituals.

Our Sunday picks? Prepare Palestinian pantry staples with chef Tala Bani-Odeh, turning olives, pickles and labneh into a shared meze table. Illustrate a treasured family recipe with Malavika Raghavan, or join artist Mirna Bamieh for a lecture-performance exploring food, memory and disappearance through her Palestine Hosting Society project.

There is cinema too: Jumana Manna’s Wild Relatives traces a journey of seeds between the Arctic and Lebanon. Between sessions, follow your appetite through the food pop-ups.