MICHELIN Green Star and The World’s 50 Best Restaurant Middle East & North Africa’s Sustainable Restaurant Awarded BOCA, located in Dubai’s financial district, exemplifies a profound commitment to sustainability, particularly within its bar and beverage program.
Kornelija Skrinskyte Assistant Bar Manager, says, “this is a place where I can really explore that connection to local ingredients and regionally and keep learning how to bring that same realness to what I create here.”
What makes the restaurant sustainable?
BOCA’s sustainability is the result of over a decade of rethinking every aspect of running a restaurant; from sourcing and waste management, valuing resources, measuring and reporting to team culture and storytelling. We align our operations with environmental and social priorities, grounded in facts about food systems and climate impact. Our menus reflect local abundance and seasonality in the UAE, featuring responsibly sourced seafood, climate-resilient ingredients like halophytes, and produce from hydroponic and organic farms. Behind the scenes, we weigh and track every bag of waste, use renewable energy, train our team in climate literacy, and have published our carbon reports. Our sourcing policy favors transparency and impact over perfection, balancing local with quality imports when necessary. Recognitions like the MICHELIN Green Star and The World’s 50 Best Sustainable Restaurant Award affirm our belief that delicious food and sustainability can—and must—coexist. – Omar Shihab, Founder & GM at BOCA.
BOCA’s Sustainable Wine Program
Faced with Dubai’s absence of local vineyards, BOCA’s Sustainable Wine Program champions transparent showing light to regional producers from Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine, alongside like-minded global hidden gems and wineries from around the world. We prioritize wineries with clear farming and production methods, often visiting them personally. Our menu features QR codes for direct winemaker stories, educating guests on their craft. BOCA further supports communities by using recycled materials from using broken wine barrels as a menu .We aim to create an engaging and educational wine experience rooted in transparency and mindful sourcing for our growing market and sommelier community in the city – Shiv Menon, Head Of Hospitality & Wine – Beverage.
Read the full interview with Kornelija Skrinskyte that first appeared in Esquire India here:
Leave a Reply