Homegrown Businesses in The UAE

A talk with Chef JP Anglo from Kooya and Necip Camcigil from One Life, moderated by Mohamad Akkaoui from Dukkan Media, around Homegrown businesses in The UAE

Chef JP Anglo (Kooya)

Chef JP Anglo, a Filipino chef born and raised in Bacolod City, a food haven in the Western part of the Philippines, has been in the culinary scene for years now. His restaurant in Manilacalled Sarsa has been open for nearly a decade now and was one of the first to champion contemporary Filipino food in the country . Two years ago, he opened his latest Filipino restaurant, Kooya Filipino Eatery in Dubai in the UAE where he hopes to introduce the cuisine to a broader audience and to push “Filipino Food Forward”.

Chef JP’s mission is to “reintroduce” Filipino food to the world. While most see Filipino food as exotic and unfamiliar, it is his dream to get the Filipino food to be known as a global cuisine enjoyed by all nationalities, not just the Filipinos. “Our food is amazing and the world needs to taste it”-- a line Chef JP would always say. And what better place to start this than Dubai, a city that’s a melting pot of so many cultures and nationalities, a place where people have an open mind and a passion for good food.

Necip Camcigil (One Life)

After working 9 years in corporate marketing, Necip left the multinational scene to start One Life Kitchen and Cafe in Dubai Design District. In the last 9 years, the brand has grown to 2 locations and will soon be opening in Alserkal avenue. Necip is passionate about food and hospitality, and is heavily involved across the operations of One Life.

Moderated by Mohamad Akkaoui (Akhu Manoushe)

Mohamad Akkaoui is the founder of Akhu Manoushe and a Partner at Dukkan Media, a leading cultural consultancy in the Middle East, and co-host of the Dukkan Show. Prior to joining Dukkan Media, he spent six years as the brand manager for Nike's sports branding and marketing in the region, and over 10 years with the Red Bull brand and performance marketing teams.

Akkaoui is a creative strategic thinker and a skilled storyteller, who thrives on new challenges and values education throughout his journey. He strongly believes in finding the right insight that leads to impactful campaigns and delivers the right experience to the consumer through a 360 OmniChannel approach. Every piece of content created at Dukkan Media contributes to the larger culture and creative economy of the UAE.

As an insight nerd, Akkaoui holds the belief that "It all starts and ends with the culture and the consumer" and "Your team is a mirror of yourself", and You live you Learn You Lead , are three principles that he embodies in everything he does.

Akkaoui strongly believes that the best way to showcase one's culture, upbringing, values, and good taste is through food. His family has always been in the F&B spectrum, with food concepts in Lebanon and the UAE. They have created Atyab Manoushe in Abu Dhabi since 2002 and the recent pop-up brand Akhu Manoushe in Dubai.