Part of What The Food
An in-depth discussion on how circular principles can transform food production, reduce waste and create resilient systems.
About the Speakers
Omar Shihab
Omar Shihab is the Founder and Chief Sustainability Officer of BOCA: a multi-award winning modern European restaurant located in Dubai, which has been awarded a MICHELIN Green Star and The World’s 50 Best Restaurants MENA. He founded BOCA to run a forward-thinking restaurant that can rival any world-class concept. He is an advocate of local food and farming, foraging, exploring new food sources, future of food, rethinking dining experiences and collaborating across borders and industries. Omar has recruited and worked with talented chefs, restaurant managers, beverage professionals, interior designers, brand specialists and construction experts to create world- class hospitality concepts in the Gulf region.
Born and raised in the UAE, Omar leads the sustainability initiatives of BOCA, which have been incorporated into the restaurant’s operations. BOCA today recognizes and promotes local and sustainable produce, growers, farmers, and fishermen. Omar also introduced native desert plants from the UAE into the professional kitchen, emphasized waste reduction throughout the restaurant, and established the position of Waste Officer at BOCA. Recently, he converted BOCA to run on 100% renewable energy and led the carbon emission calculation of BOCA to create a roadmap to achieve carbon neutrality status.
Omar is the lead advocate for Halophytes, part of the Nature-based Solutions project in the UAE with Emirates Nature-WWF, recipient of the Icon Award at The World’s 50 Best Restaurant Award’s 2025 MENA 50 Best, Gault&Millau UAE 2022 Sustainability Champion of the Year, associate for Thriving Solutions, a local sustainability consultant consortium in the UAE, partner of Food Made Good, part of the Sustainable Restaurant Association of the UK, board member of the UAE marine conservation non-profit Azraq, and a former advisor to the UAE Restaurant Group.
Zachary Roy
Zac, originally from Montréal, Canada, has had his hospitality career take him all over the world.
From nightclubs in Zihuantanejo, Mexico and Marrakech, Morocco to hotels in Turks & Caicos and Bahamas. Zac opened Mr. Tortoise in Bali, Indonesia, a small boutique hotel before cutting teeth in the Melbourne hospitality scene where he spent 8 years. There, he was nominated for venue of the year in 2019 by gourmet traveler for the speakeasy wine bar, Galah, and made international news by creating the world's first ever clear espresso martini.
Zac then moved to the UAE where he wanted to find a place that shared his beliefs for sustainable gastronomy and pushing the boundaries for flavours and pairings. This is when he joined LOWE.
Since joining LOWE, it was the first restaurant to earn the MICHELIN Green Star in the region in 2022, as well as the 50 Best Restaurants MENA, Sustainable Restaurant Award for the restaurant's sustainable gastronomy. Following that in 2023 LOWE was awarded its second Green Star, 2024 its third, and in 2025 its fourth in a row. LOWE was ranked No.15 in the 50 Best Restaurants MENA in 2023 and was ranked No.37 in 2024. In 2024 Zachary won Manager of the Year at the Caterer Middle East Awards for his accomplishments within the MENA hospitality scene. LOWE was then awarded its first Toque from Gault & Millau in 2025.