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If you’ve been to Murouj then you’ve probably noticed the construction taking place next to their large parking lot. That’s part of the Murouj expansion project and yesterday I was able to get a list of some of the places that are opening there:

Beit Shoukri
Blaze Pizza
Dean & Deluca
Häagen-Dazs
Illy Coffee
Katsuya
Mana by Ubon
Shake Shack
Shishawarma
Solia Mediterranean Food

There will also be a space available for pop-ups. I’m still trying to find out when phase 3 is expected to finish, and once I have that information I’ll update this post.

A lot of people are becoming vegetarian or vegan for some reason so I figured it was worth putting this list together. Below is a list of restaurants that have a large selection of vegan and vegetarian dishes (not salads). I’m sure I missed out on a whole lot so let me know what else to add below.

BE Cafe
Fed by JM
Ginger
Greenland
Healthy Feast
OVO
Saravanaa Bhavan
Super/Foods
The Bowl
Udupi
Wilgrow

The new cultural center in Shaab, the ASCC is expected to open up end of this year and they’re now accepting artists for their residency program. The program is open to both Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti artists so if this interests you, check out their application website for more details [Here]

Thank dmvi

Last week police arrested a man who stabbed his wife at least seven times and the video of the arrest went viral. I just got to watch the video now and found it a bit confusing since in the video it looks like civilians are arresting the murderer, while the cop is on his phone the whole time.

The video starts off with a police officer ordering a man to surrender while he had his Apple earbuds on and the phone in his hand recording the whole incident. While he is recording the video, two men in civilian clothing get closer to the man, one of them looks to be carrying a police baton. Once the man surrenders and lies down on his stomach, the two civilians proceed to secure the man down and then one of them goes to get handcuffs before coming back and handcuffing the man. Finally a second policeman comes into the video and hands something over to one of the civilians.

Now my educated guess is at least one of the civilians is actually a cop himself, probably off duty or undercover, but its still weird that the first cop was on his phone the whole time. Check out the video above to get an idea of what I’m talking about.

Selections, the bi-monthly cultural magazine posted a short article on Kuwait’s Modern Art Museum. One bit of information that caught my attention was the fact the building used to be an important school before, a fact I wasn’t aware of:

Interestingly, the museum is housed in one of Kuwait’s few pre-World War Two era buildings, an imposing former school that educated some of the country’s most prominent figures, including the current Emir Sheikh Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Today, the unique building is managed by the National Committee of Culture, Arts and Literature, which is responsible for maintaining the collection and permanent displays on site.

You can check out the full article on the Selections website [Here]

Thanks cognitoas

Tiger Tiger
Originally a pop-up restaurant, Tiger Tiger is finally opening up a physical location and its going to be located at the end of the same strip where Gia, Joa and Habra are located in Kuwait City. Tiger Tiger will be located where Shisha Bar used to be.

White Robata
The owner of Slider Station and Burger Boutique is opening a robata restaurant at the Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Cultural Centre called White Robata.

Sintoho
Opening at the beginning of September, Sintoho will be a fine dining Pan-Asian restaurant that will be located on the rooftop of the soon to open Four Seasons Hotel.

This is going to be one of my venting posts on Salmiya. The sidewalks situation on Salem Mubarek Street in Salmiya is a horrible mess. It’s a very pedestrian heavy strip, and probably gets the most amount of foot traffic compared to any other strip in Kuwait, yet the sidewalks are miserable.

There are a number of issues with the sidewalks in Salmiya including:
– lack of wheelchair or stroller friendly sidewalks
– building construction occupying the whole sidewalk
– large bushes taking up the whole sidewalk (pictured above)
– sidewalks that have deteriorated
– sidewalks that were opened up for work but never put back together right

Yesterday I spotted the woman in the photo above with her two kids having to get off the sidewalk and walk in the street because of a large bush. Recently I’ve also been noticing a man in an electric wheelchair roaming around Salmiya occupying the same road as the cars. It’s a total mess but of course nobody cares.

/end rant

Yesterday I dropped by the soon to open Four Seasons Hotel in Kuwait City for a quick tour. I hadn’t been there since back in September when the place was still mostly under construction so I was pretty excited to see how things turned out. My first impressions of the place is that its simply stunning and very tastefully done. It’s has a very contemporary look yet with some Arabic elements injected into the design. It’s going to be by far the best looking hotel in Kuwait.

Four Seasons will be soft launching in around 2 weeks time with the official opening at the beginning of September. From the five restaurants they have, the following three will open up during the soft launch:

Dai Forni – An Italian restaurant
Elements – A buffet restaurant
Al Sour – The lobby lounge

Sintoho the Pan-Asian restaurant and Al Bandar, the poolside lounge/restaurant will both open in September. The outdoor pool will also open in September while the indoor one will be open during the soft launch. Finally, the Aveda salon (for men and women) will also be opening up as part of the soft launch.

I took a few quick photos during my tour which you can check out below. Since I was also taking photos with my phone for my instagram story, I realized later that there were some shots I forgot to take with my regular camera. So check out the photos below and once you’re done head over to my instagram account @mark248am and check out my story there (from your phone). It should be up till around 3PM.

Four Seasons Kuwait is located in Kuwait City [Google Maps]

Update: As of August 14th the hotel has still not opened

Savour is a new food sector accelerator that just launched based out of Kuwait. Their aim is to help food entrepreneurs and food startups bring their products and services to market at super speed. Think of it like Shark Tank but locally and for food related businesses.

Savour partners with early stage companies from any part of the food supply chain, including: farming, ag-tech, food distribution, retail, wellness, consumer-packaged goods, food-related apps, and green/clean tech. Savour can help you reach your potential.

The way it works is say you’ve got an interesting food related business at the moment, like a small hole in the wall Vietnamese restaurant, or a hydroponics growing system, or even an app that calculates tips. And this business is new and doing relatively well but you have no idea how to grow, or what options are available to you.You apply for the Savour accelerator program and if they think your idea is interesting with potential to grow, they’ll take you onboard, accelerate your concept, focus on your main points, connect you with all the right people, give you access to their network and to funding so they can help take your business to the next level.

The main Savour team is composed of 3 members but there are also 22 mentors for the program including the likes of Basil AlSalem, Mohammed Jaffar and Essa Behbehani. The 8-week program is free and is open to Kuwaitis and non-Kuwaitis alike including those residing outside of Kuwait.

Savour is holding a Q&A this coming Wednesday, July 12 at Richard’s Coffee Bar at 7PM. So if you have a food related startup and are looking for more information on this accelerator program, drop by their Q&A. You can also visit their website and apply to the accelerator since the application process is currently open until July 22nd. Here is the link to their [Website]

Someone posted an interesting query in the Kuwestions section, what is the oldest restaurant in Kuwait? One reader suggested Mais Alghanim which is possible since its been active since 1953, but I’m curious if there is anything older that is still around and active?

The two photos here were taken from the Mais Alghanim photo gallery [Here]

This is a short film showcasing one of the best wetland reserves in Kuwait, the Al-Jahra Natural Reserve. With scenes similar to the one pictured below you wouldn’t guess this was Kuwait. So beautiful.

Last week the Public Authority for Civil Information setup shop at our offices for a few days and offered all the employees their services including setting up an e-Signature. Since it didn’t involve any effort, I decided to setup my e-Signature, but even after reading the documentation on it [Read it Here], I still have no idea what this will be used for.

Basically the procedure to setup my e-Signature just involved creating a pin for my Civil ID card. My Civil ID card now has a pin code in the same way your ATM has a pin code, except unlike my ATM card I have no idea what I can use this pin for. One follower on twitter told me KOC employees use it with a specific machine they have to get their salary statements and other documents. Do you use it? If yes, what for?

If you’re not fasting and want to order food before Iftar, then below are some restaurants that will deliver early. It’s not a big list but it’s still better than nothing.

China Garden
Deliveries start after 11AM
Telephone: 25720010

China Kitchen
Deliveries start after 11:30AM
Telephone: 25738754

Marina Thai
Deliveries start after 12:30PM
Telephone: 23720040

Noodles
Deliveries start after 12PM
Telephone: 25749933

Osaka
Deliveries start after 10AM
Telephone: 22637331

Pastamania
Deliveries start after 12PM
Telephone: 1828585

Sea Taste Restaurant
Open 24 hours
Telephone: 66395655

Ubon
Deliveries start after 1PM
Telephone: 22260848

Upper Crust Pizzeria
Deliveries start after 11AM
Telephone: 22943200

I’ll be updating the list above as I find out about more places, if you know of a place that delivers before Iftar (like 3PM or earlier) let me know.

Update: Removed Poele from the list since it turned out they only had desserts and bread 12PM onwards. Also removed Beit Dickson since they had originally told me deliveries start 12PM onwards but now are stating 5PM onwards.

Brownbook magazine shot a short interview with architect Zahra Ali Baba who reflects on her research, the practice of architectural conservation and the importance of history in the development of Kuwait. Its less than 4 minutes, is interesting to watch and nicely shot, so check it out above.

Thanks absolving-disorder

Anybody who’s been to the Arabica coffeeshop in downtown probably noticed an opening soon hoarding across the street for a place called Skinny Fork. It had been under construction for the longest time, at least I noticed it ever since I first started passing by Arabica. Last week it finally opened and I got to pass by yesterday and try it out.

As you can guess from the name its a healthy restaurant. I was with a friend so we ordered a bunch of things including:

Kalafel: kale, chickpea falafel with tahini (KD1.300)
Lentil Tacos: brown lentils, cabbage, raw walnuts, spelt flour tortilla (KD2.500)
Messy Chickpea Burger: chickpea, avocado, homemade cashew sauce, oat bun and sweet potato fries (KD3.750)
Tropical Avo Dip: avocados, mango, lime (800fils)

Everything we had was actually pretty good and priced reasonably well. The place is small and cozy but I wish there was more natural daylight. They’re in their soft launch phase at the moment so their opening hours are bit tight if you’re planning to lunch there in the middle of the week. As of this post they open during the week only from 9AM to 2:30PM, Saturday 10:30AM to 4PM and they’re closed on Friday.

I took a picture of their menu and you can check it [Here] and make sure to check their instagram account for their latest opening hours @skinnyfork