Abu Dhabi's beloved Marmellata bakery to close: 'Inshallah, our best continues to be ahead'

In the months since it opened its doors in September this past year, Marmellata’s reputation for serving some of the best pizza in Abu Dhabi rippled through the emirate, rendering it something of a quiet institution.

Run by Raj Dagstani, alongside his teenage son and business partner, Sebastian, 13, Marmellata’s tiny hatch at Mina Zayed was rarely with out a winding queue each Thursday night, as diners patiently waited for his or her slice of smoked duck breast and fig pizza, or Swiss chard with garlic sauce.

Despite only opening once a week, its power was such that Dagstani was processing 45 kilograms of dough for pizzas and nine kilograms of focaccia, baked with ingredients such as for example butternut squash and sage or grape and fennel seed, each week - almost always selling out.

In the wake of the pandemic, Dagstani and sons Sebastian, and older brother Emile, took to hand delivering their goods in carefully wrapped takeaway packages to cars arriving in pre-booked time slots, each 5 minutes apart.

However, a year after first establishing shop, Marmellata has announced its Mina Zayed shop is to close on Thursday, September 24 - its final hurrah.

“The universe has been pushing us towards a far more commercial enterprise just as hard as she can and I’ve done my better to resist but I could see a commitment one way or the other is necessary,” the post reads.

“Between the risks of food service during Covid-19, my children’s education moving online from home and our new landlord’s development plans for Mina Zayed, Personally i think enough time is ripe for change and that my attention is necessary elsewhere.

“We will close this version of Marmellata on September 24 with every intention of creating something equally wonderful and infinitely better quality regardless if slightly more ‘underground’. When and where I don’t know but in the meanwhile I am eternally grateful for your embrace.”

“It’s a balancing act,” Raj said, speaking to The National in June. “But I’m excited by the learning curve and determined to create something beautiful during this time period.”

The statement on Marmellata's social media pages adds: “Abu Dhabi is a lovely tapestry of weird and wonderful, that people were a blip on your radar is enormously soul satisfying, thank you for that. Many thanks also for enriching us and for pushing us towards our best, inshallah our best is still ahead ... Deep appreciation for all of you, onwards the experience!”

In June, Dagstani teased another restaurant in Abu Dhabi, saying Marmellata was only the beginning for them. Predicated on the success of Marmellata, that will be a father-son operation, too.

“We have this whole other dimension of each other’s lives that people would not get access to otherwise,” he said. “It just so happens that we work very well together.”

Raj was also asked to co-mentor several food and beverage start-ups within NY University’s StartAD incubator programme, which is sponsored by Aldar and opening later this season at Mamsha Al Saadiyat.