Beyond Bling: Arva Ahmed On Redefining Food Storytelling In Dubai

In a city where Michelin- starred restaurants jostle for customers and fine dining is held to the highest standard, one food storyteller—Arva Ahmed—is telling a different story.

The Indian-born, Dubai-raised Ahmed tells Inc. Arabia that although she has called the UAE home since her parents moved there in the 1970s, she only became interested in food storytelling after spending nine years studying and working in the US. Upon her return to Dubai in 2010, she started a food blog to document her rediscovery of the city. “Back then, the spotlight was mostly on fine dining and Western culinary trends,” she recalls. “I realized that we were overlooking the deeper food cultures that thrive here, the smaller restaurants in older neighborhoods, the kitchens of the East, the everyday spots that simply tried to feed and not win any awards.”

That blog, Ahmed shares, became the seed for everything that followed, including a walking food tour company which she launched with her sister, Farida, in 2013, Frying Pan Adventures, her regular contributions to publications on food heritage, her exploration of food stories from Dubai as the co-host of the podcast Deep Fried, and appearances on food shows across platforms like the Travel Channel and Netflix. “Each project became another portal for research and storytelling,” Ahmed says. “To me, being a food storyteller means not stopping at the plate. It’s about understanding the history, community, rituals, etymology, and even politics behind a dish. A plate of food can open up a trove of stories if you’re willing to ask the right questions.”

Ahmed’s latest project, Ditch the Silver, a YouTube series produced by the Dubai-based Ti22 Films that is set to also be aired on regional entertainment network OSN, brings to the screen what Frying Pan Adventures brings to visitors and residents of the city. Through it, Ahmed offers viewers what she describes as “a do-it-yourself, online version of the sort of food experiences we’re known to offer on our in-person, guided food tours at Frying Pan Adventures.” Far from being a break with her earlier ventures, Ahmed stresses that the project allows her to continue her journey with a new chapter that explores the same themes, though she notes that it is more expansive in both its reach and coverage. “I’m inviting people to step out and explore food cultures across the city with me,” she says. “Doing that often means leaving behind the more manicured version of Dubai that we’re used to seeing.”

In doing so, Ahmed is also inviting audiences to celebrate the humble, culturally rich food stories in Dubai that aren’t often put in the limelight. “I genuinely believe some of the most interesting food stories are tucked away in humble corners of the city,” she says. “They might never make it to a glossy travel brochure, but that’s where a whole other layer of flavor, culture, and emotional connection to food lies. That’s not to say there isn’t value or passion on the high-end side of the spectrum; there absolutely is. But that side already gets the spotlight. What I want to offer is an alternative Dubai experience, one that’s more in line with the simpler, more grounded upbringing I had as a child in the city.”

Arva Ahmed. Image courtesy Ditch The Silver. 

And it is that background that has served Ahmed well in becoming a food storyteller, with her admitting that, in a global city like Dubai, “local” is far from limited to a single cuisine. In fact, she stresses that a truly local experience entails appreciating the full spectrum of cultures that exist in the city. “You could have a Turkish breakfast, a Peruvian lunch, and an Indonesian dinner, and that’s still a very Dubai day,” she says. “There’s no one stereotype. The beauty of the city is in its diversity.” As for what eating like a local means to her, Ahmed believes that it lies in being able to pick her way through the city’s less-known eateries. “For me, eating like a local translates to knowing how to navigate the little nooks and crannies that rarely make it into a tourist itinerary,” she says. “Whether it’s alleys near the souk or tucked-away spots in Karama, a local would be comfortable crossing over to the older side of town, and exploring the places that have silently stood the test of time.”

Such an ethos goes to the core of Ahmed’s work, which is driven by her conviction that food storytelling is as much about preserving rituals as it is about preserving recipes, with almost all of her work revolving primarily around exploring and preserving culinary heritage. “Food is one of the most primal and powerful links we have to the generations before us,” she says. “It’s not just about the three meals we eat every day. Food shows up during the most important occasions in our lives: celebrations, rites of passage, family gatherings. I find that understanding the bigger picture around a dish—how it came to be, when it’s served, what role it plays in the culture, has always made me more emotionally invested in it. It’s what I find endlessly fascinating… Take gahwa, for example. It’s not just Arabic coffee. It plays a key role in Emirati hospitality rituals, even in things like marriage proposals. Every culture has versions of this. While filming for Ditch the Silver, I learned many more of these stories: how the Uzbeks make different kinds of plov for big celebrations, how there’s no party in Nigeria without jollof rice, how a Goan-style stuffed mackerel was a by-product of Portuguese colonization.”

But beyond just serving as rituals, marking celebrations, and celebrating history, Ahmed emphasizes that, critically, food plays a central role in nostalgia. “Food isn’t only about ingredients,” she says. “It’s about family, history, politics, migration, and culture. It’s what I call the ‘grandma factor.’ When people talk about a dish they loved from their grandmother, it’s rarely just about the taste. It’s about the feeling and the memory of a person, a place, a moment. That’s the layer I care about preserving.”

And it is this emotional connection that she utilizes as a wayfinder of sorts, helping people navigate the city with food, and those that serve it as landmarks along the way. Central to that process, Ahmed says, is weaving tales that move them in ways akin to nostalgia. “As humans, we naturally tune in to stories,” she explains. “If you know how to tell a food story well, you can not only capture people’s imagination, but you can also impact how they explore and eat through a city. The best affirmation of this is when I receive a comment from a traveler or resident saying they were inspired to visit a restaurant that I had featured, and that they, too, fell in love with it.”

However, as invested as Ahmed is in savoring the simplicity and heritage that she regularly features through her projects, she also understands that for many, fulfillment is derived from extravagance. But for those curious eaters and travelers who want to veer off into new territories, Ahmed’s stories will surely resonate. “In a city where new restaurants open every week and where viral trends often dominate the conversation, reviving forgotten flavors gives those longstanding cultures a continued share of the platform,” she says. “Because the truth is, when something isn’t being talked about, when it’s not part of the vocabulary, it becomes easier to forget. There’s just so much noise. But when food storytelling is done well, it draws people in.”

Pictured in the lead image is Arva Ahmed, co-founder of Frying Pan Adventures. Image courtesy Ditch The Silver.

This article first appeared in the August 2025 issue of Inc. Arabia magazine. To read the full issue online, click here.