D3. The DIFC of the millennials. It’s right opposite Dubai Mall/Business but oh not quite, for I find it nearly impossible to navigate to, but thank God for Careem, I made it there last week, for none other than a much awaited collaboration: Between Roberto Segura of Craft Cafe D3 and Reif Othman of The Experience.

Reif Othman has recently pulled off a successful streak of collaborations with some of the best cafes and restaurants in town, most of them unlicensed and unpretentious. Through these collaborations, he lends his name and expertise for one night only to those he identifies for to have potential, and all the proceeds towards his share go towards a charity he is supporting in Zanzibar: Children of Hope. It makes me feel a lot better about sinking my teeth into a delectable meal knowing that a portion of what I’m spending on this meal (that goes to Reif) is going towards building a school for the underprivileged children in Zanzibar. Completely understandable that the chefs and restaurants that have been hosting him do still have to pay their staff, buy ingredients, have unavoidable overheads, and thus have to keep a portion for these expenses, but so much respect to them for welcoming Reif into their kitchens for this noble cause.

Craft Cafe is not your average cafe, the simple reason is because it comes under the watch of Roberto Segura and his trusted head chef Carlos. I’ve enjoyed many consistently good meals at Waka over the last few years, but because I don’t find myself in D3 a lot, I haven’t had the chance to sample the menu at Craft Cafe until recently. I’ll have to go back to try their menu and report back to you, but for now I can tell you of how the collaboration went.

Both chefs served up versions of popular street food items from their respective countries. Roberto Segura put together Latin American street food favorites, while Reif Othman crafted some Singaporean/Malaysian delights.