Dessert queen puts Sharjah on the foodie map

Success has been a sugar rush for Nawal Al Nuaimi. 

The Emirati entrepreneur’s Sharjah restaurant and catering operation grew out of a home-based desserts business she ran for five years while holding down a full-time job and raising two children.

Nawal opened Paper Fig last year with her husband and partner Ahmed Almazrouei, and since then the café has not only quickly become a go-to hotspot for local residents; it also draws customers from the more glamorous neighbouring emirates of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the latter nearly 200 kilometres away.

They come for artisanal puddings such as ‘Mad Love’, Nawal’s version of the Italian dessert coffee affogato, which she serves laboratory-style with test tubes of different flavours, including lotus and chocolate. Her ‘Warm Winters’ are profiteroles filled with Tahitian vanilla cream and ice cream served with poached pears and Valrhona chocolate sauce.

Most popular of all is her signature French toast, a chunky round doorstop of sweetened bread accompanied by a bubble of custard cream, maple syrup and fresh strawberries.

“We make and serve over 150 pieces every day, sometimes more,” she said. “We like to say we are the only restaurant in Sharjah that gives customers a molecular gastronomy experience, as we developed our recipe using Tahiti vanilla seeds, and the toast is accompanied by a crème Anglaise sphere.”

SUCCESS IN THE ‘QUIETER’ EMIRATE

Sharjah is the cultural heart of the United Arab Emirates and is perhaps the state that most closely adheres to Islamic principles, whether in public policy, business, or the arts. But for Nawal, most of all, the quiet emirate is home, and it offers a business advantage that the more glamorous Dubai doesn’t.

“Sharjah has an incredibly supportive local community; I think it’s one of the best places in the UAE to start a business,” she said. She believes that opening in Dubai, which has recently exploded into a holiday destination for food lovers, entails huge risks.

“[Dubai is] expensive; it’s hard to find an affordable location, and we would face huge competition from day one,” she explained. “I live in Sharjah, my kids go to school in Sharjah, so this is naturally where I want my business to be.”

When you’re close to home, it’s easier to work the long hours required; she is often in the restaurant from 8.30 a.m. to late at night, checking every dish or creating new menu items.

Nawal has always been passionate about desserts. In 2010, she launched a home-based puddings business, Mini Treats, while still working in Internet security. By the end of 2014, thanks to social media and word of mouth, she had a large and loyal but demanding customer base and was filling orders of 800 dessert pieces per day.

“Things were getting a little hectic,” she said. That’s when Ahmed suggested opening a centralised kitchen, but when she found it, she realised its potential as a café immediately. “This is how Paper Fig came to be. I realised I needed to take a leap of faith and just focus on my new business full-time.”

HALAL BUSINESS

But a restaurant would need significant capital investment, as well as an understanding of aspects such as recruitment, usually from overseas, and general business management. So she and Ahmed applied to the Khalifa Fund, a business incubator backed by the federal government. After taking a training course focused on project planning and development, they were awarded a flexible loan at 0 per cent interest and were able to open the desserts-only café last year.

To ensure that everything she serves is halal, she works with local suppliers of ethically sourced products wherever possible and pays particular attention to certification; her supplier contracts include their official halal endorsement. Although non-halal products such as rennet and gelatine are commonly used in desserts, she said that it wasn’t difficult to adapt.

‘We use a huge number of ingredients in our desserts, so we are not restricted in terms of what is available,’ she explained. ‘Not all gelatine is non-halal either; we use a specific gelatine in some of our desserts that is halal certified by the local municipality.’ 

Within a year of setting up, the small café has been turned into an all-day operation with 35 employees and expanded premises. She can now accommodate the many impatient customers who once queued outside, and the menu offers snacks and mains with a twist: the hummus is from beetroot and served with toast, for example, while the eggs in the shakshuka are done to customers’ liking.

Before the start of Ramadan, she and Ahmed also launched a catering business and are now considering expansion into associated areas as well as moving into other parts of the UAE.

‘Ahmed and I always wanted Paper Fig to be an umbrella company, under which we would develop many other divisions. So this is what’s in the pipeline for now. I can’t tell you any more than that!’

Sugar, it seems, is very good for the bottom line.