Mosaic Marks 10th Anniversary with Record-Breaking 196-Dish Lebanese Mezze Showcase in One Extraordinary Culinary Masterpiece

By Executive Chef Hassana El Baroudi

To mark ten years in Abu Dhabi, Mosaic Restaurant is celebrating through the very essence of its name: individual pieces brought together to create something greater than the sum of their parts. For its 10th anniversary, that philosophy has become an extraordinary culinary showcase: more than 196 varieties of Lebanese mezze, presented together as one remarkable table.

In 2016, Mosaic began with a simple promise: to serve Lebanese food with the warmth and authenticity of a family table. A decade later, that promise has grown into a restaurant group with multiple brands and a team of more than 200 people, and the anniversary called for a celebration that reflects every step of that journey.

This is the story of how 196+ dishes came together on one table, and of what that table says about Lebanon, about Mosaic and about Abu Dhabi.

A Table Built Like a Mosaic

A mosaic is made of many distinct pieces, each with its own colour, character and form. Lebanon is much the same. Its culinary identity is shaped by the diversity of its regions, villages and family kitchens, each contributing its own flavours, techniques and stories.

Travel through Lebanese food and you notice how much changes from one place to the next. A dish may share a name across the country yet taste different in every home, because the herbs, the balance of lemon and olive oil, the amount of garlic or the length of the slow cooking all depend on who is standing at the stove.

Mezze is where this diversity is most visible. It is a style of eating built on sharing: many small plates arriving together, a little of everything to taste, and dishes passed around the table. That makes mezze the natural canvas for a Mosaic anniversary. Rather than choosing one dish to stand for an entire cuisine, the idea was to let every piece speak for itself, and to see what happens when they are placed side by side.

Ten Years in Abu Dhabi

Mosaic’s journey began in 2016 with a clear goal: to serve Lebanese food with the warmth and authenticity of a family table. The focus was on familiar dishes that taste like home, and on the details that make the difference: the quantity of tahini, the balance of lemon and olive oil, the exact amount of garlic, the smokiness of charred eggplant, and the slow cooking behind many of the traditional stews.

Over the years the restaurant grew, and so did the demands on the kitchen. Preserving traditions and going back to the roots was no longer enough to run a large operation with multiple brands and more than 200 team members. Clear procedures, weekly meetings between departments and a system that lets every branch deliver the same quality became as important as the recipes themselves.

Abu Dhabi shaped that journey too. Its diversity, multicultural community and incredible food scene have constantly inspired the kitchen, giving Chef Hassana the opportunity to grow from a chef into a creator of new culinary concepts. The 196+ mezze showcase is a product of that growth: a project that was only possible with both deep roots and a well-built system.

196+ Dishes, One Table

For this anniversary, that diversity became the inspiration behind a single culinary composition. More than 196 mezze dishes, from beloved Lebanese classics to lesser-known regional specialities, were brought together, each retaining its own distinct identity, flavour, texture and character.

The aim was not simply to repeat the familiar. Alongside the dishes guests already know and love, the table made room for specialities that rarely appear on a restaurant menu, the kind many people remember from a family kitchen or a village table. Placed together, they show how wide Lebanese cuisine really is.

Every dish was treated as its own piece. None was changed to fit the whole; the whole was designed so that each piece could be seen clearly. That is the difference between a long list of dishes and a mosaic: the pattern only appears when every piece keeps its own colour.

Behind the Spectacle

Behind the spectacle was an extensive process of research, preparation and coordination. Every dish demanded its own ingredients, technique and timing, requiring Mosaic’s kitchen team to work with precision while preserving the authenticity that defines Lebanese cuisine.

With nearly two hundred dishes, planning mattered as much as cooking. Ingredients had to be sourced and prepared in the right quantities, techniques ranging from quick, fresh preparation to long, slow cooking had to be sequenced, and each dish had to reach the table at its best so that everything came together as one.

It is the same discipline Mosaic has built over ten years: clear procedures, close coordination between departments and a team that shares one standard. The mezze showcase put that system, and the people who run it, in front of guests in the most visible way possible.

The Story on the Table

For Chef Hassana El Baroudi, the goal was never simply to fill a table with dishes. It was to tell a story through them: the story of Lebanon, of its extraordinary culinary diversity, and of Mosaic’s own decade-long journey in Abu Dhabi.

The result is more than an anniversary celebration. It is a culinary interpretation of the Mosaic philosophy itself: 196+ individual expressions of Lebanese flavour, brought together to form one unforgettable masterpiece.

Each dish on the table carries a small piece of that story: a region, a family recipe, a technique handed down and kept alive. Together they show that tradition and growth do not have to compete. A restaurant can protect the taste of home while building the structure that lets it serve more people with the same care.

Ten Years On, Many Pieces Left to Add

Ten years later, Mosaic is much more than the kitchen where the team works. It is part of the story of everyone who has been a part of it: the guests who made the restaurant their regular table, the team members who bring it to life every day, and the city that welcomed it.

The anniversary is a moment to say thank you, and a reminder that the work continues. As with any mosaic, the picture is never finished while there are pieces left to add, and there are many pieces left to add.

Visit Mosaic

Experience the flavours of Lebanon at Mosaic:

• Guardian Towers, Al Muroor Road, Abu Dhabi
• Vision Towers, Najda Street, Abu Dhabi