Since 2016 · Abu Dhabi
Our Story
Ten years of pieces, one table.
A mosaic is never made in a single moment. It is built piece by piece: a color here, a shape there, each one chosen with care, each one adding something the others cannot. Slowly, the pattern appears.
That is how Mosaic was made, and it is why we carry the name. Our story is not one dish, one branch or one decision. It is ten years of pieces: a first kitchen on Al Muroor Road, a chef with Beirut in her heart, a growing team, new places, new brands, and countless tables where guests sat down and felt at home.
This is that story so far. And as every mosaic maker knows, there are still many pieces left to add.
Chapter 01 · 2016
2016: The First Piece on Al Muroor Road
In May 2016, Mosaic opened its doors in Guardian Towers on Al Muroor Road in Abu Dhabi, where everything began. The goal was simple, and it was not small: to serve Lebanese food with the warmth and authenticity of a family table.
From the first day, the focus was on dishes that taste like home, and on the details that make them so: 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 our traditional stews. None of these details appears on a menu, but guests taste every one of them.
We started with the Lebanese mezze, mashawi (grills) and shawarma. Around mid to late 2017, the kitchen added main courses and a daily dish, giving guests a reason to come back at any time of the week. The restaurant became a place for family meals, relaxed lunches and long dinners, where the table is always full and the plates are meant to be shared.
In late 2017, Mosaic Catering carried that same table beyond the restaurant walls, to weddings, VIP dinners and corporate events, with tailored menus and live stations. The warmth of the family table was never meant to stay in one room.
Chapter 02 · The Chef
Chef Hassana: From Beirut to Abu Dhabi
Behind every dish at Mosaic is Executive Chef Hassana El Baroudi, who has been part of the story from the very beginning. Born and raised in Beirut, she grew up surrounded by food and the people who made it: her grandfather’s seaside restaurant, her grandmother’s pastries and her mother’s Lebanese cooking. Those kitchens taught her that food is more than a recipe. It is memory, family and belonging.
She brought that inheritance to Abu Dhabi and built Mosaic’s kitchen around it. She revives forgotten Lebanese recipes and gives them a modern twist, so that a dish once made on a village stove can find a new place on a table in the capital.
Food is more than a recipe. It is memory, family and belonging.
Over ten years, Chef Hassana has grown with the restaurant, from a chef who guarded every detail of the plate into a creator of new culinary concepts and the Group Executive Chef who leads a team of more than 200 people. Her name is on the story, and her hands are in every chapter.
Her work has been recognized by her peers too: Chef Hassana El Baroudi was named Chef of the Year at the What’s On Abu Dhabi Awards, an honor for the chef and for every cook in her kitchen.
Chapter 03 · 2020
Najda, and the Lesson of Growth
As word spread, Mosaic grew. In 2020, a second branch opened in Najda, bringing the same food and the same welcome to another part of Abu Dhabi, and proving that the family table could travel.
Growth brought a lesson. 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. Everything needed to be systemized. Clear procedures were put in place, and weekly meetings between departments became a habit, so that challenges could be discussed and practical solutions found while guests stayed satisfied.
It was an important realization: being a Group Executive Chef is not only about creating great food. It is about building a system and making sure every branch delivers the same quality. The heart of Mosaic stayed at the family table, and the structure around it grew strong enough to carry it.
Chapter 04 · The Family
New Pieces, One Picture
A mosaic grows by adding pieces that belong. Mosaic did the same, building a family of brands around the kitchen it started with.
May 2016
Mosaic Restaurant
The Levantine home of hot and cold mezze, mashawi (grills) and shawarma, joined in 2017 by main courses and a daily dish.
Late 2017
Mosaic Catering
Tailored menus for weddings, VIP dinners and corporate events, with live stations.
2022
Nazira
Lebanese homemade cooking inspired by a culinary matriarch and the recipes passed down through generations.
Late 2022
Salatoush
Fresh salads built around leafy greens, proteins and house dressings. Its tagline says it all: “Let’tuce Dress It Up.”
Late 2022
La Tartine
Began as a cloud kitchen and opened as a proper patisserie in 2024, with handmade French-inspired pastries, tarts and statement cakes.
2026
Space Bun
An intergalactic burger stop with bold flavors and a space-inspired identity.
Each brand has its own personality, its own menu and its own look. What they share is the standard behind them: fresh ingredients, careful cooking and a team that cares.
Chapter 05 · Recognition
Recognition from Our Guests and Our Peers
Awards are never the reason we cook, but they are a moving reminder that the care shows. In 2026, Mosaic was named Favorite Lebanese Restaurant at the FACT Awards 2026, a recognition we share with every guest who chose to sit at our table and every team member who brings warmth and authenticity to each dish.
Over ten years, that care has been recognized again and again, by guests, critics and peers across Abu Dhabi and beyond:
| Year | Awarded by | Recognition |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | FACT Awards | Favorite Lebanese Restaurant |
| 2026 | Time Out Abu Dhabi Restaurant Awards | Best Lebanese, Winner |
| 2025 | What’s On Abu Dhabi Awards | Chef of the Year, Chef Hassana El Baroudi, Winner |
| 2025 | What’s On Abu Dhabi Awards | Favorite Casual Middle Eastern Restaurant, Al Muroor, Winner |
| 2025 | FACT Dining Awards Abu Dhabi | Winner |
| 2025 | Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice, Best of the Best | Top 1% of the world’s best restaurants |
| 2024 | Deliveroo | Best Homegrown, Abu Dhabi |
| 2024 | What’s On Abu Dhabi Awards | Favorite Business Lunch, Najda, Winner |
| 2023 | Tripadvisor | Travelers’ Choice |
| 2022 | What’s On Abu Dhabi Awards | Favorite Middle Eastern Restaurant, Muroor, Winner; Favorite Business Lunch, Najda, Winner |
| 2022 | BBC Good Food Middle East Awards | Business Lunch UAE, Winner |
| 2022 | Tripadvisor | Travelers’ Choice |
| 2021 | What’s On Abu Dhabi Awards | Favorite Business Lunch, Muroor, Winner |
| 2021 | Tripadvisor | Travelers’ Choice |
| 2020 | Tripadvisor | Travelers’ Choice |
| 2019 | BBC Good Food Middle East Awards | Middle Eastern Restaurant, Abu Dhabi, Winner |
| 2019 | Tripadvisor | Certificate of Excellence |
| 2019 | What’s On Abu Dhabi Awards | Favorite Business Lunch, Finalist |
| 2018 | What’s On Abu Dhabi Awards | Favorite Middle Eastern Restaurant (below Dhs400), Winner; Favorite Business Lunch, Winner |
| 2018 | Zomato Users’ Choice Awards | Best Middle Eastern Casual Dine |
| 2018 | Tripadvisor | Certificate of Excellence |
For us, the real award is a table that is full, a plate that comes back empty and a guest who says it tastes like home.
196+
Ten Years, 196 Dishes, One Table
To mark ten years in Abu Dhabi, we did what felt most natural: we built a mosaic. More than 196 varieties of Lebanese mezze, from beloved classics to lesser-known regional specialties, were presented together as one remarkable table, each dish keeping its own identity, flavor, texture and character.
Behind the spectacle were extensive research, preparation and coordination, with every dish demanding its own ingredients, technique and timing. It was a tribute to Lebanon, whose culinary identity is shaped by the diversity of its regions, villages and family kitchens, and to the decade Mosaic has spent sharing it.
196+ individual expressions of Lebanese flavors, brought together to form one unforgettable masterpiece. That is what Mosaic means to us.
Chapter 06 · Dubai
A New Chapter in Dubai
Our newest piece takes Mosaic to Dubai. A new cloud kitchen, available on Talabat, brings Mosaic to customers in Dubai, together with Salatoush, Space Bun and Nazira. There is no dining room, but the promise is the same: food made with care, the taste of home, delivered to wherever you are.
It shows what Mosaic has become: a kitchen that travels, a family of brands, and a standard that goes with them.
Chapter 07 · Tomorrow
The Story Continues
Ten years on, Mosaic is much more than the kitchen where we work. It is part of our story, our growth and our identity. It belongs to the guests who made us their regular table, to the team members who bring it to life every day, and to the cities that welcomed us.
Like a mosaic artwork, our story is getting bigger and better with every piece we add. We do not yet know what the next piece will be. We only know it will be made with the same care as the first, and that it will fit.
Thank you for being part of the picture.
Ten years at a glance
Milestones
- May 2016Mosaic opens in Guardian Towers, Al Muroor Road, Abu Dhabi, with Lebanese mezze, mashawi and shawarma
- Late 2017Mosaic Catering launches
- 2018First wave of recognition from What’s On, Tripadvisor and Zomato
- 2020Second branch opens in Najda
- 2022Nazira and Salatoush join the family
- 2024La Tartine opens as a patisserie
- 2025Chef Hassana named Chef of the Year at the What’s On Abu Dhabi Awards
- 2025Tripadvisor names Mosaic among the top 1% of the world’s best restaurants
- 2026Space Bun launches
- 2026Mosaic celebrates ten years with a 196+ dish mezze showcase
- 2026Named Best Lebanese at the Time Out Abu Dhabi Restaurant Awards and Favorite Lebanese Restaurant at the FACT Awards
- 2026Dubai cloud kitchen opens on Talabat with Mosaic, Salatoush, Space Bun and Nazira