huna has opened its first and largest venue in the heart of Abu Dhabi in Yas Mall.
Spanning over 3500 square meters, it will be home to 23 distinct food concepts, elevated retail outlets and a collaborative co-working space.
Huna literally translates to ‘here’, and huna Yas promises to offer the ultimate destination to eat, meet, socialize or work. Huna is known for curating experiences through design and recognizing makers and storytellers in the culinary landscape.
With a seating capacity of 800 people at huna Yas, you will find many familiar and new restaurants and retail outlets.
Some of the most recognized names include B.B. Social Dining, Maxzi’s Food Shop, SugarMoo, Al Rifai and Q.K.O. Asian Market.
It will also be home to ambitious new food talents, including Tazal, a Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand winner, Philotimos, an elevated Greek food by B.B. Social, and Expo 2020 top picks like the aromatic Elixir Bunn coffee roastery and Lebanese Habib Beirut.
The founder and brains behind the enterprise, Mansour Bakheet, explained: “When I conceptualized huna Yas, we had ambitious plans to bring original food stories by curating one-of-a-kind retail and restaurant concepts.
“We love building local talent, but more importantly, we handpick original stories from across the region. We are reshaping the way people connect and collaborate. Yas Mall will be the first huna in the U.A.E. that melds co-working and gourmet dining in a fluid space.”
huna’s mission is to democratise spaces for food talents across several different cities and is a pioneer in creating social hubs.
huna launched its first social food hub four years ago in Dar Al Wasl in Dubai. It redefined the highly competitive F&B industry by incubating some of the biggest homegrown brands today, including Kuhp soft serve ice cream, Habak Lebanese Eatery and Brd Fried Chicken.
Since then, it has expanded across Saudi Arabia and manages over 10,000 sqm of F&B real estate.
Yasser Al Marzouqi, Director of Retail Property Management at Aldar added, “We are delighted to bring huna to Abu Dhabi, working closely with the creative and passionate minds behind this innovative concept. At Yas Mall, we always strive to create better spaces for shopping, entertainment, and leisure. huna Yas will be a great addition to our portfolio, providing a gourmet dining and working hub that’s never been seen before in the city, giving the community opportunities to connect, collaborate and celebrate.”
huna Work is a UAE-first at Yas Mall, offering a creatively designed space that will be a platform for innovators, creatives and MSMEs (micro, small and medium-sized enterprises) who work non-linear asynchronous days.
huna Work will host regular community discourses, discovery talks and intimate performances. Daily and monthly membership packages can be purchased alongside pre-booking of meeting rooms on their website soon.