DUBAI: For Flavio Briatore, the flamboyant Italian restaurateur and businessman behind Billionaire Dubai, the global pandemic has changed our notion of nightlife indefinitely. Gone are the days of heaving dance floors and crowded venues. In, for Briatore at least, is the pairing of cabaret-style entertainment with fine dining. Hence the arrival of Billionaire Dubai.
When the pandemic forced Billionaire Mansion, which had been a staple of the city’s nightlife for the past five years, to close its doors at the Taj Dubai earlier this year, Briatore set about reinventing the venue with the help of Montse Moré, a former employee of Cirque Du Soleil and Billionaire’s new artistic production director. Out went all the trappings of a traditional nightclub, in came a renewed focus on food and a cast of singers, dancers and acrobats.