Published on Jun 2026
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Walk into the right pop-up in Abu Dhabi on the right weekend, and you might find a Neapolitan pizza coming out of the oven that tastes faintly of the desert. A queue out the door. Behind the counter, two young Emirati chefs who happen to be twins, and who also happen to be university students, are plating the next order.
Chefs Abdulrahman Alhashmi and Maitha Alhashmi, known to a growing audience as the Twin Chefs, are the founders of Twin Chefs Food Preparation, a multi-brand hospitality company quietly becoming one of the more interesting homegrown stories in the UAE food scene. They are also students pursuing bachelor's degrees at Abu Dhabi Hospitality Academy Les Roches. Both things are true at once, and that is part of what makes their story worth telling.
A Brand Built on Identity.
Long before there was a company, there was a shared instinct. Abdulrahman and Maitha were cooking independently by the age of nine. By 13, they had earned a Professional Diploma in Commercial Cookery, becoming the youngest twin chefs in the UAE and the Middle East to receive that recognition. Before high school, they had already decided that food was not a hobby. It was a direction.
Twin Chefs Food Preparation was founded with a clear idea in mind: modern culinary concepts that blend international techniques with Emirati identity and flavors. Today, what began as a shared passion for food, hospitality, and storytelling has grown into a small portfolio of brands, each with its own distinct personality and each carrying the same thread of UAE heritage.
Four Brands.One Vision.
Napoli by Twins is their Neapolitan pizza concept, built on traditional Italian techniques and then layered with Emirati-inspired flavors and ingredients. Savor by Twins is a specialty coffee and artisanal Emirati gelato concept rooted in Emirati heritage and crafted with Italian methods. Twin Chef Catering handles VIP and royal experiences, private events and cultural hospitality. And Crusted, their newest concept, is a modern street-style wagyu burger and steak brand with bold flavors and an Emirati twist.
The division of labor between the siblings is part of what makes it work. Abdulrahman focuses on culinary development, operations, and concept execution, with a strong interest in kitchen innovation and hospitality management. Maitha leads creative direction, branding, guest experience and product development. Together, they collaborate on menu creation, growth strategy and brand identity. One handles the kitchen, the other handles the story. Both of them care about the guest.
“We never wanted to build something that looked like it could be from anywhere. Every concept we create starts with a question: What does this feel like if you grew up here? The answer to that question is the brand.” —Maitha Alhashmi, co-founder of Twin Chefs Food Preparation
Why Hospitality School While Already Running a Company
It would be reasonable to ask why two founders with active brands, working kitchens and a catering division would also enroll in a bachelor's program. They have a thoughtful answer.
They chose Abu Dhabi Hospitality Academy - Les Roches because they wanted an education that combines international hospitality standards with real-world industry exposure. The academy gives them the opportunity to develop both the business and operational sides of hospitality while continuing to grow their brands in the UAE. In other words, school is not separate from the work. It feeds the work.
"Running a kitchen teaches you speed and instinct. The program is teaching us structure. We need both. You cannot scale what you cannot explain, and the academy is helping us learn how to explain it." -Abdulrahman Alhashmi, co-founder of Twin Chefs Food Preparation.
That posture matters. A lot of young entrepreneurs in this region treat formal education and entrepreneurship as a binary, as if one has to wait while the other happens. The Alhashmis are quietly demonstrating something different: the classroom and the business can run in parallel. A classroom discussion on Wednesday can shape how they serve on Friday.
Why This Matters Beyond Two Students.
The UAE hospitality industry has spent two decades importing concepts: imported chefs, imported brands, imported standards. Much of that has been excellent, shaping the country into one of the most ambitious hospitality markets in the world. But there is a growing appetite from guests and industry alike for concepts that are unmistakably from here. Concepts that do not need to apologize for being Emirati, and do not need to translate themselves to be understood.
Twin Chefs sits squarely in that movement. The Italian techniques are not a costume. The Emirati flavors are not a garnish. The combination is the concept. That kind of confidence is what allows a young brand to grow into a national one, and eventually a regional one.
There is a second layer here, too: the local community. When Emirati founders build hospitality brands, the ripple effects reach further than a single restaurant's revenue. Local suppliers gain a customer. Local culinary talent sees a path not just as employees but as owners. Local culture gets translated into something visitors can taste. Hospitality, done at its best, is not just service. It is cultural infrastructure. That is what the Alhashmis are building, one brand at a time.
The Roadmap Ahead.
Ask them about the future, and they speak in five-year increments. In the next five years, the goal is to expand their hospitality brands across the UAE, strengthen the catering and events division, and establish flagship locations for their concepts while continuing to innovate Emirati-inspired cuisine.
By the 10-year mark, they want to grow into a recognized regional hospitality group with multiple concepts operating across the GCC, including restaurants, cafes, and lifestyle hospitality experiences. They also want to open a culinary institution to educate and train young local talent. That last piece is worth pausing on. It tells you something about how they see themselves. Not just operators. Not just brand builders. Teachers, eventually. The same instinct that drew them to formal education is the one they want to pay forward.
"We both want to build something that outlasts us. Opening a culinary school is not just a business goal. It is about making sure the next generation of Emirati chefs does not have to figure it out alone the way we did." -Chefs Abdulrahman Alhashmi and Maitha Alhashmi
By year 15, the vision widens again: a globally recognized Emirati hospitality brand that represents modern UAE cuisine and hospitality ventures. It is an ambitious plan. It is also, given what they have already built before finishing their degrees, a plausible one.
What Students Can Take From This.
There is an important lesson tucked inside the Twin Chefs story, especially for students wondering whether they have to choose between building something now and learning the craft properly. The answer the Alhashmis offer is this: You do not. You can run a kitchen on the weekend and sit in a finance class on Monday. You can take what your professor said about service recovery on Tuesday and apply it at a catering event on Saturday. Education and entrepreneurship are not rivals. They are partners, if you let them be.
The other lesson is about identity. The Alhashmis did not build a brand that hides where they come from. They built one that begins there. The world does not need another generic concept. It needs more founders willing to put their heritage on the plate, and to do it with technique and care. Two twins. Four brands. One degree program. A whole lot of runway. The Twin Chefs are worth watching, and worth rooting for.
Follow Their Work
Instagram: @uae_twin_chefs | @napoli.- bytwins | @savor_by_twins | @crusted_ indxb