Chef Ze Sergio and friends serve culinary magic
They called it “The Dance of the Elements” – but at Tamoka, it felt less like a choreographed performance and more like three old friends riffing in a jazz kitchen by the sea. Each dish, a note. Each sip, a beat. And every course built like a rising tide, one you didn’t quite want to escape from.
Tamoka lives on the beach at the edge of the Ritz-Carlton Dubai like it was always meant to be there. Nestled just steps from the water, with barefoot energy and a Caribbean colour palette that insists you breathe a little deeper and let the world soften.
The story? Water. The tellers? Three chefs with roots tangled in oceans, rivers, kitchens, and kin. Tamoka’s Chef Ze Sergio Hernandez Ruiz, all warm-hearted mischief and hospitality so disarming you half expect him to sneak an extra dish onto your plate when you’re not looking. Chef Giovanni Ledon from Akira Back brought harmony and a quiet layering of technique and intuition, while Chef Aldo Shima from Tabu was pure kinetic energy. Chaos, but the kind that makes stars.
We loved our previous visit to Tamoka for Chef Ze Sergio’s hands-on ceviche master class, so we were thrilled to be invited back for this ‘six hands’-style dining experience.
We began with Chef Aldo’s Bluefin tuna tartar. Clean, silky, dressed in mandarin-yuzu gel that kissed the citrus line without ever shouting it. But then came the crispy quinoa. Unexpected. Loud. It didn’t try to blend. It broke the moment open like gravel underfoot in a marble hallway. You noticed it. You liked that you noticed it.
From Chef Giovanni, the Tamal de Cazuela was a gentle heartbreak. A dish that wears its comfort like a childhood memory: fresh corn polenta so warm and familiar you could curl up inside it, crowned with tartar of carabineros so delicate it barely whispered. Sofrito trickled through like a melody you hadn’t heard in years but somehow still remembered.
Chef Ze Sergio closed with the dessert: Buñuelo de Viento, a wind-blown fritter that didn’t care about your glycemic index. Mango and mandarin custard pooled beneath candied peach slivers, with lucuma ice cream melting in slow defiance of the heat. Sweet, but not cloying. Just indulgent enough to remind you that joy isn’t something you earn. It’s something you taste.
And oh, the drinks. That rosé Champagne with mandarin perfume? It didn’t pair with the amuse-bouche. It flirted with it. Tequila and mezcal found each other in the Cutter Seneca like old lovers reunited at a beach bar, still curious, still electric. And the final cocktail, Crimson Sail, had the swagger of a sailor and the depth of someone who’s lived too long with their secrets steeped in sherry.
But more than the food, more than the drinks, more than the perfect lighting or the soft crush of waves in the background, there was that quiet thrill of watching three friends cook for each other, and for you. There was generosity in it. Play. Respect. Each dish spoke with its own dialect, but the language was shared.
Chef Ze Sergio said it best: “Being part of The Elemental Series was an incredible experience. Collaborating with such talented chefs to create something truly unique for Dubai’s diners was unforgettable. Each evening felt like a journey – one where we shared our cultures, techniques, and stories through food. Watching guests connect with those moments made it all the more meaningful.”
That’s what Tamoka does. It makes meaning out of moments. It leans into the tide, rather than fighting it. It wraps you in the kind of night you try to photograph but can’t quite capture. Because the taste lives not just on the tongue, but in the air, in the company, in the story that carried it to your plate.
Tamoka is where food tells stories not because it has to, but because it wants to. This was dining where chefs don’t compete for applause, but pass the mic. Where water isn’t just an element; it’s an invitation to flow, to reflect, and to remember. And if you’re lucky, to return.
For more info, check out their website.
