After 11 years residing in the UAE, Scott Price will leave Dubai at the end of July to return to the United Kingdom. Over the last decade, both himself and Nick Alvis have had a huge impact on the UAE dining scene, from launching the region’s first homegrown fine dining restaurant, table 9 by Nick & Scott back in 2013 to establishing their partnership with Naim Maadad and Gates Hospitality the following year, where they created the award-winning folly by Nick & Scott in Souk Madinat Jumeirah. More recently, together they curated and opened folly Workshop at the Time Out Market Dubai, Souk Al Bahar.
“I’ve had the most amazing time in the UAE and feel a huge amount of pride in what we’ve achieved here,” says Price. “The decision to leave was certainly not an easy one, but it feels like the right time. I’ve got a young family and my wife and I want our children to grow up in the countryside so we’re heading back to Scotland. I’ll always be extremely grateful for the opportunities that the UAE has given me and after working with Nick for over 15 years I certainly don’t feel like this is a goodbye – I’ll be staying in touch with the team and I wish them every success.”
Alvis, who will now solely oversee the folly brand within the Gates Hospitality umbrellasaid “The last 11 years have certainly been memorable for us! We began conceptualizing our dream restaurant in 2014 and together we introduced folly by Nick & Scott to the market in 2016. My focus now is on continuing to oversee operations, develop the team and sustain the guest experience at folly. Scott and his family are going on to develop their own projects in sunny Scotland with everyone’s support and we’ll be the first to visit, when we can.”
“Scott has been an integral part of Gates Hospitality from the beginning and of course, we will be sad to see him go. I wish him and his family every success with their new venture in Scotland and would welcome a collaboration should our paths cross again.” comments Maadad.