Speaker Biographies
THRIVE
Three days of market insight, investment discussion, founder-led exchange and hospitality experiences across Dubai.
Chef Ali Yazdi
Founder, Fowli, Aleez, and Yazdi Consultancy
Chef Ali Yazdi is a multi-award-winning celebrity chef, restaurateur and entrepreneur whose career reflects the energy and ambition of Dubai’s rapidly evolving culinary landscape.
Recognized for an approach that brings together culinary craftsmanship, innovation and entrepreneurship, Yazdi has developed a distinctive identity that extends well beyond the kitchen. His career encompasses restaurant ownership, concept creation, television appearances, media features and culinary collaborations, positioning him among a new generation of chefs who understand food not simply as cuisine, but as culture, experience and brand.
At the center of his entrepreneurial portfolio is FOWLI Chicken Shop, the homegrown Dubai concept he founded and developed around a deceptively simple idea: reinventing fried chicken.
FOWLI became known for its signature whole fresh, skinless fried chicken, prepared using locally farmed UAE chicken—a concept designed to challenge the conventions of traditional fried-chicken restaurants while maintaining an uncompromising focus on flavor, quality and freshness.
Yazdi's creative philosophy is rooted in taking something familiar and giving it an unexpected identity. His food is bold and approachable, while the concepts surrounding it are contemporary, energetic and culturally relevant. That instinct has shaped his evolution from chef to chef-entrepreneur.
Beyond creating dishes, Yazdi works across menu development, restaurant concepts, brand positioning and hospitality consultancy, bringing together the culinary and commercial disciplines required to turn an idea into a recognizable dining experience.
His personality and culinary work have also taken him beyond the restaurant, with appearances on television and across media, alongside collaborations and culinary experiences with figures from the wider hospitality industry.
Yet despite the accolades and recognition, his philosophy remains remarkably straightforward: great food should create a memory.
Based in Dubai but driven by an increasingly international outlook, Chef Ali Yazdi continues to develop concepts, collaborations and opportunities beyond the UAE. For Yazdi, the ambition is not simply to build restaurants. It is to build a culinary legacy.