1 · POSITION
RIKAS Hospitality Group grew from Rizwan Kassim's work with La Cantine du Faubourg into a Dubai restaurant collection with markedly different identities. Its own history places Pierre Pirajean and Helena Paraboschi alongside Kassim in that development. The group is best understood through the relationship between a shared organisation and restaurants that ask guests to enter distinct worlds. [1]
2 · A PARIS CONNECTION TAKES ROOT
La Cantine supplied a starting point through its combination of dining and a festive atmosphere. RIKAS then broadened its portfolio with names including Ninive, Mimi Kakushi and Lana Lusa. The progression matters because expansion did not depend solely on repeating the first restaurant. Different cuisines and settings became ways of addressing different occasions within the same city's dining life. [1]
3 · NINIVE BUILDS A PLACE FOR GATHERING
At Emirates Towers, Ninive describes its setting as a contemporary majlis, drawing on the garden and caravanserai. Its menu ranges across Middle Eastern and North African traditions. The spatial idea and the food work together: shared dishes and an outdoor urban setting make gathering part of the restaurant's subject, with Dubai's surrounding skyline remaining visible. [2]
4 · MIMI KAKUSHI CHANGES THE SCENE
Mimi Kakushi draws its stated inspiration from 1920s Osaka, jazz and encounters between Japanese and Western culture. Its menu includes sharing plates alongside larger dishes, with the bar forming part of the proposition. Set beside Ninive, it demonstrates the collection's range: the group connects restaurants whose individual references are designed to remain recognisable. [3]
5 · ⚑ CANDOUR
⚑ These historical references describe contemporary restaurant concepts, not reconstructed institutions from earlier centuries. Ninive's origin story should not settle archaeological questions, and Mimi Kakushi's design narrative is not a comprehensive account of Osaka. The group's undated phrases such as “seven years ago” also cannot safely supply a founding year without a fixed publication date. [1–3]
Sources & Further Reading
Sources checked 24 September 2026.