Noof Al-Marri

Chef Noof Mohammed Al-Marri is a Qatari chef and restaurant consultant known for developing distinctive menus and presenting Qatari cuisine internationally. Through travel, major events and culinary research, she has combined traditional flavour with contemporary service and presentation.

She later developed the menu and concept for Desert Rose Café at the National Museum of Qatar in 2018 and opened the business in 2019.

She regarded Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup as an ideal opportunity to present Qatari gastronomy internationally as an important expression of local culture.

Her professional culinary journey drew on approximately twenty years of experience and a distinctive approach to blending spices.

She spent her first thirteen years in the Ibn Omran neighbourhood before the family moved to Abu Hamour. Her mother, originally from Smaisma, became her model and source of strength after her father died when she was two. Her elder brother Saud, five years older, assumed a paternal role. She attended Al-Falah Primary School, Zainab Preparatory School and Al-Iman Secondary School in Wadi Al Sail, but did not complete university.

Cooking began in her mother’s kitchen. The difficulty of finding spice mixtures that produced the exact character of Qatari food led her to blend seasonings by hand for individual dishes. Over two decades she expanded that instinct through lessons, courses and food exhibitions in Doha, Germany, China, Türkiye, India, London and Spain, learning from different culinary traditions while refining her own approach.

Her first professional venture was Kashta Restaurant in 2014 in partnership with Luxury Restaurant, a group operating more than fifty international concepts in the Middle East and North Africa. She later developed the menu and concept for Desert Rose Café at the National Museum of Qatar in 2018 and opened the business in 2019. There, traditional Qatari dishes became carefully presented visual compositions without losing their original flavour. Her experience also enabled her to operate four branches built around a distinctively Qatari concept.

In 2019, she was invited to supervise the food served at Qatar’s Embassy in Russia for National Day. Despite considerable anxiety, the diplomatic dinner succeeded with guests of many nationalities and demonstrated the reach of Qatari cuisine. His Excellency Ambassador Fahd bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah subsequently invited her to cater further occasions and remained an important supporter. The success also opened the way for her to serve at Al Wajba Palace, an achievement of particular personal significance.

She returned to Russia in 2021 to oversee menus at the World Economic Forum in St Petersburg, including the Amiri hall, ministerial halls and Qatar Airways hospitality, as well as food at the Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani exhibition. Travelling while her youngest child was only five months old was emotionally difficult, but she treated the assignment as an opportunity to carry Qatar’s table and culture to Moscow.

Her work in Russia received support from His Excellency Ambassador Ahmed bin Nasser Al Thani and Her Excellency Lolwah bint Rashid bin Mohammed Al-Khater, then spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who praised her representation of Qatar and its traditional dishes. She also gave advanced classes in Qatari cuisine with chefs Ducasse and Damien Leroux, using food to bring local taste and culture to a wider audience.

During the forum, she accepted a proposal to produce an English-language collection of her Qatari recipes. She formed and supervised a team and completed ‘Taste of Qatar’ in no more than ten days. One thousand copies were printed for its launch at the Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani exhibition as part of Qatar Museums’ participation, and she signed five hundred copies in a single day.

The book was signed by His Excellency Deputy Prime Minister His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, His Excellency Ambassador Sheikh Ahmed bin Nasser Al Thani and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Bogdanov. Produced in record time, it achieved a success beyond what she had expected.

Building Desert Rose required her to learn management through practice. The Covid-19 pandemic was especially damaging because the café depended heavily on overseas delegations and visitors to the National Museum of Qatar. Rather than close, reduce salaries or release staff, she kept the doors open and took loans to meet expenses during the most difficult period.

She regards strong social relationships as an important foundation of entrepreneurship. In her view, the ability to sustain trust and address personal problems constructively offers a useful indication of whether an investor can build a durable enterprise. That principle accompanied the discipline required to balance public events, a growing business and a family of six children.