Melbourne seafood restaurant The Atlantic set to open in Dubai

The Atlantic Group is prime for expansion. It has partnered with UAE-based hospitality group Solutions Leisure to take its Crown Casino-based seafood restaurant to Dubai. It should launch in mid-September in the ritzy shopping centre Souk Al Bahar​.

Executive chef and partner Donovan Cooke is adapting recipes from his Melbourne kitchen (and cookbook). Think live Scottish scallops baked in their shells with cinnamon and lemon, or razor clams with garlic, white wine and parsley en papillote.

He doesn't think he'll have any trouble sourcing fresh produce. "Dubai is pretty much nine hours from everywhere," which means oysters from Brittany or Tasmania, depending on the season.

Designed by Amsterdam-based Design Group Eleven, the space will seat about 260, 180 inside in an open-plan dining room and a raw oyster bar, and another 80 seats outside.

"There'll be an open kitchen like the one in Melbourne, however, due to UAE fire regulations, the space will be glassed in," Cooke says. "That's probably good ... it's soundproof."

If all goes to plan, the group is considering taking its latest project, Fish and Chippery (next door to the Atlantic), to Dubai, too.