DANIEL ARSHAM OPENS DANIEL'S ROOM RESTAURANT IN DUBAI

Solid plaster meets cloud matcha. Daniel Arsham opened Daniel's Room on January 25, 2026, transforming a corner of Dubai Mall into his first permanent hospitality installation. ## Beyond the Gallery Wall The permanent cafe concept opened in Dubai Mall's Fashion Avenue and marks Arsham's first-ever venture into hospitality. This is not restaurant design as decoration. Arsham is treating the project less like a hospitality venture and more like a permanent installation. Developed in partnership with Cura Concepts (best known for its work on Trove and Boho X), the destination coffee shop is true to the artist's endless exploration of time, materiality and cultural memory. Every surface bears his signature erosion aesthetic. The artist has personally designed the entire environment from aesthetic pieces of furniture to lighting, tableware, focusing on every element that now sits proudly in the restaurant. Located within one of the world's busiest retail destinations, the restaurant occupies a gallery-like setting where seating, surfaces and decorative pieces contribute to the overall experience. The tableware alone tells the story. Daniel's Room features limited-edition books, collectable objects, and custom-designed tableware created exclusively for the space and aren't available online or in galleries elsewhere. ## Function Follows Feeling The food offering follows the same philosophy as they don't function as a full-service restaurant with long dinner menus, focusing instead on specialty coffee, pastries, cakes, and light bites developed and tested over months. Special editions, exclusive drops, and a curated selection of art pieces and books by the artist are available for purchase alongside pastries while sipping cloud matchas. Arsham's work through his collaborative firm Snarkitecture often explores intersections between art and everyday objects, and that sensibility informs the restaurant's environment as much as the menu. Daniel's Room sits comfortably between categories, functioning as a cafe but also operating as a cultural destination where food, objects, and space blend. This approach signals a new direction for artist-led hospitality. While galleries monetize through sales and exhibitions, Arsham has created a permanent revenue stream that doubles as artistic practice. The model will likely inspire similar ventures from artists seeking sustainable income beyond traditional gallery representation.