Diana Rysbaeva opened her first food business at twenty, running a lakeside café in Kyrgyzstan with thirty Uzbek cooks and no experience whatsoever. She learned fast. Today she owns SHI, one of Dubai’s most respected Chinese restaurants, and Jixiang Dim Sum Dubai, a fast-casual concept on the JBR waterfront. Lara Palmer met her to talk about what it actually takes to build something in one of the world’s most competitive restaurant markets.
Lara Palmer: What makes a restaurant work in Dubai?
Diana Rysbaeva: Three things: food, service, and atmosphere. Not one of the three — all three, consistently. A novelty may bring someone in once. What brings them back is the experience of feeling welcome, of eating something genuinely good, and of sitting in a space that makes sense. We have regular guests who arrive with luggage straight from the airport. That tells you something. LP: How did you come up with the name SHI? DR: It has a historical background. The first Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang built a terracotta army rather than sacrifice real people for his mausoleum — a decision his advisors persuaded him was wiser. We borrowed the middle syllable of his name. In Chinese, SHI can mean both generation and infinity. That felt right for what we wanted to build. LP: What is different about Dubai compared to Kyrgyzstan? DR: Bureaucratically, Dubai is actually cleaner and more straightforward. Everything is transparent and precise. You follow the rules, and things work. In my home country, that was not always true. The two-month approval process for design projects, the ninety-day implementation window — it sounds rigid, but it gives you a real framework to work within. LP: What is your formula for success? DR: There is no formula. What I can say is that honesty — with your team, with your suppliers, with yourself — is the one thing that cannot be faked. Strong organisational skills matter enormously. And you need a detailed plan for growth, not just for today. LP: Your credo? DR: My father gave it to me: the road will be mastered by the going.