Tala Bashmi

Manama

A powerhouse chef who has put Bahrain on the modern culinary map

Tala Bashmi has, almost single-handedly, put the island of Bahrain on the modern culinary map. Over the last few years, the Manama-based chef has worked the international food circuit and leveraged her reinvention of traditional Bahraini dishes to propel her homeland into the spotlight. And all this from a one-time wannabe professional football player whose initial dreams were curtailed by injury.

Bashmi is nothing if not determined. Not only has she overcome that enforced career change in her early 20s, but she also endured the multiple challenges faced by so many young female kitchen staff in hierarchical, male-dominated European kitchens in her formative years. In 2018, she took over as head chef in the Fusions restaurant within the Bahrain capital’s iconic Gulf Hotel. Two years later, the restaurant was renamed Fusions by Tala, reflecting the charismatic cook’s rising profile in the region and allowing her to stamp her own identity on the dining experience.

Her menu features modernist takes on traditional Bahraini and Middle Eastern classics: she famously took the regional family dish, bamia, and deconstructed it to serve a fine-dining version featuring wagyu beef cheek, okra ‘glass’ and tomato rice broth. Another signature plate sees hoozi tacos filled with braised lamb shoulder, ma’abooch aioli and crispy onions, while Bashmi’s standout desserts show off the pastry skills she developed when running her own bakery business.

Inspired by her father, a writer and avid food-lover, Bashmi is also a keen student of culinary history, delving into the evolution of Arabic gastronomy over the centuries. Such scholarship has left her perfectly placed to help reinvigorate the region’s reputation on the global stage. She is also a dedicated advocate of more sustainable practices in the restaurant sphere and has been appointed a UN Ambassador for Gastronomy Tourism.

Named Middle East & North Africa’s Best Female Chef in 2022, Bashmi is now referred to as the voice of modern Khaleeji cuisine. And throughout this meteoric rise in prominence, she has remained humble, respected and popular among her peers – a status cemented by her being voted the Estrella Damm N.A. Chefs’ Choice Award winner as part of MENA’s 50 Best Restaurants 2025.

She has recently moved on from Fusions, with exciting new projects in the pipeline. Rest assured, this dynamic chef’s impact is in no danger of waning.

The Chefs’ Choice Award is the only peer-voted accolade in the MENA’s 50 Best Restaurants programme. It honours a chef who has made a positive contribution to the region’s culinary scene over the last year, as chosen by the teams behind the restaurants in this year’s list.

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