Clinique La Prairie CEO talks ‘personalization’ of luxury healthcare ahead of Saudi opening

Clinique La Prairie CEO talks ‘personalization’ of luxury healthcare ahead of Saudi opening
Switzerland-based luxury healthcare resort Clinique La Prairie is set to open in Saudi Arabia’s Amaala wellness retreat next year. (Supplied)
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Updated 05 November 2024
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Clinique La Prairie CEO talks ‘personalization’ of luxury healthcare ahead of Saudi opening

Clinique La Prairie CEO talks ‘personalization’ of luxury healthcare ahead of Saudi opening

DUBAI: Switzerland-based luxury healthcare resort Clinique La Prairie is set to open in Saudi Arabia’s Amaala wellness retreat next year, with CEO Simone Gibertoni telling Arab News “personalization is fundamental.”

With just 50 rooms, the healthcare resort will offer guests a holistic approach to health and wellness, combining evidence-based medicine with unique well-being, nutrition and movement plans, according to its website.




With just 50 rooms, the healthcare resort will offer guests a holistic approach to health and wellness, combining evidence-based medicine with unique well-being, nutrition
and movement plans, according to its website. (Supplied)

“If you want to be really personalized, you need to cater (for) a very small number of clients,” Gibertoni explained, adding: “Another very important point for me is always to underline the fact that our role is not just to give information, but to change people … intervention must be focused and must be very personalized.”

While the Swiss flagship boasts picturesque views and state of the art facilities, he insists: “The view of the lake is not enough, the nice food is not enough … there must be this idea that you feel better, you feel (like) a kind of new person and that’s why people are coming back.”

The Red Sea resort is not the first outside Switzerland; Clinique La Prairie Anji, on a tea plantation 180km west of Shanghai, China, opened its doors in 2024. Meanwhile, Dubai’s One & Only One Za’abeel hotel is home to a Clinique La Prairie Longevity Hub, billed as a day center rather than a resort-style experience.

When it comes to why the brand selected Saudi Arabia for such an investment, Gibertoni pointed to an alignment in healthcare philosophies.

“For such a big investment in Saudi, we are going to have only 50 rooms. In China, it’s another huge investment and we have only 29 rooms. It’s not easy to find the developer which is able to accept our philosophy and this is happening in Saudi Arabia,” he said.

The CEO also referred to long-term clients from the Gulf who have travelled to the European clinic for decades. The lure of a hub a little closer to home could be another reason for the brand’s latest venture.

Located on Saudi Arabia’s north-western coast, the Amaala resort will feature 30 brands, with Clinique La Prairie billed as one of the anchor offerings.

Last week, Gibertoni was in Dubai to announce the Longevity Fund, an endeavor to identify companies that “revolutionize the landscape of aging, health, and wellbeing.”

The fund will focus on driving science-based advancements in longevity under four banners — medical care, nutrition, movement and well-being.

Gibertoni explained: “Whenever there is a company with an innovation which is on the way to be ready for the market, this company always approaches us. So our question was ‘how can we be more impactful and not only introduce this technology to Clinique La Prairie … but can we also help this company to grow?”


Director Hassan El-Hejaili talks filming with kids — and eggs — as short premieres at RSIFF

Director Hassan El-Hejaili talks filming with kids — and eggs — as short premieres at RSIFF
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Director Hassan El-Hejaili talks filming with kids — and eggs — as short premieres at RSIFF

Director Hassan El-Hejaili talks filming with kids — and eggs — as short premieres at RSIFF

ALULA: Saudi filmmaker Hassan El-Hejaili offers a quirky, nostalgic portrayal of childhood mischief in his seven-minute short, “The Extraordinary Misadventures of the Amazing Boy Super-Blurry,” now screening at Jeddah’s Red Sea International Film Festival.

The story follows a bored young Saudi, Zezo, who discovers that he can put his hand into boiling tea without being hurt.

“Tea is part of our culture … we drink it so much that it’s like it’s in our veins,” El-Hejaili told Arab News while sipping a cup of tea, explaining why he chose to begin the story with the beverage.

The audience is invited along on Zezo’s adventures — or misadventures — with his siblings as the situation in their dysfunctional home escalates and his superpowers become even more impressive.

Filmed in black and white — aside from a saturated red tint in the tea — the aesthetic, which has shadows and different gradients, pays homage to classic cinema.

“I consider myself a cinema-lover,” said El-Hejaili, who has written multiple books on cinema in Arabic, adding that he drew inspiration from vintage filmmakers such as Georges Melies, who died in 1938.

 El-Hejaili chose a kitchen and bathroom as the primary settings, spaces not often seen in Saudi films.

“Those rooms are the heart of the home,” he said, “but every time the family in the film gathers there, something goes wrong.” The film’s tight quarters create a sense of closeness and chaotic spontaneity, capturing playful sibling rivalries, while the distracted parents are too absorbed in their smartphones to notice.

The portrayal of children in the film diverges from typical Saudi cinema and doesn’t spoon-feed everything to the audience — El-Hejaili trusts that they will be able to pour their own cups of tea and join in.

 “In most Saudi films, kids are wise beyond their years,” El-Hejaili explained. “I wanted them to lie, fight and break stuff — not in a way that destroys the world, but in a cute, real way. Siblings fight. It’s natural.”

One of the most memorable scenes during the two-day shoot was an egg fight sequence. “It was fun to film but a nightmare to clean,” he said, laughing. “This was the first and last experiment and experience filming with kids — and eggs.”


The must-see acts at Soundstorm 2024: Riyadh music festival boasts superstar acts

The must-see acts at Soundstorm 2024: Riyadh music festival boasts superstar acts
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The must-see acts at Soundstorm 2024: Riyadh music festival boasts superstar acts

The must-see acts at Soundstorm 2024: Riyadh music festival boasts superstar acts
  • Some highlights from the lineup for MDLBEAST’s three-day music festival in Riyadh, which starts Dec. 12 

RIYADH: In just a few years since its launch in 2019, MDLBEAST Soundstorm has established itself as the Gulf’s biggest music festival, but also staked a claim to being the world’s largest rave — last year’s event reportedly drew in 730,000 attendees. This year’s edition, the fifth, will likely be even bigger, with more than 150 artists performing in 10 different areas around the festival venue. Once again, the focus in on electronic dance music, with the vast majority of performers being DJ-producers — from global A-listers like David Guetta and Armin Van Buuren to local luminaries like Baloo and Biirdperson. But there’s plenty of variety on show too, from hip-hop legends to rock stars. Here are just a few of the can’t-be-missed sets to catch next weekend.  

Featured acts 

This year’s headliners on the Big Beast stage are an impressively eclectic bunch of genuine superstars. The hugely influential US rapper Eminem, who did much to popularize hip-hop in America — particularly among white people — performs on Thursday night, as do rock-rap pioneers Linkin Park, back on the road this year for the first time since their original co-lead vocalist Chester Bennington’s death in 2017. His replacement is Emily Armstrong, co-founder of the LA rock outfit Dead Sara. Early reviews of the new lineup — which also includes drummer Colin Brittain stepping in to replace Rob Bourdon — have been promising: “Armstrong makes each Linkin Park classic her own without changing their shape, from the hulking ‘Given Up’ and its screaming breakdown to the raw beauty of ‘Breaking the Habit,’” the Guardian wrote of their London performance in September. On Friday, UK rockers Muse — regularly dubbed one of the world’s best live bands, Scottish DJ-producer Calvin Harris — the first British solo artist to rack up more than 1 billion streams on Spotify, and Grammy-winning US alt-hip-hop star Tyler, The Creator — co-founder of collective Odd Future — all play. And US singer-songwriter Camila Cabello (pictured), who rose to fame as a member of Fifth Harmony — one of the bestselling girl groups in history — but whose solo output is heavily influenced by Latin music, wraps things up on Big Beast on Saturday, the same night that Hollywood star Jared Leto’s band — US rockers Thirty Seconds to Mars, US rapper-singer Russ, and The Roots — the house band on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” led by Questlove — perform on the DWN Beast stage. 

The hugely influential US rapper Eminem, who did much to popularize hip-hop in America — particularly among white people — performs on Thursday night. (Getty Images)

Superstar DJs 

Among the dozens of top-quality DJ-producers taking to the various stages over the weekend, there are several major global EDM legends, including Dutchman Martin Garrix, ranked number one in DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs list in 2016, 2017 and 2018, who plays a back-to-back set with Sweden’s Alesso on Thursday night; France’s ubiquitous David Guetta (also playing a B2B set, this one with fellow ‘future rave’ inventor, Denmark’s Morten Breum); America’s Steve Aoki (B2B with Bosnian-Swedish DJ Salvatore Ganacci); Garrix’s fellow Dutch DJ Armin Van Buuren, who has also topped DJ Mag’s top 100 list in four successive years (2007-2010 inclusive), and then again 2012, giving him a record five ‘titles’; and (two of the) co-founders of progressive house stars Swedish House Mafia, now performing as a DJ duo, Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso; and Grammy-winning South African DJ-producer Black Coffee. A full list of performers is available on the MDLBEAST website. 

DJ Armin Van Buuren (AFP)

Arab stars 

As well as the international A-listers flying in to Riyadh this week, a number of major regional stars are also performing at Soundstorm. From Lebanese diva Elissa (pictured), whose records have reportedly sold more than 30 million copies and whose long-delayed 13th studio album, “Ana Seketeen,” was released in May, the hugely popular Egyptian rap artist Marwan Moussa, and his compatriot, the singer Ahmed Saad, to the Kingdom’s own Abdul Majeed Abdullah, among others. 

Elissa will perform at the event. (AFP)

Local heroes 

Once again, MDLBEAST is providing lesser-known Saudi acts with a huge platform on which to shine at Soundstorm. Keep an eye out for the all-female psychedelic rock band Seera (pictured), who’ve been rapidly accruing fans and media coverage over the past couple of years. In terms of DJ-producers, expect Leen, Omar Bassad, Baloo, Loush, Hats and Klaps, and Biirdperson’s sets to get the crowds excited.   


Red Sea International Film Festival kicks off in Saudi Arabia

Red Sea International Film Festival kicks off in Saudi Arabia
Updated 06 December 2024
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Red Sea International Film Festival kicks off in Saudi Arabia

Red Sea International Film Festival kicks off in Saudi Arabia

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival kicked off on Thursday night at the event’s new headquarters in Culture Square, Al-Balad, Jeddah.

The fourth edition of the film festival will feature the usual set of glittering names, many of whom hit the red carpet on Thursday night.

Hollywood stars Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michael Douglas, Emily Blunt and Cynthia Erivo joined Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh on the red carpet while there was also a strong showing from Bollywood with Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor posing for photographs at the opening ceremony.

Vin Diesel, Will Smith and Riyadh-based model Georgina Rodriguez also made surprise appearances.  

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Spike Lee — known for films such as “Malcom X” and “BlacKkKlansman” — is presiding over the features competition jury this year, while Oscar-winning actress and producer Viola Davis and Egyptian star Mona Zaki are this year’s honorees at the festival, which will run until Dec. 14 under the theme “The New Home of Film.”

“I’m going to see some great films by young filmmakers… you’ve got to support the youth, they need to make their films and tell their stories,” Lee told Arab News on the red carpet as Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas hit the red carpet behind him.

“We call it the bride of the red sea, finally we are having guests in this historical place,” Saudi actor Khaled Yeslam said on the red carpet. “Being a Saudi citizen, I’m so glad to have all these global stars in our city,” he added.

Hollywood stars Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones on the red carpet. (AN Photo/Hashim Nadeem)

Meanwhile, “The Fall Guy” actress Emily Blunt was honored at the opening ceremony, with the honor being presented by Yeoh.

The British actress took to the stage in a glittering gown to say “we have so many stories to tell, we are brimming with them.”

“I am so deeply grateful to be here,” she added before Bollywood icon Amir Khan was also honored on stage. 

Wicked star Cynthia Erivo joined the host of famous faces walking the red carpet in Jeddah. (AN Photo/Hashim Nadeem)

The opening ceremony featured a screening of Egyptian director Karim El Shenawy’s “The Tale of Daye’s Family” about an 11-year-old Nubian albino boy who faces adversity because of his appearance.

The festival will feature 120 films from 81 countries at the new venue — previous editions were held at the city’s Ritz-Carlton hotel — where five purpose-built cinemas and a large auditorium will host back-to-back screenings as well as In Conversation panels with celebrities.

Georgina Rodriguez, Riyadh-based model and partner of Al-Nassr superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was also in attendance. (AN Photo/Hashim Nadeem)

Australian filmmaker Michael Gracey’s semi-biographical feature “Better Man,” inspired by British pop star Robbie Williams, will close the festival while Johnny Depp’s “Modi, Three Days on the Wing of Madness,” which was supported by the Red Sea Film Foundation, will be given a gala screening as part of the International Spectacular lineup.

Other star power-laden titles set for gala screenings include Peter Chelsom’s “A Sudden Case of Christmas” starring Danny Devito, Pablo Larrain’s biopic “Maria,” starring Angelina Jolie as opera singer Maria Callas; Mehdi Idir’s “Monsieur Aznavour,” starring Tahar Rahim as the French singer; Thierry Teston and Lisa Azeulos’s Jane Fonda-narrated documentary “My Way”; and “We Live in Time” with Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield.


Riyadh Music Week hits high note

Riyadh Music Week hits high note
Updated 05 December 2024
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Riyadh Music Week hits high note

Riyadh Music Week hits high note
  • Set to run until Dec. 14, the event will showcase a wide array of activities designed to advance the Kingdom’s music scene
  • Launch showcased a composition blending Saudi Arabia’s musical heritage with international influences, embodying the theme of the event

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Music Commission on Wednesday inaugurated Riyadh Music Week as part of efforts to establish the capital as a global hub for the music industry.

Set to run until Dec. 14, the event will showcase a wide array of activities designed to advance the Kingdom’s music scene.

The launch showcased a composition blending Saudi Arabia’s musical heritage with international influences, embodying the theme of the event.

Riyadh Music Week seeks to establish the Kingdom as a global cultural hub, elevate and showcase musical talent on the international stage, and promote cross-sector collaboration to drive the growth and development of the music industry.

It also offers a dynamic program, including dialogue sessions, workshops, training courses, and concerts featuring a mix of performances by Saudi and international artists.

The Music Commission is committed to fostering the growth of music in the Kingdom as an art form, cultural expression, science, and source of entertainment. Its efforts are centered around five key pillars: music education, music production, live performances, support and promotion, and establishing a comprehensive licensing system.


Recipes for success: Chef Clet Laborde offers advice and a tasty cheese balls recipe

Recipes for success: Chef Clet Laborde offers advice and a tasty cheese balls recipe
Updated 05 December 2024
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Recipes for success: Chef Clet Laborde offers advice and a tasty cheese balls recipe

Recipes for success: Chef Clet Laborde offers advice and a tasty cheese balls recipe
  • The executive chef of Sushi Samba Riyadh offers advice and a tasty cheese balls recipe  

DUBAI: French-Brazilian chef Clet Laborde discovered his passion for cooking while preparing snacks and sandwiches for events during his hospitality studies. “I enjoyed learning the ways that we do things and how we work in the kitchen that is very different from hospitality, from being a bartender or a server or a waiter,” he told Arab News.  

Encouraged by a mentor who recognized his potential during a culinary competition in Brazil, Laborde pursued formal training at the renowned Institut Paul Bocuse in Lyon, France. He went on to work with legendary chefs Yannick Alléno and Alain Ducasse in France, before expanding his horizons in Brazil and Peru. 

In January 2023, the chef moved to Saudi Arabia. “I really love this country. It is very nice. It is a safe place. It is a very good country to live in with the family and kids. So I am very happy to be here,” he said. He is now the executive chef of Sushi Samba Riyadh, where he crafts dishes that blend Japanese, Peruvian and Brazilian flavors. 

Here, the chef discusses mistakes, his favorite cuisines, and offers tips for amateur chefs. 

When you started out, what was the most common mistake you made?  

Organization is the most important thing in the kitchen. A very big mistake that is common in the beginning is that you don’t have everything ready to make the dish. We call it the “mise en place.” So, you don’t need to run around or be desperate to cook something very quick because you forgot something.  

Seasoning is another thing that comes with time. Every person — and every country — has a different palette. I’ve had the opportunity to work in Europe, Brazil, Peru and Saudi Arabia, and the palette of each country is completely different. So, you need to adapt the seasoning. A common mistake in the beginning is that we tend to put too much salt, or not enough. 

What’s your top tip for amateur chefs?  

The best tip that I can give is don’t get stressed out. If you make a mistake, you can always change and adapt the dish without destroying the idea behind it. For example, when you put too much salt in something, the most effective thing to kill the salt is to put a raw potato in the dish. Let’s say you are doing a stew, and you put too much salt, just put a raw potato inside. The raw potato is going to absorb all the excess salt, so your dish is going to be perfect again. Everything can be solved, everything can be adapted. 

What one ingredient can instantly improve any dish? 

I have two. The first is soy sauce — a good quality soy sauce can improve a dish a lot. The flavor helps you not use salt, and it can give flavor to the dishes very subtly. The other ingredient is mushrooms. They are very earthy products, but the mushroom has umami — a flavor that comes from the earth that is something very delicate in the palette.  

When you go out to eat, do you find yourself critiquing the food?  

I'm very critical and my wife — who’s also a chef — is too. So when we go out to eat, we see all the details in every dish. I think everybody that has this career will be the same. We are always looking to learn — even if that’s learning what not to do. 

What’s the most common issue you find in other restaurants? 

The seasoning. Like I said before, it’s something very personal — some people like to eat food that is more salty, less salty, more sweet, more spicy… But, in the kitchen, we always need to have a base flavor. When we add salt, it’s not necessarily to make the food more salty, but to increase the flavor of the product. So, if we don’t put enough salt, like on a steak or on a fish, the fish is going to be bland, so we’re going to lose this good flavor of the product.  

What’s your favorite cuisine? 

Peruvian. I lived in Peru for 12 years. The cuisine has a mix of cultures and flavors that you’re not going to find anywhere else. My favorite dishes would be ceviche and pollo a la brasa. We have both on our menu here. La brasa is a very traditional dish that the Peruvians eat normally every Sunday — like how the Italians sit together to eat pasta on Sunday, in Peru they eat chicken la brasa with fries and salad. It’s very traditional and it’s delicious.  

What’s your go-to dish if you have to cook something quickly at home? 

Stroganoff. It’s an Eastern European dish. It is very quick. You can do it with salmon, you can do it with chicken, you can do it with steak. It’s very versatile. You can do it with just vegetables too. All you need is paprika, ketchup, cream and the protein that you want. Everything sauteed together, and you serve it with rice. In 20 minutes, you have the dish done.  

What customer behavior most frustrates you? 

Fake allergies. It is very common. I understand that some people have very specific allergies, like nuts, peanuts, seafood or shellfish. But now, you have people saying I’m allergic to mango, I’m allergic to kiwi. I prefer them to be honest, and say, “I don’t like mango. Can you do the dish without mango?” We either say, “Sorry, we cannot,” or we can give you another option, and we can work with it. But don’t try to give allergies that don’t exist. It’s something that’s very stressful in the kitchen — to try to adapt to allergies that you know don’t exist. But you cannot say no to the customer.  

What’s your favorite dish to cook and why?  

There’s a dish I always make at home for my kids and my wife. They love it. It’s a flavor that can bring us back to Peru. It takes time, but it’s not complicated. You need to marinate your chicken for 24 hours minimum, and after that, you put your chicken in the oven, and it’s done. So it’s very easy to do, but it takes time. But it’s very easy and very tasty. 

What’s the most difficult dish for you to get right?  

A traditional French dish — fish in puff pastry. The whole fish is cooked inside the puff pastry. So to have the perfect cook of the fish, to not be dry, or raw, with the puff pastry cooked perfectly, is very difficult. It’s a dish that needs a lot of attention to detail and decoration.  

Are you a disciplinarian? Do you shout a lot? Or are you more laidback? 

I’m not laidback, but I don’t shout. I think the image that a lot of people have about me because I am French, is that I will shout. Some French chefs are very nasty with the employees. I’m the opposite of that. I lived this environment when I was in France. I know how it is to work for a person that screams at you, hits you or denigrates you in the kitchen in front of everybody. That’s something that I am against. I always try to have a healthy environment for my chef and for my team. Here in Sushi Samba, I have 56 cooks under my responsibility. I know all of them. I tell everyone, when you arrive in the kitchen, you need to say hi to everybody. This is what makes the bond within the team — everybody cares about everybody. My team knows that my door is always open to them. And if I have any issue with a cook or any problem in the kitchen, I never call the person out in front of anybody. I take the person out of the kitchen, we go to the office, we sit down, we talk and we try to solve the problem instantly.  

Chef Clet’s Brazilian cheese balls (Pão de queijo) recipe  

INGREDIENTS: 

Tapioca flour: 500g 

Water: 100ml 

Sunflower oil: 80ml 

Milk: 180ml 

Salt: 2g 

Eggs: 2  

Parmesan cheese: 250g 

INSTRUCTIONS:  

In a bowl, mix the tapioca flour, salt, and grated parmesan cheese. 

In a separate container, combine the warm water, milk, and sunflower oil. 

Gradually add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients, mixing well. 

Add the eggs one at a time, stirring until the dough becomes smooth and homogeneous. 

Form small balls of approximately 30g each and place them on a baking tray. 

Bake at 180°C for 25 to 35 minutes, or until golden brown. 

Enjoy with salted butter or cream cheese.