SAONA Is Bringing Caribbean Cooking to Palm West Beach
Former Miss Lily’s chef Richie Richards leads the kitchen at the forthcoming voco Dubai The Palm restaurant, with Peruvian influences and DJs joining the evening.
yapped Editors · Nov 7, 2026 · 1 min read
Quick facts
- Where
- First floor, voco Dubai The Palm, Palm West Beach
- Planned opening
- December 2026; exact date to be announced
- Format
- Restaurant and lounge with DJ-led evenings
SAONA opens at voco Dubai The Palm in December. The chef is Richie Richards, a Jamaican-born executive chef whose CV includes Miss Lily’s in Dubai. His name is the reason it’s on our radar. What he actually serves is the reason we’ll book, or won’t.
Dinner With Plans Afterwards
Named after the Caribbean island of Saona, the restaurant is being designed for evenings that carry on after dinner. Cocktails and DJs are part of the plan, with space for 244 guests across the dining room, a VIP lounge, casual seating and outdoor areas.
That gives a fair idea of the intended night out. Come with friends, settle in for dinner and leave enough room in the evening for another drink. Scheduling an early finish already sounds optimistic.
“His name gets it on the list. The menu decides whether it stays.”
The Menu Is the Next Announcement to Watch
Richards is drawing on his Caribbean background and introducing Peruvian influences, but individual dishes and prices are still to come.
Those details will tell us far more about who should book. A menu, an opening date and a clear idea of the spend are what turn an interesting announcement into a dinner plan.
For now, December is the announced opening window. Keep SAONA on the list if Richards’ previous cooking caught your attention, or if you like dinner somewhere that gets livelier as the evening goes on.