The Lighthouse Conversations with Hashem Montasser

“I could have opened Mediterranean. Japanese. Anything I already knew how to run. But my heart wasn’t going to be in it.”

Jonathan Colin, founder of El Primo, spent seven years at LPM Dubai and two at Zuma Abu Dhabi — long enough to know exactly how to open another one of those. He opened a taco place instead. Casual and self-funded, nothing like the concept he was trained for.​

Six months in, El Primo is one of the hardest places to find a table in Dubai.​

​Jonathan tells Hashem about the two years he gave up his own living room to cook Mexican food for strangers, why he turned down investors so the idea stayed his, and what a Mexican chef recognises in Beirut.​

Hani AlMalki — aka Bedouinfoodie — returns to podcast for a second sit-down, and it lands nothing like the first.​ 

When war hit the region, he started writing: a daily diary on his Instagram Stories that became required reading for Dubai’s food community, built on the one thing most creators trade away early: credibility.​ 

The conversation runs through the reset Dubai‘s restaurant scene needed, why comfort food wins in uncertain times, how AI became his trial chef, and the business model he built inside other people‘s restaurants.​

Karim Awad walked into EFG Hermes at one of the most turbulent moments in Egypt's recent history — a company caught mid-revolution, a bruised brand, and a region that wasn't sure it wanted to stabilise.​ What he did next is what this conversation is about.​ Karim and Hashem talked about the two years of firefighting that most people never saw — before the decade of expansion that everyone did. About the quiet conviction that drove him to turn a pure-play investment bank into a full-fledged financial services group. And about the question we found most interesting: how does Karim measure success?​ His answer surprised Hashem.​ Chapters:

0:00 Coming up..

3:48 The firefighting phase

13:57 Expanding regionally and cementing the brand

23:37 Acquisitions and partnerships

32:19 Growth and future aspirations

43:51 Shareholder expectations

47:05 Personal legacy

“I really wanted to slow things down… to create an experience where people take their time, build relationships, and connect with design in a more human way.”​ 

Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte has spent fifteen years living out of a suitcase, experiencing the quiet palazzos of Venice as well as the bustling streets of Beirut. He sits down with Hashem to share how his way of life and thirst for travel have inspired Nomad, a design fair that trades the noise of transactional fairs for the soul found in historic architecture. ​

​They dive into the intentional revival of Abu Dhabi’s Terminal 1 for Nomad's Middle Eastern debut, the cultural renaissance currently sweeping the Middle East, and why, in our digital-heavy world, we’re all just looking for a reason to put down our phones and experience real connections.

In this year-in-review episode, Hashem looks back on 2025 and what it actually took to open two restaurants in Riyadh in one year.​

It’s a conversation about going up the learning curve fast, staying humble, and why consistency always outlasts hype.​​

Chapters:

0:00 Coming up...

6:13 Navigating Expansion into Saudi Arabia

10:01 Understanding Local Market Differences

13:44 The Impact of Social Media

21:19 The Role of Technology in F&B

25:12 Seeking Balance in a Digital World

35:43 What comes next? 

39:19 Keith McNally's book

Lynn Hazim, founder of Middle Child and creator of popular food blog @nosoupforyou, shares her journey from corporate life at Google to building her own restaurant in Dubai.

The episode explores her early love for food, the roots of her inspiration, and her bold pivot to entrepreneurship. Lynn talks candidly about the challenges she faced funding the business and how she was determined to create a concept that felt true to herself. She shares how Middle Child in essence became the physical expression of her curiosity and creative restlessness.

Raj Malhotra, co-founder of Sole DXB, shares the story behind building one of the GCC’s last major independent festivals — a cultural platform born from minimal capital yet lots of passion and grit. 

The episode traces his journey to meeting co-founders Hussain Moloobhoy and Joshua Cox, and how their shared love for fashion, music, food, and design helped shape the DNA of Sole DXB. Raj reflects on the drive for excellence that fuels the festival each year, their commitment to empowering homegrown businesses in the UAE, and what it means to create a cultural space that can fuel the region’s growth.

Heba El Gabaly, co-founder and CEO of Efreshli, discusses her journey from corporate to entrepreneurship, scaling a tech-driven design-led business, and the importance of blending online and offline experiences. The episode explores her unique blend of leadership, what it felt like to bring on a co-founder and her mission to make quality design accessible to everyone.

Chapters 
0:01 Coming up… 
2:36 The Efreshli journey 
3:11 Building a business online vs offline 
7:21 The Challenges of Entrepreneurship 
8:53 First Customers and Social Media Success 
14:15 Navigating VC Funding 
19:31 Men vs Women Entrepreneurs 
25:21 Bringing in a co-founder 
35:16 Scaling and expanding Efreshli 
38:47 The Impact of AI 
47:42 ‘Good design companies sell taste’ 
53:26 Expanding Efreshli to the UAE & Saudi Arabia 
57:13 Creating keeps you young

Abdullah Alajaji, founder of  Driven Properties, shares his insights into the real estate markets of Dubai, the growth of the Saudi Arabia market, as well as the company's expansion into China and Spain.

This week on The Lighthouse Conversations, Hashem sits down with Abdullah Alajaji, Founder of Driven Properties, to discuss his meteoric journey in real estate. Tune in as they discuss taking personal risks, how he spotted a gap in the UAE real-estate market, and how Driven Properties successfully navigates an ever-evolving business landscape.