Omar Shihab

Omar is the Founder and Chief Sustainability Officer of BOCA, a leading sustainable restaurant located in Dubai’s International Financial Center (DIFC). With extensive experience as a hospitality project director, restaurateur, and consultant, Omar has successfully collaborated with top chefs, managers, designers, and other experts to create BOCA, a modern European restaurant that has earned accolades such as the MICHELIN Green Star and a place on MENA’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Driven by a vision to create a forward-thinking restaurant in the UAE that could rival world-class concepts, Omar has embedded sustainability into BOCA’s core from day one. His initiatives include sourcing ingredients locally, reducing food waste, and introducing native desert plants into the kitchen. Under his leadership, BOCA transitioned to operate on 100% renewable energy and is on a path toward achieving carbon neutrality. Omar’s influence extends beyond BOCA. He is an active advocate for sustainability in the UAE, participating in various initiatives such as promoting Halophytes through the Nature-based Solutions project with Emirates Nature-WWF. He also holds roles as the Gault&Millau UAE 2022 Sustainability Champion of the Year, an associate for the Thriving Solutions sustainability consortium, a partner of Food Made Good, and a board member of the marine conservation non-profit Azraq. Through his work, Omar continues to lead BOCA and the wider community towards a more sustainable future.