A Sydney chef opening a Chinese restaurant in the Middle East on Australia Day 2015 - say what?

Neil Perry's protracted negotiations to take Spice Temple restaurant to Dubai is over the line, and the chef also confirms that a branch of Rockpool Bar & Grill will also open there down the track. The 180-seat Spice Temple, in a 1000-square-metre space with four-metre high ceilings, is next to Dubai's Kempinski Hotel. It will feature an interior from Rockpool designer Grant Cheyne.

"It's going up a level. Full dim sum-making section, duck-roasting ovens, fish tanks, all induction wok stations," Perry says.

"I started going there [Dubai] when Qantas announced the tie-up with Emirates. It is going off and not what you expect. The Middle East is a very interesting place."

The veteran chef has been actively looking to expand his group overseas, pinpointing London, New York and Hong Kong as the places he is targeting.

"We want it to be Dubai's best restaurant," he says. "We don't licence, we will be running it."