More than 26 years after opening its first restaurant, Il Forno has grown from a single Italian kitchen in Abu Dhabi into one of the UAE’s established homegrown Italian restaurant brands
a journey shaped by consistency, professionalism, family values and the vision of its Founder, Chairman and CEO, Mr. Hussein Abed Samhan.

The Beginning of an Italian Story in the UAE

In the UAE’s fast-moving restaurant industry, trends come and go, concepts change, and customer expectations continue to evolve. Building a restaurant is one challenge; building a brand that remains relevant for more than a quarter of a century is another.

For Il Forno, that story began in 2000.

The inspiration behind Il Forno came from Mr. Hussein Abed Samhan, whose appreciation for Italian cuisine and experiences in Italy helped shape his vision for the restaurant. He saw Italian dining as something beyond pizza and pasta. It was about warmth, generosity, craftsmanship and the ability of food to bring people together around one table.

That philosophy became the foundation of Il Forno. When the first restaurant opened in Abu Dhabi in 2000, the ambition was clear: create an Italian dining experience in the UAE built around authentic flavours, quality ingredients, welcoming hospitality and consistent service.

There were no shortcuts to building the brand. Every plate served, every customer welcomed and every operational decision contributed to establishing a reputation that would eventually allow one restaurant to become two, two to become several, and eventually a single Abu Dhabi concept to become a recognised name across the UAE.

Through every stage of that expansion, professionalism remained at the centre of the business.

Growing Without Forgetting Where It Started

Twenty-six years later, the scale of Il Forno is very different. Its principles are not.

Today, the brand has grown to more than 30 locations across the UAE, serving communities across Abu Dhabi, Dubai and other emirates. Yet the story is not simply about adding restaurants. It is about expanding while protecting the identity, standards and customer experience that established the brand.

Maintaining consistency at that scale requires far more than recipes. It requires systems, training, supply-chain management, experienced teams, operational discipline and a company culture in which everyone understands the standards expected of them.

While the restaurant industry transformed around it, Il Forno continued to evolve. Digital ordering became part of the customer journey. Delivery platforms changed how people accessed restaurants. Technology entered restaurant operations, menus and point-of-sale systems. Consumer preferences changed and competition intensified.

Il Forno adapted to those changes while protecting the fundamentals on which it had been built: good food, consistent quality, professional service and an experience that encourages customers to return.

The Man Behind the Brand: Mr. Hussein Abed Samhan

At the centre of Il Forno’s journey is Mr. Hussein Abed Samhan, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Il Forno Group.Il Forno UAE

His story is inseparable from the story of the company. From establishing the first restaurant in 2000 to overseeing the development of a network of more than 30 locations, Mr. Hussein has remained closely connected to the direction, standards and growth of the business.

His leadership philosophy places importance on perseverance, loyalty, quality and people. Expansion created a responsibility beyond simply opening more branches: customers needed to be able to visit different Il Forno locations and still recognise the quality, hospitality and professionalism associated with the original brand.

That required stronger systems, better training, dependable supply chains and, above all, the right people. It also meant knowing when to evolve. Under his leadership, Il Forno has embraced new technology, digital ordering and changing dining habits while continuing to develop its menu and customer experience.

One of Mr. Hussein’s most significant achievements cannot be measured simply by the number of restaurants opened. It is the creation of an organisation capable of carrying a founder’s standards across dozens of locations and hundreds of employees.

Building People Alongside Restaurants

Behind every successful restaurant brand are the people customers rarely see: chefs preparing ingredients before opening, operations teams maintaining standards, purchasing and logistics teams securing products, restaurant managers leading individual branches, and service teams welcoming customers every day.

Il Forno’s growth has therefore also been a story about its people. Professionalism, teamwork and continuous development have remained important elements of the culture surrounding the brand.

The importance of that relationship became particularly visible during difficult periods, including the COVID-19 pandemic, when the hospitality industry faced unprecedented challenges. Protecting the business, its people and the long-term future of the brand required resilience and disciplined leadership.

That people-focused approach reflects something that has been part of Il Forno since its earliest days: although the organisation has become considerably larger, it continues to carry the characteristics of a family-built business.

Recognition Along the Journey

Growth has also brought recognition. Across its journey, Il Forno has received industry acknowledgements for its food, hospitality and contribution to the UAE dining sector, including recent awards that have accompanied a period of continued expansion and increased visibility.

But awards tell only part of the story. For a restaurant company operating since 2000, one of the strongest measures of success is longevity itself.

Generations of customers have experienced Il Forno. A guest who visited the restaurant with family years ago may now return with a family of their own. That relationship cannot be created by a marketing campaign alone. It is built through thousands of individual experiences, repeated consistently over many years.

From Restaurant Brand to a Wider Business Vision

The entrepreneurial journey surrounding Il Forno eventually extended beyond restaurant operations.

As the business grew, the need for greater control, reliability and consistency within the supply chain helped lead to the development of Excellence Food Stuff Trading, a sister company operating within the UAE’s food supply and wholesale sector.

Excellence serves restaurants, hotels, cafés, caterers and other food-service businesses, reflecting the same emphasis on quality, consistency and reliability that helped shape Il Forno. Its development demonstrates how an operational need within a restaurant business can evolve into a wider commercial opportunity.

The wider business family has also expanded beyond food and hospitality through Muay Thai Fight Club (MTFC). Italian restaurant in Dubai

Representing a very different industry, MTFC brings the group’s entrepreneurial philosophy into fitness, combat sports and personal development. At first glance, an Italian restaurant, a food distribution company and a Muay Thai training business may appear to have little in common. Their connection becomes clearer when viewed through the philosophy behind them.

Il Forno represents hospitality and culinary craftsmanship. Excellence Food Stuff Trading represents supply, reliability and the infrastructure behind successful food businesses. Muay Thai Fight Club represents discipline, strength and personal development.

Together, the three businesses illustrate how an entrepreneurial journey that began with one restaurant in 2000 has developed into a broader and more diversified business story.

26 Years Later, the Journey Continues

There is an important difference between becoming successful and remaining successful.

Il Forno has operated through more than two decades of extraordinary change in the UAE. Cities expanded. New communities emerged. Consumer habits changed. Technology transformed hospitality. International restaurant brands entered the market, and competition became increasingly sophisticated.

Through those changes, Il Forno continued moving forward. The company grew from one restaurant into more than 30 locations, strengthened its supporting businesses, embraced technology and expanded into new communities while continuing to protect the principles on which the first Il Forno was established.

For Mr. Hussein Abed Samhan, the achievement is therefore larger than the number of restaurants carrying the Il Forno name. It is the organisation, culture and legacy created around that name.

A restaurant opened in Abu Dhabi in 2000. More than a quarter of a century later, that restaurant has become a UAE success story.

And after 26 years, Il Forno is still growing, still evolving, still welcoming families to its tables, and still guided by the standards and professionalism that have been there since day one.

“From one restaurant in 2000 to a nationwide UAE brand the Il Forno story is ultimately a story of consistency, people and professional standards.”