Haider Madani arrived in Dubai for the first time in 1998, then living in London and working in the automotive sector. The visit rewired his thinking entirely. “My eyes were just opened,” he recalls. “I realised it’s just such a beautiful place to be and it made me think ‘why am I still where I am in the world?’”
Two years later, by 2000, Madani had made the move permanent, becoming a UAE resident. What began as a relocation soon evolved into something sharper: a recognition that Dubai’s food and beverage landscape was missing something essential. “I realised there was a gap in the F&B industry to create communities, to create a space where music, art and culture all come together,” he explains. That insight became the foundation for Cassette, the homegrown café concept that opened its doors in February 2019 at The Courtyard in Al Quoz.
The timing proved significant. Cassette arrived with a clear mission to serve as a hub, a place of belonging rooted in the local community rather than imported from elsewhere. The response was immediate. “Upon the opening of Cassette, we started having a following of truly loyal clientele,” Madani says. “They started coming here, whether it was for a workspace, lunch break or a business meeting. People started coming here as if it was their second home, and that was the most beautiful thing to see.”
That community faced an early test. Just a year after opening, COVID-19 arrived. The experience, Madani reflects, revealed something about Dubai’s character. “We were a strong entity. We all managed to merge together and grow stronger. That is the epitome of Dubai, and that’s what we do best.” Over the seven years since Cassette’s opening, that spirit has only deepened. Clients, staff, and the broader community have woven their lives into the café’s story. “Everyone’s life story has been involved with Cassette at some point. Whether it’s relationship milestones or growing families, we’ve all been together, and it’s created a really nice bond,” Madani observes.
What he finds equally meaningful is that Cassette is not an imported franchise but a Dubai-born brand. “Having a brand that’s created in Dubai is something of a badge of honour. It’s like a gold medal because Dubai has become a place where we no longer follow,” he says. “It makes me happy that I’m not imported or a franchise. Dubai has become a hub of leaders, and not followers.”
The distinction matters to him philosophically. Building from the ground up in the UAE, he argues, demonstrates both resilience and intentionality. “To be a Dubai brand is something very important because it means you’ve created a brand from ground zero, from nothing, and it shows a lot of strength. It shows you put a lot of thought into whichever of your projects is in the soil of the UAE.” He adds one broader observation: “If you can make it here as a brand, you can make it anywhere in the world.”
Meanwhile, Madani sees the UAE continuing its trajectory of growth well beyond the café sector. “Moving forward, the UAE will consistently show its strength and growth. I foresee a lot more opportunities to come. A lot more investment opportunities will come from the outside world because they’ve seen how resilient we’ve become.” He views the region as embodying something rare, a seamless merger of tradition and modernity. “The UAE and Dubai are the epitome of growth, and they’re showing the rest of the world the beauty of traditions and modern times merging. It’s a land of opportunities; it’s a land to bring great concepts that are authentic.”
For Madani, the vision stays rooted in community. “What I would like is to create more spaces for communities, and bring people together.” Whether that ambition extends Cassette beyond Al Quoz, or takes an entirely new form, remains the open question his next chapter will answer.