[slideshow][Photo by Koh Terai/The Gazelle]https://cdn.thegazelle.org/gazelle/2013/10/FLOOR-9-2.jpg);[Photo by Koh Terai/The Gazelle](https://cdn.thegazelle.org/gazelle/2013/10/FLOOR-9-1.jpg);[Photo by Koh Terai/The Gazelle](https://cdn.thegazelle.org/gazelle/2013/10/FLOOR-9-3.jpg);[Photo by Koh Terai/The Gazelle](https://cdn.thegazelle.org/gazelle/2013/10/FLOOR-9-4.jpg);[Photo by Koh Terai/The Gazelle](https://cdn.thegazelle.org/gazelle/2013/10/FLOOR-9-5.jpg);[Photo by Koh Terai/The Gazelle](https://cdn.thegazelle.org/gazelle/2013/10/FLOOR-9-6.jpg);[Photo by Koh Terai/The Gazelle](https://cdn.thegazelle.org/gazelle/2013/10/FLOOR-9-7.jpg);[Photo by Koh Terai/The Gazelle](https://cdn.thegazelle.org/gazelle/2013/10/FLOOR-9-8.jpg)[/slideshow]

Sunday’s dinner was the first installment in what is set to become a weekly event, the brain-child of sophomore Krishan Mistry and junior Victoria Edmonds. The event’s name, floor nine, is as simple as its goal: to serve great food.

“Me and Victoria were in the same J-term in Florence, and we did a lot of cooking … Then we realized … me and Dean and Carmen basically did that kind of thing cumulatively every week, just having people over, cooking food,” Mistry said.

Mistry explained that he wanted to add to the sense of occasion by having the waiters be as fitting as possible to the experience of floor nine.

“One day Guillaume was helping us to prepare, and we got him … to present the crostinis and then … we just strong-armed him into becoming our waiter … Everyone was pretty enthusiastic about it,” said Mistry.

Shaff said he had two concerns before the event: firstly, that people would not show up after having reserved a place, and secondly, that students would not dress in semi-formal attire as requested.

“I was afraid we were going to have four people tonight, dressed in shorts, flip-flops and a white wifebeater,” said Shaff.

His fears were allayed, however. All ten students showed sporting an array of semi-formal wear from suits and bow ties to well-pressed denim and heels. Shaff said the night went exceptionally well, and he was already anticipating next week’s Japanese-themed dinner.

Mistry had a different concern: obtaining good quality ingredients in Abu Dhabi. He worried that the simplicity of the food would be compromised by imported ingredients.

“Especially with Italian food, where the ingredients kind of just speak for themselves … you could just show up, you know, throw some tomatoes, salt, basil, olive oil, garlic in a pan and you’ll get something delicious because the ingredients in Florence were so good,” he said.

“Here we definitely had to be a lot more creative in terms of what we were doing to overcome the fact that the raw ingredients were unavailable or not of a particularly high quality,” he added.

Senior Joshua Shirley, one of the attendees, noted that floor nine perfectly occupied a niche that is yet to be filled in Abu Dhabi, that of the middle ground between dirt-cheap, hole-in-the-wall restaurants and opulent hotel bars. He spoke highly of Sama’s very own restaurant and praised the students involved for giving up their time in order to provide for their peers.

“It was delicious. It was a breath of fresh air. It was more than that though … It was really nice to have people that I really know — in a place I really know — doing something totally different. It was nice to have a new setting for old faces,” said Shirley.

To sign up for floor nine, which will take place on Saturdays or Sundays once a week, keep a close eye on NYUAD’s Student Life Facebook page and R.S.V.P. to the email address provided. Get in fast — signups are limited to the first ten replies and places are taken within minutes.

As Mistry summarized, “It’s a quality dining experience, only an elevator ride away!”