Heritage lives in unexpected places: in the weight of a ring passed down, the memory of blossom in the place you first called home, or the scent of handmade pastry from a favourite bakery. This Mother's Day, Jumeirah Carlton Tower pays tribute to that inheritance through a collaboration with Lebanese jeweller Nada Ghazal – a partnership shaped by shared roots, creative kinship, and the belief that beauty can carry meaning forward.
Both originally from Beirut and now creating in London, Nada Ghazal, Founder and Creative Director of the eponymous brand, and Martin Haidar, Executive Pastry Chef at Jumeirah Carlton Tower, have charted parallel journeys, each translating feeling into form, whether through gold and sapphire or sugar and citrus. When they met, the connection was immediate. "He's such an artist," Ghazal reflects. "We go through a very similar process. He translates feelings and emotions into his pieces, just as I do.”
For Ghazal, jewellery is a narrator of milestones, a keeper of memory, something passed from hand to hand across generations. "The pieces I have from my mother and grandmother are more precious to me because they carry their story," she says. "It's emotional. It's meaningful.”
The collection that brought them together is My Muse, a deeply personal body of work created in 2021 as a tribute to the city she loves – Beirut. Its uneven, stone-scattered streets, the bougainvillaea spilling from balconies, the glories of century-old ceilings caught her imagination. She sketched its roads, translated its colours into precious stones, and turned memory into jewellery.
At the heart of the collection sits a domed gold ring, its surface inlaid with a radiating geometric pattern in deep ruby, violet and blush – a deliberate echo of the stained glass rosette that once crowned the interior of Beirut's Grand Theatre. That magnificent dome, with its kaleidoscopic colours and intricate lattice, has been silent since the early 1970s, its grandeur slowly receding behind crumbling walls and gathering dust. In Ghazal's ring, it lives on – its geometry lifted from ruin and re-cast in gold.
When Haidar saw the collection, he knew immediately. "This is the inspiration for my cake," he told her.
The result is a sculptural pastry that mirrors the organic, hand-formed quality of Ghazal's work: a domed disc, its surface decorated with the same radiating petal motif as the ring, available in five colour variations – green, yellow, blue, pink and red – each one evoking a different mood of Beirut light.
The flavour profile is equally considered: orange blossom mistika cream and olive oil sponge carry the fragrance of Lebanese spring, layered with pistachio crémeux and a filo cashew crisp for depth and texture. True to Haidar's philosophy, the cake contains no artificial colouring and no refined sugar – every hue and flavour achieved entirely through natural ingredients.
Available at our pastry counter from 9th to 15th March, the cake is the centrepiece of our limited-edition Mother's Day Afternoon Tea, served in the Garden Rooms at Jumeirah Carlton Tower. The signature cake, inspired by Ghazal's jewellery, sits alongside the hotel's refined tea service, orchestrating a moment designed to be tasted, shared and experienced.
As a special Mother’s Day surprise, a golden ticket hides inside one of the cakes. The guest who discovers it will have the chance to customise a bespoke pendant from the My Muse collection, crafted uniquely for them to their specification.
The winner will work directly with Ghazal to select enamel hues, combining signature colour tones in a way that feels entirely their own. “We can explore different colourways and palettes not yet imagined, whichever resonates with them most,” she says. “They’ll see it on screen first, and we’ll adjust until they’re happy.”
Every guest at Mother's Day Afternoon Tea will also receive a curated gift including a private 45-minute styling session at the Nada Ghazal boutique on Pont Street, just moments from the hotel. The space is designed like rooms in a house – one with a sofa for comfort, another arranged as a small dining room, where visitors are offered Lebanese sweets and tea.
"Hospitality is at the heart of who I am," Ghazal says. "It's about offering space, comfort, shared moments. I want people to feel valued, no matter who they are.”
That principle runs through her work and through this collaboration. Ghazal's mother taught her about strength and resilience through loss. "Her courage shaped me," she reflects. "Looking at what she was able to carry, I have the same strength in me.”
This Mother's Day, that philosophy takes edible form. A cake that looks like jewellery. A pastry inspired by a city rebuilt. A collaboration rooted in heritage, hospitality, and the quiet language of making something beautiful from what remains.
The special cake is available at our pastry counter from 9th to 15th March 2026, and as part of the limited-edition Mother's Day Afternoon Tea on Sunday 15th March at Jumeirah Carlton Tower in Knightsbridge.