Octopus can be tough as old tyres, but Antonio Iacovelli’s grilled sous vide version, served up with a potato cake and toasted garlic at Merletto, Marriott Hotel Al Jaddaf, Dubai, is tender, packed with flavour and an all-round revelation. Italian food that isn’t pasta, pizza or osso buco?
A slew of new restaurants in Dubai is setting out to prove that the adjectives Italian and contemporary can be used to describe the same dish. Tourists to the Mediterranean nation have long Twitbooked food fabulous enough to satisfy even the most hard-hearted Michelin inspector, but thus far, this level of food hasn’t travelled very well.
The start of this regional Italian culinary renaissance was signalled by the opening of Eataly, a supermarket and restaurant complex that aims to replicate the feel of an olde worlde village market, in The Dubai Mall in December. In the past six weeks alone, three new restaurants have opened in Dubai. Besides Merletto, which specialises in Venetian fare, Michelin-starred Alfredo Russo — acknowledged as the master of the new Italian style — and Alfonso Iaccarino, chef and owner of Michelin-starred Don Alfonso 1890 restaurant in Sorrento, launched restaurants at Sheraton Dubai Creek Hotel & Towers and Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai respectively.
Media attention
Christian de Nadai is Head Chef at the Shangri-La’s Don Alfonso 1890. “In the past ten years, there’s been a lot of attention on our country and our food,” he tells EAT. “And people have now begun to recognise that Italian food can be luxury fine dining. Italians are on the move, doing things — winning Michelin stars, hosting MasterChef, running cooking classes. The media has got in, so we’re now in the spotlight.”
Italian chefs are also eagerly seeking out opportunities abroad. Russo, who runs only one restaurant in Italy but several around the world, flags up Europe’s high operational costs: “Revenues are very high in Italy, but costs are high too. Here, taxes and labour costs are lower and you employ fewer people. A lot of my friends and colleagues — also with Michelin stars — find it difficult to run fine dining restaurants and open a bistro instead.”
Every chef dreams of opening his own restaurant, and the UAE makes it possible, says de Nadai. “Italy is contracting, it is in crisis. If I open a restaurant there, I’ll shoot myself two months later. But in Dubai, you pick up the phone and call — you want tomatoes from Rome, you got it. People here understand our approach.”
Both say the UAE’s got enough room for as many Italian restaurants that want to open here.
Historic ties
Dubai wins because of the region’s historic closeness to the Mediterranean and its openness to new ideas. With a flavour profile close to Arabian food, Italian is already among the most popular cuisines in the country.
But the new wave of chefs is firmly focused on showcasing just what is possible, while staying true to their roots and philosophy.
Russo, for example, insists on working with three or four ingredients — but presents them in unexpected ways. Braised beef ribs come with potato foam instead of mash, while polenta tops a fragrant mushroom soup instead of being used as a base for other ingredients.
Although spag bol might be readily available at street-side cafeterias, de Nadai says Dubai’s diners are educated and accepting of haute cuisine. “You really feel all the work that other chefs have done before,” he says, comparing the city to Hong Kong, where he’s worked before. “The Italian chef’s biggest problem is with pasta. We serve it extremely al dente. In Hong Kong, customers go crazy every night — here, only one customer wanted it done a little more. Other capital cities are not at that level.”
Iacovelli points out that there’s a deeper understanding of Italy’s different regions, and their varied cooking styles. “The world has started to distinguish between Emilia Romagna’s freshly made egg tortellini and Puglia’s orecchiette,” he says.
And of course, Iacovelli’s grilled octopus.
