I haven’t been to Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates for a long time. Life – and three children – have moved me to the opposite end of Dubai where my routine revolves more around football schedules and less around traversing the city for dinner.
Vera Vesilia, which brought a new flavour of Tuscan cuisine to the 20-year-old hotel this summer, called me back. Braving rush hour traffic and Uber-ing to the perennially popular hotel and eternally busy mall – both of which I watched being built – I found that, while the roads have changed, the elegant vibe has not.
First impressions
Vera Versilia deftly manages to be a large restaurant that retains an intimate air. I credit the low lighting, well-spaced tables and relaxed colour scheme that complements the marble with plenty of natural shades and materials. Wood and greenery abound.
Moving through, I spot Friday night business dinners, couples on date night and solo diners sipping and scrolling uninterrupted.
My dining companion and I get a table out on the terrace, a must at this time of year. The space is grown-up sophistication with a quiet air of luxury that’s welcoming rather than intimidating, giving zero indication of the busy mall next door and the bustling streets below. Staff are friendly and knowledgeable, happy to give recommendations, and the sommelier, as it transpires, used to be a priest, but that’s a tale for another time.
The menu
Vera Versilia is named after the region in Tuscany from which executive chef Marco Garfagnini hails and, naturally, draws inspiration for the menu.
“It’s a story of Italian soul, Tuscan roots and pure ingredients,” he says. “It’s also a story of my own journey as a chef around the world, from France to Switzerland to the Middle East – everything I’ve learnt comes back to celebrate where it all started.”
And what chef Garfagnini has learnt, my dining companion and I gather over the following three and a half hours, is how to bring together the simplest of ingredients, ones that have been the backbone of Tuscan cuisine for generations, and present them in a way that feels fresh, modern and approachable.
The dish names in the crudo (sharing) section are one-word affairs – “salmone”, “tonno”, “branzino” – which feels suitably Italian. It's casual, almost blase, given the intricacy of the dishes to come.
We start with cod croquette in green sauce (Dh27), seabass with tomato in vinegar dressing (Dh80), yellowfin tuna in black truffle dressing (Dh90), saffron arancini with spicy yellowfin tuna tartare (Dh55), and salmon in lemon mustard (D75) from the small bites and sharing sections.
What’s served are firm slices of the freshest fish doused (not drowned) in an array of sharp, tangy sauces that taste vibrant, exciting and untethered from what I thought I knew about Italian accompaniments. The croquette is a crunchy-soft mouthful of well-salted cod, while the arancini’s textural tartare topping is a moreish delight.
On to the starters, we enjoyed a colourful figs carpaccio with fresh artichokes (Dh75), a delightful seared langoustine in lemon mustard (Dh50) and the vaporata di mare of steamed seafood, seasonal vegetables with lemon dressing and home-made fish mayonnaise (Dh150).
For our pasta course, we enjoyed just-the-right-size portions of spaghetti alle vongole (Dh170) – my dining companion’s favourite Italian dish – and fresh trenette pasta with mixed seafood (Dh170) bathed in a flavourful lobster bisque that we mopped up with the leftover focaccia al pomodoro (Dh22).
Was that it? Were we done? Oh, tesoro mio, of course not. The pizza course and dessert were still to come. The former a deliciously crispy, slightly charred base topped with fresh tomatoes, burrata and basil (Dh100); the latter, what else but a tiramisu (Dh65), plus bowls of pistachio and hazelnut gelato (Dh120).
Standout dish
For its freshness, flavour and colour, the figs carpaccio was a highlight, simplicity in a menu so filled with ingenuity and dishes that are the result of experience over unnecessary experimentation. Another favourite was the saffron arancini with spicy yellowfin tuna tartare, which appealed to my fondness for textural mix and match.
Save or splurge
The splurges here tend to be for the sharing options, with a Wagyu tomahawk served with baked potatoes for Dh1,110, and a shellfish Catalana dish for the same. Grilled turbot, also for sharing, is priced at Dh600. As is to be expected, the caviar comes in at Dh520 and Dh780.
However, this is also a menu that also respects the smaller budget, and you could enjoy a burrata starter (Dh85), free-range baby chicken (Dh150) and fennel salad side (Dh30), and still have change from Dh300.
A chat with the chef
“My approach to food is based on authenticity, respect and simplicity,” says chef Garfagnini. “I work with ingredients the way I would treat people: with care, attention and honesty. I always start from the Italian and Tuscan tradition I grew up with, and then I reinterpret it with a lighter, modern, sometimes gently international touch.”
Hailing from Carrara in Versilia, Italy, Garfagnini may have been in Dubai for the past four years (his second stint in the UAE), but his outlook is unquestionably European.
Time spent as executive chef at Paris’s famed Four Seasons Hotel George V and Jumeirah Burj Al Arab on a CV groaning with Michelin-starred establishments, he is keen to show Dubai what Tuscan dishes can bring to the emirate's restaurant scene.
“The menu is a journey through Versilia, Tuscany, and the coastline where I grew up,” he says. “Every dish carries a story from home, but is shaped with the precision and finesse of international fine dining”
Contact information
Vera Versilia, at Kempinski, Mall of The Emirates, is open from noon to 11.30pm. Reservations can be made by contacting 04 409 5111.
This review was conducted at the invitation of the restaurant
