The location
Downstairs at the Rosewood on Al Maryah Island, a district that’s transforming into a foodie haven in the capital, Roberto’s boasts an extensive main dining room, plus terrace and rear indoor area. After a soft-opening period that began last month, the Italian restaurant — which also has an outlet in Dubai’s DIFC — has launched itself proper with two gala dinners to coincide with the biggest weekend on the Abu Dhabi social calendar. A Ferrari 488 Spider outside the entrance gives a salient nod to high-end motoring and Italian craftsmanship.
The atmosphere
Classy to a tee, with plenty of high fashion and high expectations among the clientele. Waiting staff and the sommelier buzz around keeping tables excellently serviced with pretty much seamless precision. There are live DJs during the night, but the overall effect is more background hubbub than overbearing bluster. Think: the Paddock Club at Yas Marina Circuit.
The food
There’s no need to ponder what to order with the special five-course set menu, devised by Roberto’s chief culinary adviser Enrico Bartolini (a man who has overseen restaurants with an impressive combined haul of four Michelin stars). The pinnacle is undoubtedly the primo course of risotto con veli di tartufo e nocciole — a rich risotto of aquerello rice, Parmesan, salted zabaglione and hazelnuts, plus at-the-table shavings of what the restaurant claims is the biggest truffle in the UAE. Well, it was before we had finished with it. The secondo piatto — warm Wagyu carpaccio with raspberry sauce, a paste of Pantelleria capers and beef jus — was a positive work of art, too, with its components deconstructed and plated in neatly equidistant morsels. Our waitress enthusiastically informed us that the capers are the best she has ever tasted, and while that was a slightly grand sell, the presentation lingered long in the mind after the taste had faded from the tongue.
Who’s it best for?
Anybody who wants to escape the madness of Yas Island circa the Grand Prix and enjoy an innovative quintet of post-circuit dishes in a top-notch setting.
The verdict
Right at the front of the grid in terms of food quality, without resorting to any tacky themes or try-hard tie-ins.
Catch the last gala dinner on November 25, 7pm to late. Dh450 to Dh1,750 per person. Roberto’s Abu Dhabi, Rosewood Abu Dhabi, Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi. Reservations 02 627 9009.
The National was a guest of the restaurant.
