per te - Ristorante and Cafe - Jumeirah 1

[caption id="attachment_5081" align="alignnone" width="470"] per te - restaurant and cafe located in Jumeirah 1[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5080" align="alignnone" width="470"] ME with Restaurant Manager(left) and Executive Chef(right) of per te Dubai[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5071" align="alignnone" width="470"] Me for lunch at Per Te Dubai[/caption]

Ever heard of per te before? A hidden gem located in Jumeirah 1. They serve lovely Italian cuisine and must try are their signature platters. Unfortunately, there location is such that you will only know about this restaurant if someone told you about it otherwise finding this one by chance is highly unlikely. From their mind blowing starters all the way to the dessert, it's been a fantastic ride. So scroll down to read further about per te.

[caption id="attachment_5078" align="alignnone" width="470"] Per Te Restaurant & Cafe - Interiors[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5075" align="alignnone" width="470"] Per Te - Interiors[/caption]

They have different types of seating arrangements. Leather seats, wooden chairs, sofas. My favourite where the wooden chairs and tables which you notice as soon you enter this restaurant. Spacious with glass surrounding that helps pour natural light into the restaurant. They have seating up stairs as well. The seatings for the cafe lounge is a little more relaxed and more comfy.

[caption id="attachment_5063" align="alignnone" width="470"] Complimentary bread platter - different types of foccacia with different sauces[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5068" align="alignnone" width="470"] minestrone soup - Dhs 36 - with spring vegetables and basil pesto[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5065" align="alignnone" width="470"] fritto misto - Dhs 52 - mixed fried sea food and vegetables with rock salt and pepper served with pesto mayonnaise[/caption]

First came in the complimentary foccacia breads. They were all made in house but what made the difference were the sauces. My favourite was the foccacia along with the arrabiata sauce. The hot soup was straight forward and nice. The thriller were those fried seafood which I couldn't stop picking. Whichever seafood it was, just dip them in that thick pesto mayonnaise and wow what a delight.

[caption id="attachment_5066" align="alignnone" width="470"] Classic non veg platter - Dhs 83 - Beef, spicy salami, rocket and parmesan, black sesame tuna fish, grilled vegetables, semi dried tomatoes, olives, focaccia, prawns wrapped with bacon and sun dried tomato pesto and buffalo mozzarella cheese[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5067" align="alignnone" width="470"] Classic non veg platter - Dhs 83 - Beef, spicy salami, rocket and parmesan, black sesame tuna fish, grilled vegetables, semi dried tomatoes, olives, focaccia, prawns wrapped with bacon and sun dried tomato pesto and buffalo mozzarella cheese[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5064" align="alignnone" width="470"] Classic non veg platter - Dhs 83 - Beef, spicy salami, rocket and parmesan, black sesame tuna fish, grilled vegetables, semi dried tomatoes, olives, focaccia, prawns wrapped with bacon and sun dried tomato pesto and buffalo mozzarella cheese[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5069" align="alignnone" width="470"] Salad - Dhs 47 - mixed lettuce, goat cheese, fig, beetroot, capsicum with creamy balsamic[/caption]

Then came their lovely platter of starters which was the best plate for me at per te. Simply delicious! They were so many little items in the platter that you stay focused on that wooden board as if you were playing chess. The best part was each item was as good as the other. The main non veg items in the platter that came was the beef, tuna and prawns. A must order platter and they do have a veg only platter as well.

[caption id="attachment_5074" align="alignnone" width="470"] pizza valtellina - dhs 58 - beef bresaola, rocket leaves, mozzarella and shaved parmesan cheese[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5073" align="alignnone" width="470"] Pan fried Salmon fillet - Dhs 81 - witih sauteed spinach, pine nutes, creamy balsamic glaze[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5072" align="alignnone" width="470"] ravioli pasta stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese - dhs 61[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5070" align="alignnone" width="470"] Ravioli stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese - Dhs 61 - coked with sage butter sauce[/caption]

The Salmon that came as our maincourse stole the show for it's dazzling presentation. Ofcourse besides the good looks, the salmon tasted fresh. The nicely stuffed ravioli was yummy and surely a must order if you love stuffed pasta. The wood fired pizza was similar to the ones you normally find in other Italian restaurants.

[caption id="attachment_5079" align="alignnone" width="470"] Dessert platter - Dhs 150 - brownie, ricotta cheesecake, tiramisu, il bianco[/caption]

Dessert platter was beautifully presented with great skill of art. Both the ricotta cheese cake and the brownie were my favourites in here. To be honest I should say I've had better Tiramisu than the ones here. The little Meringue were cute and nice. il bianco was a nice one as well. The semi freddo was more creamy in nature which made feel guilty everytime I tried it :(.  If you love their food as much as I did and you want to make them home, then good news is that they have a store inside the restaurant where you can buy their items like Italian pastas, olive oil etc.

Click here to visit their official website. Click pictures below to see them in full screen view.

[caption id="attachment_5077" align="alignnone" width="470"] Per Te Restaurant & Cafe - Interiors[/caption]

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EATALY - Dubai Mall - The Food Tour

[caption id="attachment_2746" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Me with Louay Moursel(Department Manager)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2751" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Me along with Eataly - operations team[/caption]

Yea! I finally managed to get a proper tour of this wide italian restaurant Eataly located at Dubai Mall. I've visited Eataly before after seeing several of their adverts but always wished to get someone give me a proper tour of this wide all rounded Italian store which is a restaurant, bakery, retail shop and has other stations. So once you get in this store for the first time you should definitely get lost in here as there is too much to interpret at a first glance. One of the speciality of Eataly is that you get to buy ingredients of what you eat at Eataly so if you would like to make the same at home you can. They say all their ingredients are imported from Italy.

[caption id="attachment_2723" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Drinks at Eataly starting at Dhs 22[/caption]

Kevin who is the senior Brand Manager of Eataly gave us a complete tour of this restaurant. Starting with their welcome drinks for us which came from their menu in the section of Italian classics. Most of their classic drinks mainly had a composition of a fruit syrup, fruit juice, ginger ale, mint leaves and soda. It's mainly a play around with these ingredients and taste differs as the fruit changes.

[caption id="attachment_2726" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Different types of cheese available at Eataly[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2725" align="aligncenter" width="678"] making of In house scamorza cheese[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2724" align="aligncenter" width="705"] cheese - In house scamorza - Dhs 19.80 per 100gm[/caption]

He then took us to the cheese station which cannot be missed if you visit Eataly. They take pride in hanging those cheese. They are freshly made. They showed us how cheese gets converted at different stages and finally ends up hanging dry. Depending on the dish sometimes they might not leave it to dry or might just use it directly. It's called the in house scamorza. You can buy them to take home which should cost you around AED 19.80 per 100gm.

[caption id="attachment_2727" align="aligncenter" width="705"] LE Piadine - Crema Tonnata Pomodorini - Dhs 45 (left), Tacchiino parmigiano reggiano - Dhs 45 (right)[/caption]

This one was my favourite. The cream tonnata pomodorini which is callipo tuna, cherry tomatoes, onions mayonnaise and fresh basil in a thin flat bread was my favourite of all that I tried in the tour. Two things that makes it exciting is the flat bread and the tuna in it.

[caption id="attachment_2731" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Pizzas at Eataly starting at Dhs 49[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2730" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Pizza going in[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2729" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Bufala Pizza in the oven[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2728" align="aligncenter" width="678"] Making of an Italian pizza[/caption]

Then we were taken to their pizza station where we got to see them playing with the flour to make some of their finest Italian pizza for us :) When they served me their hot oven-baked pizza, they were just easily a melt in the mouth specially that mozzarella cheese on it. Since we've been just shown from their previous station how they make fresh cheese and use them, it makes their cheese topped pizza even more special in our mind.

[caption id="attachment_2732" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Pastas you can take home - Typically Dhs 9 per 100gm[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2733" align="aligncenter" width="705"] making of a pasta at Eataly[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2734" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Pasta - starting from Dhs 46[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2735" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Me with my guest(Alton)[/caption]

You could always buy their pasta and make it from home. Pasta pricing starts from approximately Dhs 8.9 per 100 gm. They hand prepare them and you could find the stuffed pasta at the pasta stall. You could even have the same from their restaurant. There is a picture below where you will find a pasta dish made from home using spaghetti of Eataly.

[caption id="attachment_2736" align="aligncenter" width="705"] showcasing some of their finest breads at Eataly[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2741" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Sampler - Rolatina Di pollo(chicken wrapped in veal bacon) - Dhs 55 and beef ribs - Dhs 95[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2740" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Selection of breaded fried seafood - Dhs 79[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2739" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Pomodoro E mozzarella - Dhs 49 - fresh mozarella, tomatoes, green olives and mixed gren salad with balsamic dressing and pesto sauce[/caption]

They also showed us how the breads were freshly made at Eataly. They said they use organic yeast for their breads hence they last longer than normal breads. If I remember right organic yeast was also processed from Eataly. They showed us a machine that was used for it. Any dish with cheese was tasting great at Eataly as they made some great in-house cheese like their pomodoro e mozzrella which came with fresh mozarella. They also serve seafood here and we got to try their mixed fried seafood which has a mixture of their seafood collection. If you love veal bacon then you should definitely try their Rolatina Di pollo.

[caption id="attachment_2742" align="aligncenter" width="678"] Showcasing honey at Eataly[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2737" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Olive oil expert showcasing Dhs 75 bottle of Roi Foto (500ml)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2738" align="aligncenter" width="678"] Sampler - Roi Foto olive oil - Dhs 75(500ml)[/caption]

Here we get a little briefing on their olive oil. That's an original olive tree that you see in the picture. She tells us there are two types of Olive oil. It's either light or strong. Some dishes require strong and some light. Olive trees produce strong or light olive oil depending on the area it grows. You can also find different quality honey to buy here. You can get honey as cheap as Dhs 19 and as expensive as Dhs 149 for the same size.

[caption id="attachment_2747" align="aligncenter" width="678"] making of a hazelnut dark chocolate bar - Dhs 33 per 100gm[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2748" align="aligncenter" width="678"] making of a hazelnut dark chocolate bar - The chocolate poured in a rectangle plate to take shape - Dhs 33 per 100gm[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2749" align="aligncenter" width="705"] making of a hazelnut dark chocolate bar - Takes the shape after hours of cooling - Dhs 33 per 100gm[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2743" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Sampler - Gelato icecream - Dhs 15(small) and Dhs 24(Large)[/caption]

We were also shown how their dark chocolate chunks were made. I did get them for home and they were really good except I am not a big fan of hazelnuts :p Their milk is also imported so they are making you fresh ice creams here. They had many flavours like strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, just milk.. but I am not able to recall which was my favourite here.

[caption id="attachment_2745" align="aligncenter" width="678"] Pastry chef at Eataly showcasing his art(Tiramisu)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2746" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Me with Louay Moursel(Department Manager)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2744" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Sampler desserts - Tiramisu and puff pastry(Dhs 18)[/caption]

This was no doubt my favourite part. The pastry shop in here was fantastic. They gave us two types to try one was a Tiramisu which was like a bomb in the mouth. Once it breaks open there is a sudden burst of taste from the secret liquid inside this tiramisu ball which will make you pick up another tiramisu automatically :p This was the same case with almost everyone who tried the tiramisu.

[caption id="attachment_2750" align="aligncenter" width="678"] Affogato from illy located inside Eataly- Dhs 22[/caption]

They did have an illy cafe inside eataly. Making it a complete one. So I winded up my Eataly tour with this amazing coffee from illy. I am sure you guyz would have already been through my earlier post of illy cafe. It is a recognized Italian cafe and I am not surprised it's in here.

[caption id="attachment_2754" align="aligncenter" width="678"] Riolfi - capricci (tuna stuffed inside bellpeppers in olive oil) - Dhs 70[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2753" align="aligncenter" width="705"] spaghetti pasta dish made at home using ingredients from Eataly[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2752" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Groceries from Eataly - Olive Oil(Dhs 75), Capricci (dhs 70), Tomata sauce 680gm (Dhs 19), spaghetti 500gm (Dhs 23), dark chocolate chunk Dhs 33 per 100gm[/caption]

I luckily got a goodie bag from Eataly after the tour. It contained some of the stuff that can help us make a pasta dish at home. So you can see she's made it well and it tasted fantastic. I was really impressed with that Riolfi - capricci. I just couldn't stop taking from that jar until I finished it. It was delicious. The olive oil, tuna, bell peppers made a great match in that jar.

There official EATALY website would be: http://www.eataly.com/

Click below to enjoy pictures in full screen view.

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