Some friends and I were invited to attend the soft launch preparations for Jamie’s Italian in Dubai Festival City; Jamie Oliver’s latest bid at global gastronomy.
My biggest issue? DFC is such a pain to get to from the Marina – and to be honest, the restaurant itself is a little bit hidden once you’re actually there – but once inside, it’s a refreshing change.
It’s got a real feel of Hoxton to it – merged with a school cafeteria (I’ll not include the bizarre glass chandeliers as they just don’t fit in with any of the themes that we could see – and I had two interiors people with me so I’m not just talking nonsense)…lots of wood, brick and steel – and a pretty well converted outside terrace.
The menu is strong with a good selection of dishes. We had the frozen green olives, stuffed sweet peppers, the vegetable antipasti platter (which comes on a wooden plank and rested on ‘antique’ tins of tomatoes), truffle tagliatelle and spaghetti with prawns – and to finish; two Bakewell tarts, a brownie and a cheesecake (there were 4 of us, in my defence).
All in all - the restaurant has a real charm to it in its non-Dubainess (but we’ve all heard that before) - but we did question how they would be bringing in all the fresh ingredients that made Jamie “the naked chef” Oliver so popular in the first place without clockin up some serious damage to their carbon footprint.
We’ll definitely be going back – but might have to already be down at that end of town…it’s a really long way from the marina – but ideal for those down in Old Town and Mirdif.
Pukka.
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