Zuppa di Piselli - green peas soup, sundried tomato tortellini, ricotta, and taggiasche olives - is a dish created at Alta Badia, the new Italian outlet in Jumeirah Emirates Towers. Zuppa di Piselli - green peas soup, sundried tomato tortellini, ricotta, and taggiasche olives - is a dish created at Alta Badia, the new Italian outlet in Jumeirah Emirates Towers.

Biggest challenge?
MS: W Doha as a hotel has an equal share of local crowd, expats and business travellers. Our biggest challenge is to get them to enjoy all our dishes.

PB: Consistency in the supply of ingredients, as one has to deal with the seasonality of products, bad weather conditions and force majeure in areas of production of these ingredients.

MR: One of the challenges every restaurant in Dubai faces is to please every customer’s expectations, as there is such a mix of nationalities found in the Middle East region. I feel that it is essential we cater to the taste of the majority without compromising our consistency and identity.

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CM: Keeping our identity as to what kind of restaurant we want to be, and how we can make sure that the guests get the right experience, is a big challenge. With so many Italian restaurants around it is difficult to be original, but we think that our food and atmosphere certainly gives Alta Badia its own personality. Another challenge has to be finding and sourcing the best Italian ingredients. Every chef wants to work with the best he can find, so sometimes you have to look a little harder to get the flavour that you’re looking for.

What are the latest trends in Italian cuisine?
MS: Actually, the biggest trend — and not only in Italian cuisine — is to go back to the basics, utilising fresh local products when possible.

CM: We are moving away from the Spanish molecular cuisine and are now cooking simple dishes with a few selected ingredients and very fine techniques. Sometimes simple dishes are the most effective ones because they keep the taste natural and easy to enjoy, rather than having too many flavours coming at you.

MR: Traditional Italian cooking and ingredients are still ripe for exploration, and there is still a lot to learn from traditional cuisine. Many tourists who visit Italy for the first time are delighted and surprised by the simple regional cuisine, when in their home countries they are only familiar with ‘gourmet’ Italian food.

PB: We are seeing a return to the basics; a re-discovery of simple yet proven combinations of flavours and textures.