A magnifico experience!

When it comes to Italian cuisine, there are a number of restaurants in Bahrain to choose from but, sadly, for an authentic and extraordinary experience you often have to break the bank, writes Charlie Holding.

However, Primavera at the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain Hotel & Spa in Seef has a new business lunch that is just as appealing to the palate as it is to your wallet.

For just BD10, you don’t just get an authentic, three-course Italian meal, you get ‘the Ritz-Carlton experience’ too, and, in my opinion, that’s a pretty hard combination to beat.

Italian Chef de Cuisine, Mauro Giordano, whose flare for cooking matches his larger than life personality, heads the kitchen and is aiming to make the newly-revamped venue a must visit destination.

Chef Mauro always focuses on the finest and freshest products, and is on a one-man mission to teach the kingdom about the variety and beauty of Italian cuisine.

He said: “The soul of Italian cuisine is pasta and our menu offers a wide variety of these home-made delicacies from strangozzi, gnocchi to ravioli. But, of course, we don’t stop here. My primary goal is to create a genuine and contemporary Italian lifestyle experience at Primavera, showcasing the best from all over Bella Italia with all its flavours.”

The business lunch menu boasts three choices of starter, first course and main course, as well as a dessert trolley, but whatever you do, don’t try to order Fettuccine Alfredo.

Chef Mauro said: “ If you go to Italy and ask for pasta Alfredo, nobody knows what it is! I try to make sure that everything here is authentic Italian, prepared the Italian way.”

The Mediterranean diet, rich in fish and olive oil is said to promote good health and this is a concept Chef Mauro believes in strongly.

He said: “When you have the best ingredients you make the best dishes and little touches make the big differences. We import our Sea Bass and octopus from Europe and we get our Sole from Dover.

“Also at Primavera we don’t use a lot of cream because it’s not good for your health but if you really like it that way, I can make it for you.”

The menu is quintessentially Italian and the style reflects a growing trend towards Italian food known as ‘Leggero’ meaning light, tasty, stylish and characterised by an extreme simplicity.

Despite the impressive revamp, which sees the once homely venue take on a more modern ambience, it was such a lovely day that I thought I’d make use of the new terrace dining area. It’s a more informal setting and overlooks the gorgeous wide landscaped gardens of the resort as well as the sea.

I didn’t know what to order, partly because I have trouble pronouncing things in Italian, so chef Mauro took the liberty of preparing me some of his most popular dishes.

I started with a deliciously crisp and light Nizzarda salad, which is apparently made with bold ingredients, reflecting the taste of the sun  … every day is a school day, you learn something new.

I also sampled his famous octopus, which was cooked magnificently. In fact, it was prepared so well that I even slurped up the tentacles like they were spaghetti, hardly dining behaviour befitting of the Ritz-Carlton, but I was lost in the flavour.

One of the highlights was the first course, which for me, was a rich yet delicate mushroom risotto that kept me salivating until the next course arrived.

For the main event, chef prepared me some Sea Bass, which tasted so fresh, you could be forgiven for thinking he had just gone out and caught it before serving it up. The skin was crisp and flavourful and the flesh practically fell off this light and flaky fish, it was magnifico.

Even after all that food, I still had a little room left for dessert and the tempting Tiramisu capped off a spectacular meal. I’ll admit I’m slightly biased here, but my mum makes the best Tiramisu on earth, however, this one was a close second!

After my meal, as I sat admiring the view, I realised that I had just enjoyed a fabulous three-course meal at the Ritz-Carlton for roughly the same price as a luke-warm cappuccino and mediocre sandwich from a coffee shop … now that is food for thought.

Primavera is open from noon to 3pm for lunch and from 7-11.30pm for dinner.