REVIEW: Cavalli unveils newest eatery, and future plans for the Middle East

Roberto Cavalli - famed Italian fashion designer, known across the world for his bold, vibrant prints and designs that have graced the bodies of the hottest red carpet stars. Here in Dubai, we have, Cavalli Club, and as of last month, a Cavalli Caffe, located at The Beach, JBR. 

Alessandra Ambrosio, Victoria Beckham & Jennifer Lopez in Roberto Cavalli

My first experience with the Cavalli Cafe was five years ago in Florence whilst on a girls holiday with The Mother and my Aunt Liz. We shopped, we ate, we drank - we even managed to squeeze in a couple of visits to those, famous gallery type places. I spotted the Cavalli Caffe, but assuming it would be an over priced tourist trap offering average munch - I flounced on by. However, come lunch time, the well heeled locals were queuing out the door. Hmmmm. The motto 'do as the locals do' has always served me well so next day, we ate Cavalli style. 'Dem locals know their shiznit. We ate there every lunch time for the remaining three days of our trip.

So when I noticed a 'Cavalli Caffe coming soon' billboard in JBR I did a little happy dance down The Walk. (well in my head anyway, one can't be acting bat s**t weird in public)

Cavalli Cafe, JBR, The Beach

Mr Cavalli flew into town to open the cafe, as well as speak at the Vogue Fashion Experience. As a new fashion designer (my first swimwear collection launches in March 2015) I signed up to all the lectures and attended, notepad in hand, to soak up the wisdom like a dehydrated sponge. Alberta Ferretti, Philipp Plein, and Peter Dunbdas, the Creative Director of Pucci all gave informative speeches but Roberto Cavalli, bucked the trend by steering the discussion away from business, and towards the ass of J-Lo, his celebrity clientèle and how Al Pacino had him star struck. You can view the whole talk below, it is rather entertaining:

His words of advice to new fashion designers were “Bring new ideas. Be different. Take risks.” a good lesson to apply to all aspects of life, me thinks.

So after meeting Mr C, I was even more excited to experience his new haunt. I arrange to meet Miss H, my newly married and self-professed 'lady of lesure' for a spot of lunch - Cavalli style

How we dine

I arrive early and am seated outside on a stylish glass table with comfy sofa style chairs bathed in the signature zebra print. EVERYTHING, is monogrammed – glasses, napkins, even the cutlery is branded. I love it. Bold, dramatic and slightly ostentatious. Italy may be the birth place of Cavalli, but Dubai is certainly it's spiritual home. I order the Ginger Melon whilst I wait for Miss H. It is beautiful. The spicy ginger complements the sweet melon taste - a perfect drink for the sunshine. The bonus is I can feel the ginger soothing my sore throat caused by too much air con. #dubaiproblems

Ginger Melon Juice

Miss H arrives and a swarm of waiters descends on us, propping up menus and asking for our orders.
She gracefully bats them away and swiftly announces that she has decided to return to the working world as three months of 'leisure' had begun to dull her brain. I suggest we make the most of her last days as a 'Jumeriah Jane' and fully road taste this cafe. She agrees. God damn JBR and the lack of alcohol license.  

We look at the menu, great selection of appetisers, healthy salads, pasta, pizza and grill.

We drank

Cantaloupe, fresh mint, ginger syrup, lemonade

Acqua Panna

We ate:

Burrata, home-made pesto and cherry tomatoes

Wild mushroom and mozzarella pizza with wild herbs and truffle oil

Tortiglioni pasta with a lamb and thyme ragu

Coconut and vanilla Cavalli chocolate

Chilli Pepper Cavalli chocolate

 

The burrata was creamy, fresh, and complimented well by the pesto dressing – a classic Italian starter which delivered. 

 

The pizza was stone baked and super thin (just how I like it) with a generous mushroom and truffle oil topping. A few slices provided the perfect taste of this dish - a whole pizza may have been too rich. The lamb and thyme ragu was beautiful. 

Chunks of succulent lamb sitting in a deep red tomato sauce that must have been simmered for hours. The pasta: al dente. (of course) 

My only complaint was that the wait staff, whilst always polite, were constantly fussing around the table; asking to re-pour our water, straightening salt & pepper shakers . It's unnecessary; breaks the table conversation and provides that feeling that someone is always peering over your shoulder. None the less, we were impressed by the food.

Too full for dessert we opted to try some pieces from the Cavalli chocolate range. They'd sold out of ginger and peanut so we had chilli pepper and coconut/vanilla. Both had a praline centre coated in chocolate. A box of these chocolates would please any Cavalli fan – perhaps more so by the opulent packaging. I will be coming back her again as I loved the food and want to sample more of the fresh juices. They currently don't do take out drinks which is a serious missed trick.

Cavalli Chocolate

Pragma, the Lebanese holding group that licenses the Cavalli name, has plans to open 14 more cafes in the Middle East as well as clubs in Moscow, Morocco and Sao Paolo. You can also expect an announcement in the coming months about the new Cavalli Hotel, right here in Dubai.

In the meantime, if you would like to experience the Cavalli Caffe they are currently offering 30% off their menu if you show them you have liked their Facebook page.

Download Cavalli Menu

EHH 

xxx