BBC Good Food ME - May 2022

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FROM SICILY TO DUBAI

Chef Anna Alaimo hails from a small town in the south of Sicily, where she spent her days basking in the sunshine by the Mediterranean Sea and cooking with fresh seafood, fruit and veg, and spectacular olive oil. Here, the Head Chef at Ciao Bella talks about her early life and plans for the Italian restaurant at Media One

Did you always want to be a chef? It’s a funny story. I was nine years old, and very bored at home during my summer break from school, so kept calling my mother at work. She asked me to make lunch and I said, “me? I’m a baby!” she just said, “cook it and you will make fresh tomato sauce,” which is very difficult by the way! I bought the supplies – my mother gave me the list of ingredients – and told me to let the store manager know she will pay her later. So yes, that was my first dish. I started from scratch; however, I should mention that I called my mom after completing every step. That’s how I got into cooking! I would cook to demonstrate my love and affection, whatever you will call it. I actually graduated in English, Arabic and Literature. I had dreams of becoming a diplomat in the Middle East, but as time passed, I combined both my interests in the Arabic language and my job as a chef. So, I studied Hotel Management Master of 1st Level and that’s how I came to the Middle East, as a Trainer in Hotel Management.

Why Media One? When I was looking¬ around, I had three offers which were completely diverse from the next. However, when I visited Media One for the first time and stepped into Ciao Bella, I felt as if I was going to work in my home country. For an Italian, when you work abroad, you miss something - your land, your products. In the UAE, 85% of Italian restaurants you visit as a guest, you don’t get

that feeling. At Ciao Bella, I can do what I like to do, use what I like to use and that’s the reason why I chose Media One.

What can diners expect? In the Middle East, you sometimes find some really standardized Italian cuisine. It’s different when you cook like an Italian chef. There are two different ways, one is staying in the comfort zone, where you cook what your customer likes to eat or you take on the challenge and guide your customer to what you, as an Italian, like to eat. So that’s what I like to do. I’m a very traditional chef with a touch of innovation. To me, the Italian cuisine is amazing. We have the Tavola, Basuki, and so much more – it’s not just pasta and pizza! In my own home, we cook pasta just one time every few weeks. And in the North, there are thousands of different dishes with various French, German and Arabic influences as well! In Sicily, we have a heavy influence from Arab cuisine. You have the sea, the farm, the fields – whatever you like to eat, we have it! The Italian cuisine is so vast that it is difficult to include it on only one menu, so I have quite a few plans in place that stem inspiration from South to North.

What is the one thing you want people to experience at Ciao Bella? I love having regular guests and when the guests come to eat, I want to read their minds. I don’t want them to even look at the menu. Stay spontaneous! One of the things I like to do is know my guests individually and find out what they enjoy eating.

Visit www.mediaonehotel.com/ for more information.