The Good Life

The mastermind behind ‘the world’s best restaurant’ returns with Torno Subito – a laid-back experience imbued with la dolce vita from childhood holidays on the sun-kissed Italian Riviera

WORDS: CHRIS UJMA

Reclined on a handcrafted chair, Massimo Bottura looks every bit the poster child for his new dining concept: with sunglasses affixed, he’s casually dressed (insofar as Italian elegance accomplishes ‘laid back’), savouring bites of creamy gelato on the shaded terrace at W Dubai – The Palm, as gentle music and a balmy breeze dance around.

He’s childlike in his level of enthusiasm, too – not surprising, given that Torno Subito taps into his deepest nostalgia. “It’s playful, because I want to share with the world this amazing feeling of when I was a kid in the 1960s, spending the summer in the Italian Riviera – playing soccer and eating good food on seemingly endless days, enjoying the best things in life. Those times as a teen were the best vacations.”

To fully understand what a departure this move is for Bottura, one also has to cast their mind to Italy. There, Bottura is the mastermind behind Modena -based Osteria Francescana: a far more serious dining affair that has earned three prestigious Michelin stars, and recently reclaimed the mantle as the World’s Best Restaurant. “In Italy, food is like religion,” he confesses. “It took 15 years to get 3 Michelin stars which, for some people, can take their entire lifetime – and just a few of us are so lucky to be prized by Michelin in this way.”

Naturally, then, when the W Hotel first approached Bottura, they floated the idea of him imitating the restaurant outside Italy. “I said ‘No way – it would be so wrong.’ They wanted me on board, though, and were persistent, and I thought of something totally different – a new format. I didn’t want anyone to say I was coming to Dubai to replicate Francescana.” The contemporary, energetic island resort is an ideal place to push the boat out, creatively, and it offered an arena for liberation.

Gazing out over a glittering Arabian Gulf that shapes around Palm Jumeriah and laps the hotel sands, he explains the meaning behind the playful name of the venture. “In Italy, we’re used to seeing the sign ‘torno subito’ – ‘I’ll be back soon’ – for when the shop is closed, and the owner has paused to have their espresso.”

When you have the technique, the knowledge and the culture, you can really deconstruct it and be playful"

In Dubai, torno subito will come to mean a convivial restaurant with plenty of charm. A vertigo-spiral striped entryway is dominated by a photo of Bottura, hands on his temples, almost as a reminder that your mind is about to be transported.

Step across the threshold and powdery colours enliven a beach club vibe: picture frames dangle from the ceiling, ready to be filled by snaps from an in-restaurant photo booth. Wait staff roam the restaurant and terrace pushing a gelato cart. Pad out onto the terrace, past pastel booths and across the sands to the waves, to find pedalos primed for a leisurely trip across the waters – with pizza and Prosecco in hand.

“I wanted a format that reflects ‘the new luxury,’” says Bottura, gesturing to the rainbow assortment of chairs as an example. “These are handmade in Italy, with amazing artisanal work – and the creators have fun with their craft, in terms of the colour scheme and design. The tactile quality transfers happiness and joy.”

Bottura surveys the terrace, pleased with how the idea came to fruition. “My mentality is to build the bubble into which you can put your dreams, ideas and emotions – and welcome people into that world.”

That concept begins by thinking about the story he wants to communicate, he says: “Something special I wish to share with others.” He recalls that when he first presented the idea, of his picture perfect postcard from The Palm, “I told them, ‘A kid in Rimini is dreaming about having white sand like in the Maldives.’”

The hotel said, ‘Why not?’ and imported white sand “Upon which you can have a drink, digging your toes in pure white sands,” he smiles.

Then, of course, there is the expertly curated menu: casual dining, sincerely Italian in its essence, with a touch of La Dolce Vita – remixing recipes that would be at home at a beach club from the 1960s.

Gelato is one of his favourite things to tuck into “In the middle of the morning or the middle of the afternoon”, he says, gleefully, “So I wanted classic flavours – strawberry, chocolate, lemon – that taste like a dream.”

Bottura is a food philosopher, which he explains is because ,“When you live in Italy, you get lost in nostalgia; espresso is just espresso, and pasta is just pasta. It’s not – but you lose sight of the ‘critics’ point of view.”

So pizza is just pizza? “No, it’s not!” he proclaims. “You begin to delve into what kind of dough? What kind of flour? What kind of tomatoes are you using? You’re going to melt the mozzarella, or it’s just added at the end? There are so many different elements that are part of the experience and with this particular pizza it is very hard to get – even in Italy. It’s a fine balance; an intuitive science.”

His years of revolution in the culinary sphere were required to make this happen. “When you have the technique, the knowledge and the culture, you can really deconstruct it and be playful,” he explains. Bottura and his team have shaped those factors into a whimsical getaway where even the most staid culinary savant can kick off their loafers and soak up the sense of relaxation.

“‘The number one restaurant in the world’ is such a big thing to say, though I never give too much focus to it,” Bottura admits. “I care about if patrons are happy, and leave the table satisfied.”

W Dubai – The Palm has made itself the home to a truly unique experience, even for a city that arguably has seen it all. They gave Bottura free rein, and he has plotted a soothing setting that – in the spirit of its name – will tempt every departing guest to ‘be back soon’.