Sometimes a dish is so gorgeous you feel a twinge of guilt digging in. Such is Tre’s opening course on the restaurant’s Valentine’s Day menu: a beautiful mess of prawns and rose petals, with a scattering of strawberry sponge and splattering of pomegranate juice.
It’s red and white as is wont this time of year, and delivers sweet, complex flavours as one tries various combinations of the ingredients. And yes, strawberry and pomegranate are known for their amorous qualities, so that doesn’t hurt.
Executive Chef Ernesto Tonetto continues this exploration of aphrodisiacs in a subtle way.
It’s the oyster in a perfect risotto that’s just creamy enough and enhanced with a hint of bergamot. It’s the fresh fig perched atop a tower of tenderloin medallions, although the truffle shavings could have played a bigger role in the flavour of what otherwise is a winning dish. It’s the lobster and white asparagus complemented by orange sauce and segments. And it’s the passion fruit cream and chocolate soil at the base of a cotton candy tree, a study in tart and sweet. Another visual treat, pistachio sponge stands in for moss to complete the picture.
As much as he understands that we eat first with our eyes, Tonetto focuses on two or three star ingredients per plate and allows them to shine.
Dh650 per couple, including a glass of bubbly, roses and a box of chocolates; Tre, Nassima Royal Hotel; 404 7700
