RIYADH: Italian food aficionados in Saudi Arabia might want to consider changing their travel plans to include Qatif, the small coastal city which is about to get a major culinary upgrade as its first fine-dining restaurant prepares to open its doors.
Saudi chef Ali Al-Jishi, a 23-year-old graduate of the Culinary Arts Academy Switzerland, will launch Osteria Dal Nonno after studying under the acclaimed Italian chef Francesco Gasbarro in training reminiscent of scenes from TV series “The Bear.” The restaurant is expected to open in around three months at C-Front in Qatif.
Although he harbored ambitions to study at culinary school for a long time, Al-Jishi’s parents took some convincing that it could lead to a successful career, he said. After eventually winning them over, he travelled to Switzerland as part of the Kingdom’s first batch of Cultural Scholarship students in 2019.
AlJishi hosted five cooking classes for kids and one for adults, where participants learned to make dishes from scratch. (Supplied)
“I thought it was going to be easy,” said Al-Jishi. “Like, ‘We’re just going to cook and eat some food.’ But no, it’s not like that at all.”
