Jury Voting 
Chef Gardini and Innovative Rissotto Jury 
Innovative Risotto Winner Chef Davide Gardini – Bice Ristorante 
Chef Francesco Dimonte – Winner Classical Risotto 
Risotto Classico Capital Club 
Winning Classical Risotto
Risotto Quest by TUTTOFOOD and HostMilano celebrates the Italian Cuisine in Dubai.
Milan/Dubai, 25 November 2020: The flagship of Northern Italian cuisine, risotto, is increasingly recognised worldwide as a ‘Made in Italy’ icon along with pizza and pasta. A recognition the risotto achieved thanks to its origin from a unique mix of quality ingredients and a skillful use of cooking techniques, improved in recent years by the latest technologies. This evolution was celebrated today (25 Nov 2020) in Dubai in the finals of TheRisotto Quest, a culinary contest to find the best risotto in the Emirates, which awarded the most creative chefs in the classic and innovative risotto categories: ChefFrancesco Dimonte of Emirates First Class Lounge, for the Best Classic Risotto, and ChefDavide Gardini of BiCE Ristorante, for the Best Innovative Risotto. In addition to a Certificate from The Dubai Restaurants Group, Chef Dimontereceived an invitation to Milan with expenses covered for TUTTOFOOD 2021, the innovative international platform for the agri-food trade sector, and Chef Gardini received an invitation to HostMilano 2021, the global event for the Ho.Re.Ca and Food Service industries.
“When it comes to a successful traditional risotto, you can’t single out a specific ingredient. The ingredients of a risotto represent an entire territory and this is what makes it so special for me to prepare ‘traditional’ dishes. We absolutely use Italian ingredients, and Italian equipment too. I consider myself lucky for counting on a company that provides me with the best technologies available and the location we used for the Quest, with its open view kitchen, is proof of it,” said Chef Dimonte.
“Traditional or innovative, I agree there are no tricks or shortcuts in the kitchen. What matters is the quality of raw materials and to remain faithful to our Italian roots. All the typical and traditional products we serve at BiCE Ristorante come from Italy, but with a modern vision. We use technology, like partial vacuum cooking at low temperatures, to enhance the intrinsic quality of our raw materials, besides preventing contamination,” added Chef Gardini.
The contest was organised by TUTTOFOOD and HostMilano with the support of The Emirates Culinary Guild, The Dubai Restaurants Group, The Italian Business Council Dubai & Northern Emirates, and ICE/ITA Italian Trade Agency. It involved 16 chefs from 13 restaurants in the UAE, including:, Alici, BiCE Mare, BiCE Ristorante, Capital Club Dubai, Crescendo, Eataly, Emirates First Class Lounge, Grand Plaza Mövenpick, McGettigan’s, Sapori, Shakespeare & Co., Slice, Torno Subito, and Thunder Road Pizza & Grill.
In the qualification stage, from 19 October to 3 November, chefs from the participating restaurants shot a video while preparing their risotto recipe, that was uploaded to The Emirates Culinary Guild’s YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/TheEmiratesCulinaryGuild/playlists). Voting took place on YouTube by the general public and by 3 Chefs of The Emirates Culinary Guild, with the Chefs’ vote counting for 70 percent of the final result. On 18 November, the four finalists were announced: Chef Francesco Dimonte of Emirates First Class Lounge and Chef Enrico Paiola of Capital Club Dubai in the Best Classic Risotto category, and Chef Mohamad Ali of Shakespeare & Co. and Chef Davide Gardini of BiCE Ristorante in the Best Innovative Risotto Category. While recipes for classic risottos had to include only traditional ingredients with classic methods, innovative risottos were expected to include new ingredients or use the traditional ones in novel and creative ways.
During today’s final challenge, two groups of jury members visited the restaurants of the finalist chefs to taste the recipes and cast their votes. The jury was composed of Mr. Amedeo Scarpa – Director ICE Dubai, Chef Uwe Micheel – President of The Emirates Culinary Guild, Thomas Paoletti – President Italian Business Council and Mr. Massimo Falcioni – Vice-President Italian Business Council for the classic risotto; Mr. Naim Maadad – Dubai Restaurants Group, Chef Michael Kitts – Director of Culinary Arts, Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management, and Ms. Donna Benton – Founder & CEO, The Benton Group for the innovative risotto. Customers of the day also had the opportunity to enjoy a taste of these very special risottos.
