Amal Al-Sibai Saudi Gazette A great place for families to get together, friends to hang out, or to just break away from the monotonous routine of the week, head over to Piatto –– a popular Italian restaurant in Riyadh and Jeddah –– to enjoy traditional and exotic Italian cuisine in a spacious and comforting ambience. Some traits that Italians and Arabs have in common apart from the dark eyes and hair, is their generosity, genuine pleasure in serving guests, and the excessive use of garlic and olive oil in their cooking. For starters, at Piatto all guests are served with a large bowl of complementary salad – full of freshly chopped garden vegetables topped with a ranch dressing – accompanied by a basket of long slices of fresh French bread. The bread slices are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and are soaked in flavorful olive oil, crushed garlic, with oregano sprinkled on top. Whenever you plan for a lunch/dinner at Piatto, make sure you step in early to grab a table near the large central water fountain because it is a busy restaurant and the best spots are taken quickly. The dining area has a high ceiling with large glass windows forming a prism on top, letting the sunlight spill in. The stoned floors, green plants, water fountains, and sunny atmosphere produce the same scene found in European towns, and are sure to boost your mood and spark your appetite. No need to worry about young children getting bored or misbehaving because there is also a play area for the kids. There is a long list of seemingly scrumptious appetizers but you can only little in one sitting, so we unanimously agreed on an appetizer: warm artichoke spinach dip. The dip was a heavenly creamy blend of artichokes, minced garlic, fresh spinach, and Italian soft cheese, which was accompanied with crunchy French bread slices. The combination of the ingredients was perfect, and the portion size of the dish was enough to please everyone around the table. Although the restaurant serves grilled chicken, fish, and steaks, it would be a grave mistake to visit an authentic Italian restaurant and not order pasta. At Piatto, the menu is a pasta-lover's galore. They prepare every shape, size, and color of pasta in a creative assortment of sauces and mixtures. You can try fettucini alfredo; the rich, creamy sauce with a variety of different additions, such as chicken slices or fresh mushrooms or broccoli or beef bacon and green peas. Penne is the extremely thin pasta that looks like spaghetti, only thinner, and it can be topped with either tomato sauce or pesto sauce full of aromatic basil or simply garlic, olive oil, and herbs. Quatro formaggio is a tasty dish of pasta swimming in a thick white sauce made up of four cheeses: fontina, parmesan, gorgonzola, and goat cheese. Of course you can also order the typical Italian dishes such as lasagna, ravioli, and pizza. Gnocchi is another signature Italian dish that may be difficult to pronounce but wonderful to eat. Gnocchi is made of boiled and mashed potatoes that are rolled into small individual round dumplings coated in cheese to hold their shape. These potato dumplings are then dipped into the sauce of your choice: alfredo or the four cheeses sauce or tomato sauce. After trying the wild mushroom gnocchi dish, I discovered the real meaning of comfort food. The creamy sauce warms you on the inside, the soft potato dumplings are very delectable, in fact, the whole dish was just absolutely superb. The prices are a little on the higher side, but unlike most elegant and highly-priced restaurants that offer sample dishes in the same price, the portion sizes at Piatto are large enough to conveniently share with other family members.
