There are Sundays in Dubai, and then there are Italian Sundays in Dubai — the kind that unfold with theatrical grace, where time stretches like a strand of freshly made tagliolini, and lunch is not so much a meal as it is a meditative art form. At L’Amo Bistro del Mare, recently crowned Dubai’s best Italian restaurant (a title it wears with quiet confidence), the Sunday lunch ritual has been elevated into something both familiar and finely wrought.
Beginning April 27th, Pranzo a L’Amo: Sunday Edition invites guests to partake in this leisurely coastal rite — a gathering of music, Mediterranean flavours, and discreet luxury, played out beneath the gaze of Dubai Marina’s glinting skyline. Set within the airy confines of the Dubai Harbour Yacht Club, where sunbeams slide across terrazzo floors and floor-to-ceiling windows frame views of yachts, islands, and the architectural bravado of Ain Dubai, the setting is less about spectacle and more about seduction — slow, stylish, and thoroughly Italian.
Of course, it wouldn’t be an Italian Sunday without the score. From 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, the inimitable Tonya Caiazzo and her three-piece ensemble provide a live soundtrack that drifts between nostalgia and nuance — all velvet vocals and acoustic ease. It’s the kind of music that doesn’t intrude, but rather infuses the air like the scent of freshly baked focaccia: warm, subtle, and entirely irresistible.
Executive Chef Alessandro Salvatico, whose name carries the soft cadence of Emilia-Romagna but whose sensibility travels across all twenty regions, orchestrates the menu with characteristic restraint and precision. At AED 325 per person, guests are offered a shared antipasto — think: Angus carpaccio that melts like good conversation, crispy calamari and prawns with a light golden crunch, and Seafood Catalana, that fine balancing act between acid, sweetness, and the clean salt of the sea.
Mains are an ode to Italy’s enduring gift for comfort: Gnocchetti Sardi with ragù evokes Sardinian countryside Sundays; the Calamarata with seafood is a Naples-to-Amalfi postcard in every bite; while the Crespella alla Norma proves, yet again, that Sicilian aubergines know how to make an entrance. Desserts flirt with the classics: a demure Pastiera Napoletana, a playful Strawberry Soup with vanilla ice cream, and a tray of pasticcini that would feel right at home on a linen-covered table in Capri.
The drink list is another quiet triumph. Ferrari Perlé 2018, with its alpine finesse, keeps company with Umberto Cesari Costa di Rose 2023, all roses and restraint. For those inclined to toast the view with something more tailored, the cocktail list reads like a novella from Venice’s backstreets: Aurora (vodka, Cocchi Rosa, yuzu) glimmers with Japanese precision; Vespero (Aperol, Amaro, raspberry earl grey, Prosecco) is the aperitivo reimagined; while Gingerino (mezcal, ginger, lemon, pineapple) adds a smoky wink to an otherwise sunlit affair.
“Sunday lunch holds a special place in Italian culture,” notes Salvatico, with the tone of a man who understands that such meals are more than just appointments on a calendar. “At L’Amo, we wanted to honour that tradition — with elegance, of course — but without losing the joy of it.”
Indeed, the joy is there. In the clink of glasses, in the laughter that rises between courses, in the pleasure of doing nothing quickly. It’s a lunch that whispers rather than shouts. And in a city that often prefers the latter, that may be its most exquisite quality of all.
Location: Dubai Harbour Yacht Club, Dubai Marina. Contacts: + 971 4 2784800 or email reservations@lamorestaurant.com
