The aroma of freshly cooked garlic, tomatoes, basil and pasta floats effortlessly from the kitchen into the dining area of the Sole Mio restaurant located in the Jawharat Al-Shatti shopping center, adjacent to the Inter-Continental Hotel, in Ruwi, Muscat, Oman. The guests sit patiently at their tables and snack on delightful little slices of hot garlic bread topped with freshly diced tomatoes eagerly awaiting their main courses. The food at this restaurant is par excellence and so it should be as it is prepared by Federico Rostai who is from Molici, near Napoli, Italy. He is arguably one of the best Italian executive chefs in the Middle East. Federico has had the honor of revealing his culinary skills to Queen Noor of Jordan and some of her family members, Sheikh Ahmad (the son of the ruler of Dubai), various ministers from the Omani government and ambassadors from countries far and wide. Interestingly, Federico worked at the Castello Italian restaurant in Jeddah from 1979-1980.
Aside from cooking, Federico’s other passion in life is collecting oriental carpets and he certainly has been deeply bitten by the “rug bug”. Federico has regularly traveled to Dubai in search of classic curvilinear carpets that are produced in the weaving cities of Iran, during the past five years that he has resided in Oman.
Federico kindly invited me to his home in Muscat and with unabashed pride showed me his carpet collection. His fine collection consisted of eight carpets that included one Iranian Nain sheeshlah; one geometric Qashqa’i from the Fars province of southwest Iran; one circular Iranian Tabriz; three Afghan Turkoman silks and two extra fine silk Kashmiri carpets.
The wool and silk Nain sheeshlah carpet from central Iran measured 4m x 3m and had approximately 850 Persian knots per square inch. The carpet had a rich dark blue wool main field that displayed well-drawn, beautifully woven animal life details that included prancing rabbits and deer, birds, elegant swans and numerous phoenixes — all of which were outlined with white silk. Surrounding all of these animals were finely detailed swirling trees and bushes along with vases cascading with flowers. The main border of this fine carpet had a classic Nain beige wool background that was also adorned with animal life gracefully outlined with silk. Curling flowers that had rich olive green leaves edged with white silk surrounded these intricately woven little creatures. Without doubt, this masterpiece from Nain, Iran was by far one of Federico’s most prized possessions.
The next carpet to be viewed was an exquisite 80 raj (80 knots per 7cm running horizontally along the carpet) 2m x 2m wool and silk circular Tabriz from the northwestern Iranian province of Azerbaijan. The carpet displayed a main field with three star medallions all decorated with the mahi (fish) design, sometimes referred to as the stylized leaf design. The circular main border was woven with royal dark blue wool displaying colorful rosettes, palmettes and decorative flower heads in egg shell blues, pastel pinks, reds, yellows and creams.
Another interesting part of Federico’s collection was a contemporary extra fine all-silk Afghan. The carpet measured 3m x 2m and displayed the always-popular Russian Turkoman Tekke gul design. The main border had a vertical row of octagons with ram’s horns on a sunburst background demonstrating a classic 19th century Tekke design. The carpet also had a woven signature which is not a common feature with Afghan weaving.
Federico’s hospitality was very generous and the time flew by with good conversation, cold drinks and tea. Furthermore, his love for carpets, generosity and warmth quickly reminded me of my many experiences with my Afghan friends at the carpet souk along Al-Bokharia Street near Balad, Jeddah. As we both glanced at our watches, we realized that Federico soon had to return to his restaurant to prepare his mouth-watering fare for that evening’s customers. With his eyes still animated and overall persona highly charged after talking about carpets for over three hours, he reluctantly began to roll up his prized possessions to return them to the storage room. We left his home and meandered our way, in the Omani heat, through the dusty alleyways of Muscat in search of a taxi. Federico then explained to me that he had another 13 carpets at his home in Italy including three from Tabriz, three from Nain, two from Esfahan and five from Qum.
Later that evening, I decided to visit a local carpet shop located on the first floor of the Jawharat Al-Shatti shopping center. The escalator quietly transported me upward to the first floor and upon arrival, I quickly noticed the carpet shop with its floor immersed and lost in carpets. To my sheer amusement, standing there ankle deep in carpets, was Federico dressed in his chef’s attire! It was a most wonderful if not surreal sight. Federico is without a doubt a carpet collector and chef extraordinaire. Carpets, do indeed, charm the chef.
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