Tao is one of Riyadh’s iconic restaurants. It is in a league of its own thanks to a slick décor, a congenial atmosphere, and last but not least: an eclectic and creative menu.

The choice of appetizers reflects this cosmopolitan touch. On top of the list, you will find a “Moroccan Chicken Bastila”, one of my favorite dishes. This is a highly spiced mixture of the meat of pigeons mixed with creamy lemon-flavored eggs and almonds, sparked with cinnamon and saffron, sweetened with pounded sugar and encased in a hundred onion-skin layers of pastry called “warkha” pastry. This pastry is so thin, in fact that you can actually see through one before it is cooked as if it were made of the finest worked lace. Known also as “pastilla”, the “Bastilla” is truly one of the great dishes of Morocco. Its crisp golden pastry leaves were traditionally made by tapping a small ball of yeast-raised dough in a series of concentric circles against a special overturned cooking pan. It takes about eighteen taps of the ball of dough to make just one layer of pastry and a good-sized “Bastilla” requires twenty-four sheets of warkha pastry. Nowadays, “warkha” pastry is made like a pancake by brushing the liquid dough on a hot griddle or a frying pan. Although traditionally a “Bastilla” is made with pigeon, nowadays it is replaced with chicken.

Incidentally, I love the imaginative way vegetables are woven into the recipes. This creative touch permeates the menu right from the beginning with a “Lentil and Pumpkin Salad served with a Goat Cheese Crostini”. The lentil, sometimes called ‘the poor man’s dish’, is actually an excellent source of protein, fiber and minerals. Both lentil and pumpkin are low in fat and if the lentil is cholesterol free the pumpkin is rich beta-carotene, a potent antioxidant.

In the Pasta section, I found an “Oven Baked Linguini with Slivers of Spiced Chicken and Pumpkin Folded into a Rich Sauce”. Pumpkin is such a versatile vegetable and yet we only seem to eat it in the form of a soup or a pie. However, a gratin of pumpkin, is absolutely delicious and it does not need to be made with milk and cream. The famous French painter Toulouse-Lautrec who loved simple and wholesome food prepared a delicious gratin of pumpkin without the béchamel sauce. This dish is included in a collection of his recipes published by his friend, Maurice Joyant and eventually translated and published in English by Michael Joseph as “The Art of Cuisine”.

Pumpkin can also be made into a delicious mousse, instead of using strawberries or raspberries. The only difference is that it requires a substantial dose of spices such as cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg which are also present in the traditional American pumpkin pie.

In the Seafood section, there is a Baked Salmon coated with mixed nuts and served on a bed of asparagus in a light asparagus sauce. Fresh asparagus are a delight to eat in May and June in France or Germany. Some of the best asparagus are grown in my native town of Nantes. Although some restaurants can serve asparagus in 20 different ways, the best sauces for warm asparagus are a light vinaigrette made with olive and lemon juice, “Hollandaise sauce” and the less known “Maltese sauce”. A “Hollandaise sauce “can be described as a hot mayonnaise of egg yolks and melted butter which becomes a Maltese sauce when you add the rind and juice of blood oranges. This sauce with a fruity tang is one of the best French sauces.

I also discovered on the menu, a rack of lamb served with a beetroot sauce and a spinach and potato puree. What a good idea to accompany lamb with a beetroot sauce. Beetroot for some reason has not inspired too many cooks. However, it is popular from Germany to the north and east where it is eaten in salads, or in the form of a soup like the famous Russian Borshch. Beetroot is also delicious in a gratin baked in a cream and cheese sauce and served with a firm fish.

Besides a choice of Italian, Moroccan, French, English, and Indian dishes, you will also find a selection of “Maki Sushi”. Do not expect the traditional “Maki Sushi”. Tao serves some creative Maki such as the California Tao roll, the Spicy Crab Avocado Roll, and I wonder what goes into the Crispy California Shoosha and the Kino Maki?

Tao has one of the best desserts menu in Riyadh. The selection includes desserts from Mexico, England, France, Italy, the United States and Switzerland. The famous Italian writer, Gabriele D”Anunzio rightly said that: “The real luxury of a meal lies in the dessert”.

Like with the appetizers and the main course, the desserts are eclectic and imaginative. Panna Cotta is the perfect dessert to end a meal. Rich but not heavy and not too sweet, it looks good. Panna Cotta is basically made with full cream milk, double cream sugar, vanilla and gelatin. But at Tao do not expect to eat a traditional Panna Cotta, you will be served instead a “Salted Caramel Panna Cotta with a Slice of Ginger and Cinnamon Bread”.

You can also choose between a “Rich Chocolate Mousse Soufflé” served with Vanilla Ice Cream” or a “Rich Nutella Chocolate Soufflé Served with Whipped Cream”. Incidentally, the “soufflé”, the “puffed up” French classic, the most fragile of foods, the glamorous, and unstable “soufflé” is making a comeback. Soufflés are currently very popular in London. Who wouldn’t like a soufflé? Everyone loves “soufflé”: it’s an event! Lately, some chefs like Gerard Idoux and his daughter Estelle, have established a reputation for making the lightest soufflés in Paris. They have also opened in London, a restaurant aptly named “Les Soufflés”. The father and daughter are also known for their flamboyant and original flavors. They prepare savory soufflés with figs and gorgonzola, snails, roast duck with an orange sauce or red mullet, to name but a few and their list of dessert soufflés includes: an original carrot and muesli, a sublime almond, cranberry and pistachio, and the increasingly popular salted caramel.

Another French dessert included on the menu is the crepe served with cream and a topping of your choice that is sugar, cinnamon, chocolate, caramel or strawberry compote. The crepe is actually the one culinary specialty for which Brittany is really noted. The Breton crepe is thinner than the American pancake; while buckwheat flour is used for savory pancakes, wheat flour is used for the batter of the dessert crepe and it is sweetened.

It is impossible to mention all the desserts but I cannot refrain from mentioning: the Peanut Butter Ice Cream drizzled with a rich chocolate sauce, the ‘Pavlova fruit rouge”, a wondrous duo of meringue, fruit and whipped cream and the “Dulce de Leche Tart with Mascarpone Cream”. “Dulce de leche” is a popular sweet throughout Latin America, especially in Argentina where it apparently originated. “Dulce de leche” literally means ‘sweet of milk’. It is made with milk sweetened with sugar and flavored with vanilla. Baking soda is also added to the milk which is then left to simmer on a low fire for nearly four hours until it turns into a thick but smooth caramelized cream. This spreadable milk based cream defies words. Dulce de leche, called “Arequipe” in Columbia can be used as a filling in tarts or to add flavor to cookies, cakes, muffins and ice cream.

If you still have not been to Tao, do not wait any longer: head for Tahliah Street and enjoy!

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