Piatto: For Italian dishes

Saudi Arabia certainly has no lack of Italian restaurants, so any new ristorante that opens faces stiff competition from the ones already well established. However, Piatto seems to be doing a good job. The restaurant, an original Saudi concept only found in the Kingdom, opened its doors first in Riyadh, then established a branch in Jeddah a year ago and is expected to open one in Alkhobar in about a month.
Piatto is characterized by its indoor-outdoor style, making you feel like you’re sitting on a “piazza” in a traditional, Italian village. The wooden patio chairs and booths, the tables with parasols, and the cobblestoned floor complete this garden feeling, while the walls are adorned with large pictures of Venice. The booths are somewhat low compared to the tables, however, making it uncomfortable to sit on them. The brown, green and red colors as well as the natural materials used give the interior a relaxed touch. The water that dribbles from the fountain enhances the pleasant atmosphere, while Italian music is playing softly in the background. Friendly waiters with bakers’ hats welcome customers at the door. All branches feature an ice cream cart on display, and it is a must for everyone to try their delicious, homemade gelato that comes in 12 flavors, such as pistachio, dulce de leche, frutti di bosco and even bubble gum. Apart from that, Piatto branches include a bakery, pastry and butchery to ensure all their food is fresh.
Piatto offers an extensive menu to suit anyone’s taste. Every order comes with a complementary fresh garden salad with basic ingredients like iceberg lettuce, cucumber, tomato and onion and complementary rosemary garlic bread. The salad’s homemade dressing is light and somewhat zesty and can be bought in jars to serve at home.
Recommended appetizers are the creamy and cheesy Piatto Onion Soup served in a baked bread bowl as well as the Bruschetta Trio, a sampler platter of pomodoro, warm goat cheese and chive, and wild mushroom and eggplant bruschetta that is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Less superb is their Warm Spinach & Artichoke Dip, which is overwhelmingly cheesy, suppressing the artichoke and spinach flavors.
A popular choice among diners is the Goat Cheese & Sun-Dried Tomatoes pizza, which also contains pesto sauce and mozzarella cheese. Once you try this vegetarian treat you will understand why. Their crunchy, thin pizzas cannot be called authentically Italian, but the restaurant’s focus on “more toppings, less dough” is a fair defense for this.
The Chicken and Wild Mushroom Risotto is another highly recommended dish. The shitake, porcini and button mushrooms perfectly blend with the creamy Parmesan sauce and risotto rice, although this cannot be said of the chicken, which is an odd addition to this otherwise delicious dish and could have better been omitted. The restaurant has plenty of options for vegetarians, and the chef is always willing to adapt his dishes to the customer’s wishes. The light and healthy Pesto Chicken Capellini even comes in two varieties: Vegetarian or with char-grilled chicken.
All ravioli and gnocchi plates are homemade from scratch, and most are a good choice for vegetarians, although some taste a bit bland.
Piatto, however, also thinks of meat-lovers: Their steaks come in generous 10 oz. (280 grams) portions of high-quality USDA Choice beef, the second highest grade in the classification program developed by the US Department of Agriculture. Their strip loin is extremely tender and juicy. It is either rubbed with fresh Italian herbs or topped with sautéed wild mushrooms and peppercorn sauce. The steaks come with delectable side dishes, such as smooth garlic mashed potatoes or Tuscan potatoes and char-grilled vegetables.
All the toothsome appetizers and main courses notwithstanding, make sure you keep some space in your stomach for their artisanal gelato and other mouthwatering desserts. The Piatto Dessert Sampler is ideal for those who cannot choose or want to share. It consists of crème brûlée, tiramisu and a gelato scoop of your choice, even though the tiramisu is nothing extraordinary and is made of sponge cake instead of Savoiardi (ladyfingers) biscuits, as the traditional recipe calls for. Their Chocolate Fondente, on the other hand, is something else. The rich and intense chocolate cake with molten center forms a perfect duo with the creamy yet fresh vanilla gelato.
An often-requested drink is Piatto’s homemade ice tea. It is sweet and zesty, making it a very refreshing beverage. The blackberry smoothie is popular among women – could the name have anything to do with that? – but is awfully sweet.
A big plus is that the restaurant’s family section is entirely non-smoking, as Piatto focuses on families with children. They offer a special kids’ menu that includes a free scoop of gelato as well as a kids’ activity book full of stickers, drawings and puzzles to keep the young ones busy and give parents the chance to enjoy their time out to the hilt. Children can also decorate their own pizza with toppings of their choice besides spending time in the restaurant’s game room.
On weekdays, Piatto offers a lunch special from noon to 6 p.m. for only SR45. This includes the complementary salad and bread, a pizza or pasta of your choice, a scoop of gelato and a beverage.

Opening hours: Friday to Tuesday from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m. Wednesday and Thursday from 1 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Expect to pay: SR70-120