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CafŽ Italia in Adliya, one of the favourite haunts of the island's crme de la crme, has introduced new and unique tastes to its menu.
The restaurant is presenting a special seafood promotion featuring tasty ingredients flown in directly from the UK for the kingdom's seafood-lovers.
'Ultimate Shellfish', live natural Brixham oyster, 'hand-dived scallops' and black river mussels are just a few of the new additions for connoissuers that will solely be served at the Adliya outlet.
Executive Chef Twedi Martatna said: "The comments we have received on the food has been amazing, particularly so because we are the only ones offering such a wide variety of delicacies which are not commonplace here.
"In April we hope to introduce a promotion on exotic, hand-picked mushrooms from France and Italy. Depending on the season, we plan to continue introducing various unique products to our diners."
Ever since its inception at Seef Mall in 2000, CafŽ Italia has grown in popularity and its second outlet in Adliya - opened in February 2007 - is proving just as successful.
The interiors of the restaurant have an authentic look with furniture, lightings, fittings, floorings and even an oven shipped in from Italy. Adding flavour to the ambience are the great tastes created by Chef Twedi. He moved to the island in 2006 to open the kitchen in Adliya and boasts 15 years of experience in the hotel industry.
The award-winning chef from Indonesia began his tryst into the industry with tastes at the age of 19 when he received a diploma in food production.
Chef Twedi, 34, from Juffair, has worked with a variety of leading names in the hospitality industry including Best Western Berjaya Langkawi Resort, Hyatt Regency Bandung, Borobudur Intercontinental, Intercontinental MidPlaza in Malaysia, Restorante Parco Gambrinus in Italy and the Carnival Cruise Liner. Aside from Italian, he also specialises in French cuisine.
A third branch of CafŽ Italia will open at the Bahrain City Centre by the end of this year or early next year.
Some of the outlet's more popular dishes include the Japanese Wagyu beef aside from its pizzas and freshly-prepared, in-house pasta.
Chef Twedi shares the recipe of grilled scallops with GulfWeekly readers.
Char grilled scallops
Ingredients:
3 fresh scallops (approx 80gr meat each)
75gr Horinso spinach
5gr chopped garlic
150ml extra virgin olive oil
2 egg yolks
30gr chopped kalamata olives
10ml apple cider vinegar
10ml white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Method of preparation:
Wash fresh scallops under the running water, discard all the dirty part and keep the roe-on. Remove the meat from the shell and seasoning well. Keep on the side. Season with salt and pepper and olive oil. Grill it to perfection on charcoal grill.
To make Kalamata olive hollandaise sauce: Whisk egg yolk on top of boiling water till thick, add gradually the olive oil and add the vinegars. Sprinkle with chopped kalamata olive and mix well.
Heat pan to very hot, pour olive oil and add chopped garlic and stir till golden brown. Add cleaned spinach and sautŽ and adjust the seasoning.
Arrange sautŽ spinach on top of the shell, add grilled scallop and drizzle with kalamata hollandaise. Garnish with Sakura cress and mix lettuce.
