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The Greatest Dining Spaces
Of views, history and art, you could come here to eat nothing and leave utterly satisfied. These are some of my most memorable dinings rooms.
The Highs
The Lows
The Highs
The Lows
The Greatest Dining Spaces
Rare does a dining room take my breath away. I seldom remember the design features, save for something garish—something never in short supply in Dubai.
But there is beauty out there. Scenes of nature or feats of the human imagination that reduce me to a stupor. There are a handful of places on this Earth where I would feast greedily on my own toenails just to sit in their spaces. (Now there’s an image.) This is an ode to my favourite dining rooms.
Accademia Ristorante, Casale Montferrato
It’s a poem to traditional Italian alfresco art. Accademia Ristorante opened in 2015 within the 18th-century Palazzo Gozzani Treville, which dates back to about 1730. Everything is meticulously restored and maintained where sheer scale leaves me breathlessly. My wife and I came here twice before bringing my parents in 2022. It was originally the headquarters for the local Philharmonic Society. You are wisely advised to arrive at least thirty minutes early to marvel at the enormity of human achievement. The restaurant holds a Bib Gourmand award for its capable, modernised Piedmontese cuisine. We come because it always feels like a special occasion, but it is light on the wallet (and there’s a very good Northern Italian wine menu.)
Accademia Ristorante’s decor is an attraction in its own right.
Perched on a mountaintop sits AlpINN overlooking the Italian, Austrian and Slovenian Alps. I crunched my way here in February 2024, where fresh snow lay like a blanket across mountains. It’s hard to describe this panoramic spectacle across the frosty Alps. You can sit inside sipping world-class wine from Alto Adige, the local region, watching skiers zip down the mountain. The enormity of nature spoke loudly to me, maybe because I live in Dubai, where nature seems rare at times. I sent a video to my wife passionately telling her we would come here one day with our son so he could press his little feet in the snow.
AlpINN overlooks the Alps with panoramic views.
Our tuk-tuk tore through the hilly jungles of Kandy to drop us to a tale of sadness and triumph. Helga’s Folly is a hotel and restaurant hand-painted by Helga de Silva Blow Perera, the daughter of a Sri Lankan diplomat, twice widowed, and when she looked for therapy to grapple with the suicide of both her husband and her daughter-in-law, she was told to paint. And paint she did. Every room leaves you slack-jawed with both its grandeur and the details. Candelabras overflow with wax. Vivid portraits of the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party appear down a hallway, and a mustard bedroom with a black-laced bed is available for hotel guests. Celebrities stay here. Madame Helga by Stereophonics is about her and their stay here. I have never been anywhere like it nor anywhere since.
Helga’s Folly is breathtaking in its audacity, variety and sadness.
Accademia Ristorante’s decor is an attraction in its own right.
AlpINN, Brunico
Perched on a mountaintop sits AlpINN overlooking the Italian, Austrian and Slovenian Alps. I crunched my way here in February 2024, where fresh snow lay like a blanket across mountains. It’s hard to describe this panoramic spectacle across the frosty Alps. You can sit inside sipping world-class wine from Alto Adige, the local region, watching skiers zip down the mountain. The enormity of nature spoke loudly to me, maybe because I live in Dubai, where nature seems rare at times. I sent a video to my wife passionately telling her we would come here one day with our son so he could press his little feet in the snow.
AlpINN overlooks the Alps with panoramic views.
Helga’s Folly, Kandy
Our tuk-tuk tore through the hilly jungles of Kandy to drop us to a tale of sadness and triumph. Helga’s Folly is a hotel and restaurant hand-painted by Helga de Silva Blow Perera, the daughter of a Sri Lankan diplomat, twice widowed, and when she looked for therapy to grapple with the suicide of both her husband and her daughter-in-law, she was told to paint. And paint she did. Every room leaves you slack-jawed with both its grandeur and the details. Candelabras overflow with wax. Vivid portraits of the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party appear down a hallway, and a mustard bedroom with a black-laced bed is available for hotel guests. Celebrities stay here. Madame Helga by Stereophonics is about her and their stay here. I have never been anywhere like it nor anywhere since.
Helga’s Folly is breathtaking in its audacity, variety and sadness.
It’s a slice of Dolce Vita and, if you’re lucky, they’ll let you jump off the roof of the restaurant into the lake.
Ristorante Lido 84, Lake Garda
I make no apologies that Ristorante Lido 84 is one of my favourite restaurants. The team here are superb, but the setting is rare and special, especially if you are sat on the outside terrace for a long lunch. Here in the well-heeled and monied Giardone Rivieria you will find one of the World’s Best Restaurants where some guests tear across Lake Garda in lacquered RIVA’s with bottles of Franciacorta before slipping into one of Lido 84’s tasting menus. Inside is a teal dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows and uninterrupted lake views. It’s a slice of Dolce Vita and, if you’re lucky, they’ll let you jump off the roof of the restaurant into the lake.
Lido 84 is sumptuous Italian eye candy from the Lake to the interiors.
Some readers will know that I am a full-time lawyer. Very few may know that I am still a card-carrying member of the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn. The origins of Lincoln’s Inn can be traced to legal activities in the area as early as 1292, when lawyers and law students congregated near the City of Westminster, where the royal courts were located. Every bar student must complete twelve dinners at their Inn (there are four) before being called to the Bar nearly 20 years ago. I ate at all four Inns of Court because it would have been better if I had to traipse to London for a meal. Lincoln’s Inn offered the best food, IMHO, and the spectacular grounds are a sanctuary in bustling central London. The main dining hall is a scene from Harry Potter. Lincoln’s Inn regularly appears in movies like Wonder Woman, Sherlock Holmes, A Fish Called Wanda, The Theory of Everything, Dracula and more.
Sometimes, I hate myself for staring longingly into Ossiano’s surrounding aquarium. It is undeniable that watching thousands of fish swim while drinking Chablis in silence is one of life’s great pleasures. There is something therapeutic about it all. A talking point for guests. I would hear arguments that some of the chandeliers and overall decor is dated, but I never see any of that once I’m sat staring into the abyss.
Ossiano’s grandeur is a slice of Dubai
A palace to pink, Piazza Duomo is somewhat of a labyrinth above a narrow staircase; however, should you have the good fortune to eat here, you want the Pink Room. A pale blushing pink like a poached salmon baths the ceilings and walls, creating a relaxing but invigorating space designed by Francesco Clemente, an Italian contemporary artist. The walls feature intricately painted vine leaves tinted light grey, inspired by the local Piedmont landscape, intending to evoke the region’s deep connection to its natural environment and viticulture. Just outside sits the ancient Roman, cobblestoned city of Alba with a view of Alba’s Duomo and Piazza (hence the restaurant’s name).
Piazza Duomo’s signature brilliant Pink speaks to the personality of the restaurant and the surrounding Piedmont region
Not every day, you get to watch a misty sunset over the Himalayas. Here, you can do it with Rose champagne and lamb brain tacos. NAAR is wisely restrained to a quiet mid-century modern that lets the mountains do the talking. I quietly watched birds soar and float in the breeze as trees flickered. The sky changed from frosty pale blue-grey to darker shadowy hues, and the mountains appeared stronger and more ominous in contrast, like a live subject in a painting. Everything was still with the noise of your thoughts—and moans of appreciation with each course.
As light fades over India’s Himalayas from NAAR.
Written by Liam Collens. Liam is a restaurant critic, food and travel writer based in the Middle East. He owns EatGoSee and contributes to other publications. Read more reviews here. You can find Liam on Substack, Threads, Instagram or Facebook.
Lido 84 is sumptuous Italian eye candy from the Lake to the interiors.
Lincoln’s Inn, London
Some readers will know that I am a full-time lawyer. Very few may know that I am still a card-carrying member of the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn. The origins of Lincoln’s Inn can be traced to legal activities in the area as early as 1292, when lawyers and law students congregated near the City of Westminster, where the royal courts were located. Every bar student must complete twelve dinners at their Inn (there are four) before being called to the Bar nearly 20 years ago. I ate at all four Inns of Court because it would have been better if I had to traipse to London for a meal. Lincoln’s Inn offered the best food, IMHO, and the spectacular grounds are a sanctuary in bustling central London. The main dining hall is a scene from Harry Potter. Lincoln’s Inn regularly appears in movies like Wonder Woman, Sherlock Holmes, A Fish Called Wanda, The Theory of Everything, Dracula and more.
Ossiano, Dubai
Sometimes, I hate myself for staring longingly into Ossiano’s surrounding aquarium. It is undeniable that watching thousands of fish swim while drinking Chablis in silence is one of life’s great pleasures. There is something therapeutic about it all. A talking point for guests. I would hear arguments that some of the chandeliers and overall decor is dated, but I never see any of that once I’m sat staring into the abyss.
Ossiano’s grandeur is a slice of Dubai
Piazza Duomo, Alba
A palace to pink, Piazza Duomo is somewhat of a labyrinth above a narrow staircase; however, should you have the good fortune to eat here, you want the Pink Room. A pale blushing pink like a poached salmon baths the ceilings and walls, creating a relaxing but invigorating space designed by Francesco Clemente, an Italian contemporary artist. The walls feature intricately painted vine leaves tinted light grey, inspired by the local Piedmont landscape, intending to evoke the region’s deep connection to its natural environment and viticulture. Just outside sits the ancient Roman, cobblestoned city of Alba with a view of Alba’s Duomo and Piazza (hence the restaurant’s name).
Piazza Duomo’s signature brilliant Pink speaks to the personality of the restaurant and the surrounding Piedmont region
Restaurant NAAR, Himachal Pradesh
Not every day, you get to watch a misty sunset over the Himalayas. Here, you can do it with Rose champagne and lamb brain tacos. NAAR is wisely restrained to a quiet mid-century modern that lets the mountains do the talking. I quietly watched birds soar and float in the breeze as trees flickered. The sky changed from frosty pale blue-grey to darker shadowy hues, and the mountains appeared stronger and more ominous in contrast, like a live subject in a painting. Everything was still with the noise of your thoughts—and moans of appreciation with each course.
As light fades over India’s Himalayas from NAAR.
Written by Liam Collens. Liam is a restaurant critic, food and travel writer based in the Middle East. He owns EatGoSee and contributes to other publications. Read more reviews here. You can find Liam on Substack, Threads, Instagram or Facebook.
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