Our story
A Roman kitchen on Jumeirah Beach Road
Casa Velluto opened in 2019 with one idea: cook the dishes Romans queue for, slowly, and serve them in a room that makes you want one more glass.
10:00, every morning
Pasta, before anything else
By ten o’clock the pasta bench is dusted with semolina. Tonnarelli for cacio e pepe, spaghettoni for carbonara, ravioli folded one by one.
What we roll in the morning is what we serve that night. There is no second batch, and no pasta that has seen a freezer.
The oven
The fire sets the pace
Our oven arrived from Naples in pieces and was rebuilt by hand in the corner of the dining room. Oak and citrus wood, 450°C, ninety seconds a pizza.
The dough rests for 48 hours before it meets the fire. It is the slowest thing we make, and the reason the crust tastes of something.
The house rule
The house rule
“Cook it slowly, salt it properly, and let people stay as long as they like.”
Chalked above the pass on opening day. Still there.
How we cook
Roman, adapted with care
Without pork, without compromise
Dubai asked us one question on day one, and we answered it in the kitchen. Guanciale became smoked beef cheek; pancetta became veal bresaola. The dishes keep their backbone.
Italian where it matters
San Marzano tomatoes, Pecorino Romano and burrata from Puglia arrive twice a week. Herbs, leaves and citrus come from farms here in the UAE.
A table for everyone
Vegetarian and vegan dishes are cooked with the same care and marked clearly. Children get small plates of whatever the grown-ups are having.
A room to linger in
Bordeaux velvet, low lamps, long shared tables and a terrace that opens when the weather turns kind in October.