DOHA: Eleven Italian restaurants in Doha have officially received the prestigious Ospitalita’ Italiana Diploma — a recognition given to the most authentic Italian restaurants worldwide.
Porcini, La Piazza, Antica Pesa, La Spiga, Paper Moon, La Cucina, Italia Mia, Di Capri, Carluccio ‘s, Lo Spaghetto and Nonna Zanon join the ranks of more than 1,700 restaurants in 54 countries which have been honoured with the award similar to Michelin star.
Italian Ambassador Guido De Sanctis handed the award to the restaurants in a ceremony organised recently by the Italian Chamber of commerce at his residence. The guests including ambassadors and prominent Qatari dignitaries sampled authentic Italian food prepared by the restaurants in live cooking stations. Among the attendees were the mbassadors of the UK, Japan, Spain, India, Korea, Poland. Croatia, Peru, Ecuador, Romania and Bulgaria.
De Sanctis said that the project was launched in 2009 by the Italian government to award the Italian restaurants which guarantee typical quality standards of Italian hospitality abroad.
“In 2015 Qatar was selected to takepart in this important project, thanks to the Italian Chamber of Commerce’s promotion of the country and out of 14 nominations eleven restaurants have been awarded in this first edition,” he added. In Italy, the restaurants that are awarded this diploma are considered the best, and Italians tend to choose restaurants that bear this symbol at the entrance when travelling abroad, said the Italian Ambassador.
Palma Libotte chairperson of the Italian Chamber of commerce, said: “It has been an extremely successful result for the first edition that puts Doha right on track with major capitals in the world. Ospitalita’ Italiana will create international awareness that Doha’s Italian restaurants are of a very high standard.”
“We’ve been officially appointed by the Italian Government to select the Italian restaurants in Qatar. We began visits in November checking out the origin of theirproducts, the offer on the menus and the chefs’ qualifications. All the information was sent to Italy and a panel of experts decided who was going to receive this notable certification. We are hoping that in 2017 we can award new restaurants and to bring this project to a higher step,” she added.
The Peninsula
