Carna by Dario Cecchini in Dubai: Meet up with the celebrity Italian butcher at the rear of new UAE steakhouse

Superstar butcher Dario Cecchini doesn’t speak English, but he makes a memorable first impression.

At the launch of Carna by Dario Cecchini - his initially restaurant in the UAE - on May 20, the Italian greets every guest as his wife, Kim, translates. Once many people are seated, he's still playing around, blowing a little horn and yelling “Dario” to much applause.

It’s ostentatious, funny and ensures the vibe at the steakhouse, located on the 74th ground of newly opened up SLS Dubai, is not pompous.

Perhaps the most memorable area of the evening, even so, is a five-minute conversation that delves into from veganism to hearing one’s grandmother and respecting persons “no matter what they eat”.

It’s an extremely “live and now let live” sort of mantra, something that isn't particularly based on the nature of his job. But those are specifically the sort of lessons he says he has learnt as an eighth-generation Chianti butcher.

“The main thing I learnt is respect forever,” he says. “I know that this statement from the butcher may appear absurd, but it is normally a butcher who assumes the responsibility of killing in order that the city can eat meat.

“Consequently, to have respect for the pet means guaranteeing that it has a decent life, that it has space to move round, that it has decent food, that it has an honest death, and that each area of the animal is used well, from nose to tail.”

It’s an intriguing thought, and Cecchini champions himself as a sustainable butcher of sorts - somebody who recognises the gravitas of spending an animal’s lifestyle - and is intent on guaranteeing it is not in vain.

“Enjoying a plate of meat together about a big table is our method of respecting the pet and of honouring the sacrifice that it possesses made. In this way, we honour the loss of life of the pet that nourishes our lives. All of us are section of the eternal circle to be born and dying,” he says.

I definitely tell the young butchers who work with me that we generally must remember what we're focusing on, that it once had life

It’s one of the primary reasons why Cecchini isn't a lover of processed meats. In the city of Panzano, where Cecchini lives and has the family butcher store together with three eating places, he prefers dealing with small farms that take care of their cattle well.

“First of all, people need to realise that meats is not born in a styrofoam bundle,” he says. “Each creature includes a right to the very best respect. I always tell the small butchers who use me that we definitely must bear in mind what we're working on, that it once acquired life.”

Ensuring that no section of the animal goes to waste material is another way of respecting it. “My children trained me that the animal isn't made up simply of filets and T-bone steaks - that each cut could be equally excellent if it's prepared well. It has end up being the spirit with which I work and in which I make an effort to inspire others to job.”

This is why, if you scan the menu at the brand new Dubai restaurant, you’ll find fine cuts of steak alongside dishes such as for example marinated grilled beef heart skewers, together with signature dish Il Bollito di Dario. Italian for “the boiled”, the latter comprises less common cuts such as for example veal tongue, beef cheek and veal stomach, all slow cooked.

“My personal favourite trim is beef knees or beef knuckles because it's a cut that nobody was considering investing in from our butcher store,” he says.

“So my grandmother, my nonna Elina, became adept at organizing it in the virtually all wonderful ways. She managed to get right into a beef salad by boiling the beef knuckles with carrots and celery and onions, and by serving the meats with a brand new chiffonade of the same fruit and vegetables, with the feel of the best extra virgin essential olive oil.”

Regardless of the honourable intentions, mentions of heart skewers and beef knuckles may well not sit well with all - especially those that eschew meats entirely. Cecchini is very well aware of global trends towards vegetarianism and veganism, however, and is a good fan of it.

“We are children of the Tuscan renaissance. And through the Renaissance, the most crucial thing was free-thinking. Subsequently, I have great value for those who choose never to eat meat - and for anybody who makes alternatives that are different from mine. However, I am a carnivore and I simply ask for the same respect back again,” he says.

“It isn't a coincidence, though, that in my own two eating places in Panzano, for each and every of my fixed meats menus, there is a corresponding vegan menu of equivalent importance,” he adds.

While the same corresponding vegan menu doesn’t feature in the Dubai cafe, the select menu does include vegetarian alternatives, including a cauliflower steak. For the non-vegetarians, Cecchini hopes to normalise consuming cuts that have emerged as “less noble, fewer usual”, and also to prove they are just as delicious.

“I had a good desire, and you may call it a objective, to bring my foodstuff to this section of the world. And, I'm incredibly grateful for the chance.”