Talea by Antonio Guida.

Upscale Italian at Emirates Palace (and adventures in solo dining).

Other than the World’s 50 Best MENA awards in February (#humblebrag) — which was a blink-and-miss trip to the capital — it’s been a minute since I visited Abu Dhabi (like, 2+ years). I used to go quite regularly, as I have several former colleagues at NYUAD (where I worked 2014-2016). Braving the hateful traffic of the corniche, I finally made it to the property, had a brief check into my room, and then walked the nearly half a kilometer downstairs (seriously, the Palace extends almost a kilometer end to end) for dinner.

So, what is Talea by Antonio Guida all about? Essentially, Italian food, but I don’t want to do a disservice to this Milano-based chef. His restaurant, Seta, has been awarded 2 Michelin stars and Talea is his first restaurant outside of Italy.

While the interior has not changed much from its previous incarnation (Talea now sports a more open kitchen and a different color palette, but otherwise, the layout remains much as I remember), the whole venue seems entirely more…