Simply Abu Dhabi VIII

4 5 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I The GenerationGame: Cipriani Yas Island The superb cuisine and sophisticated ambience of the Cipriani Yas Island restaurant have their roots at the legendary Harry’s Bar in Venice. On our visit, we found the historic Cipriani spirit going from strength to strength. E lsewhere in this issue’s Simply Food section you’ll find accounts of our delightful escapades in two of the sublime restaurants within the glorious Shangri-La Hotel. These are meals that will stay long in our memory. But when our wonderful time at the Shangri- La had ended, we still had a superlative culinary experience to look forward to: we would be returning to the brilliant Cipriani Yas Island restaurant. Cipriani Yas Island simply oozes history. In 1931, Giuseppe Cipriani opened the legendary Harry’s Bar in Venice. The classy bar was renowned for being a favourite of some of the world’s most sophisticated and talented people, including Lauren Bacall, Ernest Hemingway, Orson Welles, Humphrey Bogart and Sophia Loren. They came to sample its fabulous atmosphere, its brilliant cocktails and its fantastic non-alcoholic drinks. Harry’s Bar is an integral part of Venice. Little wonder that the Italian Ministry for Cultural Affairs declared it a national landmark in 2001. Today the unsurpassable venue continues to attract visitors from near and far. But the brilliant news for us is that, right here in Abu Dhabi, we’ve also been able to taste the Harry’s Bar magic since 2010. That’s when Cipriani Yas Island was founded, aiming to create a little piece of Venice in the United Arab Emirates. The Cipriani family have continued the tradition of luxury in simplicity that began with Harry’s Bar and has run through four generations. Cipriani has become a global brand that is admired and celebrated for its commitment to pure luxury and elegance. The Cipriani family opened a fabulous restaurant in New York in 1985. In 2003 a superb restaurant was opened in Hong Kong, and in 2004 the celebrated Cipriani London was opened. The latest (and we would say the best) chapter in this story was the founding of Cipriani Yas Island by Giuseppe