Bonci Dubai brings Gabriele Bonci’s celebrated Roman pizza al taglio to City Centre Mirdif, complete with 48-hour fermented dough, scissor-cut slices and an expanded Italian menu.
DUBAI: Bonci Dubai is giving the city a taste of one of Rome’s most distinctive pizza traditions, serving rectangular slices cut with scissors and sold by weight alongside a broader Italian dining menu at Chef’s Society in City Centre Mirdif.
The restaurant marks Bonci’s first location in the Middle East and brings the approach of celebrated Roman pizzaiolo Gabriele Bonci to the UAE. Bonci is widely associated with pizza al taglio, meaning pizza “by the cut”, a Roman style baked in large rectangular trays before customers select how much they want.
At the counter, diners choose a pizza and their preferred portion before staff cut it with scissors, weigh it and calculate the price. Those sitting down for a meal can instead choose from a selection of pizzas prepared to order in specific sizes.
A major part of the Bonci Dubai experience is the dough. A signature flour blend undergoes a 48-hour fermentation process designed to produce a base that is airy inside while retaining a crisp exterior. A live pizza station also lets customers watch the pizzaiolo work the dough.
Gabriele Bonci, who opened Pizzarium in Rome in 2003 and appeared in Netflix’s Chef’s Table: Pizza, has built an international following around his approach to dough, ingredients and unconventional toppings.
The Dubai location, however, goes beyond pizza. Its menu includes pasta, Italian main courses, starters, salads, desserts and breakfast dishes. Highlights include Genovese Ragù and Potato & Parmigiano pizzas, Truffle Pasta, Mushroom Pasta, Chicken Cacciatore and Milanese-style cutlets.
Pizza varieties range from classic tomato and white bases to combinations featuring ingredients such as aubergine, zucchini, onion and potato, adding to the visual appeal of the large pizza trays displayed at the counter.
Bonci Dubai joins Chef’s Society, City Centre Mirdif’s expanding culinary collective, which brings together restaurants and chefs spanning Emirati, Indian, Cantonese, Levantine, Japanese and Italian food.
The restaurant is located on the first floor of City Centre Mirdif. Prices start from AED 50, giving Dubai diners another way to explore traditional Roman pizza without limiting the experience to a conventional pizzeria.
Impact to expect
Bonci’s arrival adds a globally recognised Roman pizza style to Dubai’s competitive dining scene while introducing more diners to the distinctive pizza al taglio tradition and its cut, weigh and serve experience.
