Pierchic reopens over the sea at Jumeirah Al Qasr as an Italian seafood salon

Pierchic, the restaurant at the end of a wooden pier over the sea at Jumeirah Al Qasr, has reopened with a new identity. Since Monday, October 26, it has been serving as what Jumeirah calls "a salotto by the sea", after the Italian salotto, the living room where families and friends gather to eat and talk. The change takes the restaurant fully into Italian seafood, served for sharing.

The room has been renovated to match. Jumeirah says the interiors draw on Milanese design of the 1970s and on the look of Italian cinema, with warm wooden panelling known as boiserie and carved details that pick up the sea outside. The setting itself is unchanged: an overwater dining room looking across the Arabian Gulf.

The kitchen is led by head chef Emanuele De Leo, who has Sicilian roots. According to Jumeirah he worked alongside Joel Robuchon and Alain Ducasse in Paris before cooking at L'Olivo at Al Mahara in Jumeirah Burj Al Arab. Dinner opens with a welcome dish, La Norma, based on the Sicilian aubergine classic. Among the starters are a sea bass Bloody Mary and a red prawn ceviche, and there are 14 antipasti-style plates for the table. A section called Le Specialita brings tuna tonnato, tagliolino with lemon, and sole cooked alla mugnaia, in butter. A vegetable course, Orto Italiano, uses lesser-known Italian legumes and edible flowers grown at Mary Anne's farm in Dubai.

Pierchic is one of a group of Jumeirah restaurants returning for the cooler months. The group's newsroom also lists the reopening of Nuska Beach at Jumeirah Beach Hotel earlier this month and Kinugawa at Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab on November 5.

If you want to go: Pierchic serves dinner every day from 6.30pm to 10.30pm. Jumeirah has not published menu prices. Book through Jumeirah's website, by calling the reservations line on 800 323 232, or by email at restaurants@jumeirah.com. Tables along the pier edge fill first, so ask for one when you book.