Eat Beat

2 Brunch Italian style

Besides its signature Neapolitan-style pizzas, Bottega's delicious Italian brunch dishes are also proving a big draw with Beijing foodies.

The brunch menu is available at its branch in Xinyuanli from 12 am to 3 pm every weekend, and features 10 Italian dishes and three desserts in total.

Chef Paolo Salvo was born into a family famous for making pizza in Naples, the Italian city traditionally credited as the birthplace of pizza.

Besides the ubiquitous chicken Caesar salad, you can opt for bruschetta as a starter. The crisply toasted bread is topped with grilled flank steak and white mushrooms. It's a common snack or appetizer in Italy that will whet your appetite for the next course.

You can then opt to sample the wood-fired Japanese eggs with spicy Italian sausage and provola cheese, where the mouthwatering mix of flavors create the perfect combination. Or, you can choose to have a bite of frittata, an Italian egg dish similar to omelet, that is baked with cheese, Italian ham and broccoli.

Another great option is the classic baked lasagna, with pork and beef ragu sauce and Italian sausage.

Also recommended is another popular Italian dish - porchetta, or Italian roast pork. It takes six hours to roast the pork belly of a suckling pig in the traditional Italian way. It's fatty but far from greasy, and is especially delicious when dipped in the accompanying ground pesto and mustard.

There are a range of other meat dishes to sample from the brunch menu, including sliced Parma ham, salami from Naples and grilled Italian pork sausage.

Cannoli, a traditional pastry from the southern Italian region of Sicily, is a popular choice for dessert. The tubeshaped shells contain a sweet and creamy filling of ricotta, shavings of chocolate and candied almonds.

As well as a good selection of wines, you can also choose from six classic cocktails, including Bellini and gin and tonic, priced from 50 yuan. Or instead, why not try an Aperol Spritz, a popular Italian aperitif that consists of Aperol, prosecco and soda.

First floor of Shang, 20 Xinyuanli West, Chaoyang district, Beijing.

When: 12 am-12 pm

Tel: 010-6410-9800