Food is comfort. And that’s exactly what the bites at the newly-opened Brasserie Lutetia at Sofitel Dubai Downtown serves up.

The restaurant, as you enter, is a jovial mix of oranges, greens, and white hugged by counters that are the perfect spot for grand buffets and office meetings (surprisingly). It has three distinct zones, each with its own personality – the central room is lined by monochrome paintings, lending the room the vibe of the outside. And the third area is a swatch of greys and browns, shining with quiet elegance.

Attentive wait staff wait in nearby corners, ready to swoop in at a glance and offer the hospitality of a warm French home. Our three-course spread is an ode to the Tyrrhenian Sea, explains chef Sameer Kapoor, who has spent his 30-odd years exploring the flavours of the world only to find that one magic trick: how to make the flavours of a dish sing.

It does help that there’s an in-house hydroponics farm that allows him the pick of local micro greens but rave about the food – and you will, for even the starter course with its homemade sourdough bread and homemade butter; beef carpaccio (that has apparently been cooked for three hours – it’s still raw somehow); 10-hour cured Hamachi that lies sprawled on a bed of yuzu and passion fruit tea and has differently treated baby beetroot and date hummus; and salted salmon with avocado, cucumber, and dressing, which is a bite of freshness  – and the chef just grins. “It’s so simple,” he explains the evening before the official opening of the restaurant (May 2). And so the plan behind it – to bring together a community.

We are sitting in the cozy room on one side of the huge restaurant, which is draped in green and smoky glass and gives us a good view of the cars streaking by as we laze and enjoy our meal. The mains are a cacophony of flavours that somehow make sense. There’s a chicken with tarragon and a beautiful Bœuf Bourguignon served over a bed of mashed potatoes and cheese.

Stay a while and you can dig into dessert: our favourite is a baked Alaska where stiff peaks peek out of a melted chocolate drape with crunchy buttons of what tastes like biscuit.

The portions are generous and made to share, the vibe laid back and inviting you to breathe, take it easy and be wrapped up in conversation. It is a place for comfort food, and that’s exactly what it provides.