Not sure how many people remember this, but the Italian restaurant Lorenzo was originally located on the corner opposite Sheraton Hotel in a now-demolished building in Kuwait City. I didn’t know much about the place back then, but I always noticed the cool cars parked outside—red and yellow Ferrari 355s, or a purple Lamborghini Diablo. It definitely intrigued me.
Eventually, in the mid-2000s, a friend invited me to lunch there, and it was my first time seeing the place from the inside. I remember it felt very fancy, and I felt out of place. It was also my first time trying their famous chocolate cheesecake. That location closed when the building was set to be demolished, so they relocated across the street from Salhiya.
Lorenzo originally opened in 1993 under a different name—’Salumaio di Montenapoleone.’ In 1997, the name was changed to Lorenzo. Both the first and second locations were designed by American architect Richard Davidson from Alamosa Design. However, my favorite Lorenzo was in Al Khalid Complex, designed by Atelier Aziz Alqatami.
In 2019, Lorenzo finally closed after 23 years in business.
I had a tough time finding photos of the original Lorenzo, but eventually, I reached out to the family that owned it, and they graciously searched for and shared what they had. The photo of the Salhiya location is from the Almosa Design website, while the Al Khalid Complex location photos are from Aziz Alqatami’s website. To check out all the photos, click here.
8 replies on “Throwback Thursday: Lorenzo 1993 – 2019”
looks beautiful restaurant,for sure expensive but food must be delicious,thanks Mark
I miss this place so much! It was my family’s go-to fancy schmancy restaurant in the 90s/2000s for special occasions (birthdays and whatnot).
Their bread basket was to die for and the food/service was incredible.
Thank G-d for Vigonovo. It fills that void for me.
Thanks for this post, Mark! Please consider publishing a coffee table book about Kuwait’s past. It’ll sell like hot cakes.
B over H
This is an EXCELLENT idea !
Where I first tasted olive tapenade 🫒💚
They had this really great chicken sandwich that I loved to eat, and I also remember they had a branch in The Avenues that was called, “Lorenzino”
and also a Lorenzino at 360 mall where Title is now
You really took me back to the 90’s when you mentioned Salumaio – wow
Their soup served in a bread bowl was revoluuuuuuutionary !
Lorenzo in town always felt like someplace else. Along came Al Sawani centre in the 90s sitting right next to it and together the couple blended in perfectly like hand in glove. The place has seen many ups and downs. Used to be a pretty dodgy place in the early 80s when there used to be only the Iraqi trading centre or somesuch as the primary building tenant. I remember going there as a kid with my friend to get a leash for his dog, Bimbo. I am quite intrigued by Lorenzo’s original name though which I thought was such a mouthful. I tend to be a sucker for names which is why I don’t mind businesses to have tongue twisting names. Given a choice, I’d prefer simpler names with easy recall appeal. Names such as, ‘ My Own Grocer’ and ‘du’ will always stick