Restaurant AT, a most unique and memorable experience on our last Paris adventure, is first on our list on this one. Hot off the plane and and still travel weary after over twenty four hours 0f travel space, we are nevertheless vibed up about getting back to what we believe is one of the most creative tables in Paris. Chef Atsushi Tanaka moved me deeply on our last visit and I am eager to again bathe in his quiet […]
A New Paris Adventure – Our Year of Two Autumns It’s nearing the end of October in Paris, autumn is getting ready handover to winter and Christmas season. It was Albert Camus that said, “Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower”, and Lauren DeStefano sums it up wonderfully, “Autumn has always been my favourite season. The time when everything bursts with it’s beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand […]
I love Melbourne, there is such a good vibe here. I could live here, I could definitely cope with the vibrant foodie scene and the artistic and creative sensibility that flavours this city. It’s a fascinating combination of easy, relaxed, yet passionate and creative. After a long day of thinking, problem solving and brainstorming I am keen to turn the brain off. Something to eat and drink and a good night’s sleep is in order. A few nibbles and […]
Business was the reason for the team and I to be Melbourne for a couple of days. It was the perfect opportunity to introduce my young staff to “doing it in style”. Opportunity knocked so I arranged a table at Lûmé, South Melbourne. All I told the crew was that I had arranged something very special. Melbourne CBD. Photographer Daniel Bone Something funny happened on the way to Melbourne The excitement was building up as we […]
Very humble, oh so wonderful, 3 Hats, and number 32 in The World’s Top 50 Restaurants – Attica, Melbourne, Australia. A well earned and deserved achievement for owner and Chef Ben Shewry and his entire team. A last minute call saying, “We have a table for 2 available, would you like to join as for dinner?” brings an overnight dash to Attica. We have admired Ben Shewry from afar for some time. Watching reruns of the quiet, humble, “Chef’s Table” episode while patiently […]
Fire and passion are the hallmarks of Portuguese cuisine, a story masterfully told through José Avillez at Belcanto, Lisbon, Portugal. Distinguished with 2 Michelin Stars, 132 OAD Top 100+ European Restaurants 2017 and eighty-fifth place in “The World’s 50 Best Restaurants List”. José Avillez, one of Portugal’s most celebrated chefs, tasting menu runs for around 20 courses, featuring updated takes on traditional Portuguese concepts, like a dish he calls Wave Breaking, which combines a coastal prawn with bivalves, seaweed and seaweed “sand,” and oxtail with chickpeas, foie […]
Rarely has one building defined inspiration and architectural genius more than anything that’s been before; Frank Gehry’s masterpiece, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, is frequently referred to as one of the greatest buildings of our time. The building that rendered a seismic shift in architecture and global art culture could easily make some restaurants invisible, but not Nerua Guggenheim Bilbao. Head Chef Josean Alija, himself a student of one of the worlds greatest, most creative chefs, Ferran Adrià, is the creative force […]
Heist-aan-Zee, or Heist, is a town in Knokke-Heist, West Flanders, one of Belgium’s better-known and more affluent seaside resorts, equivalent to France’s Deauville, the perfect setting for Michelin Star Restaurant Bartholomeus. Restaurant Bartholomeus is creatively led by Head Chef and owner Bart Dismidt. Two Michelin stars, Gault Millau 18/20, 168 OAD Top 100+ European Restaurants 2017, Foodtaster 90/100 and great reviews from those who dine at this tranquil beach-front pearl make the trip to Restaurant Bartholomeus a very worthwhile and memorable one. […]
After a wonderful day in Amsterdam we’re hungry and excited to get to our dinner booking. Restaurant Johannes is in pretty little canal house. Inside the decor is simple, white gallery like space with black leather chairs and timber tables. We are seated at a little table near the bar. Our young waitress comes to take our order and it’s clear she is quite new and inexperienced with customer service of any type. I can’t put my finger on it […]
Founder and Head Grower Gert-Jan Hageman had the idea for De Kas: “A kitchen surrounded by fertile soil where vegetables and herbs thrive … Where daylight shines in from all sides and where the chefs are free to express their creativity daily using the best the season has to offer. It seems an obvious concept, but I spent twenty years surrounded by white tiles under fluorescent lighting before I came up with it.” Frankendael Park – Restaurant De Kas […]