Very interesting cooking at West Africa flavours inspired Ikoyi in London, a brainchild of Chinese Canadian philosopher turned chef Jeremy Chan. He chose this African region, because it’s still unexplored and there are “countless possibilities of interpretation and creativity”. Before opening Ikoyi 7 weeks ago, he researched for a few…

While I am not a big fan of baos at Bao London, the new restaurant by same owners looks promising. XU is a take on 1930s Taipei tearoom and serves revisited Taiwanese cooking. Some dishes were better than others, but, overall, it was a good experience.

Apart from few exceptions (which are really worth a special trip), I usually prefer casual restaurants to fine dining in Spain. First, because Spain has really the best seafood, meat and some other produce in Europe and usually Spanish chefs and cooks respect those ingredients (Etxebarri and Elkano are the…

The different shades of black of Rossini’s Oscietra, Gold, White Sturgeon and Baerii selection. Caviar taste nuances can be as complex as the ones of wine. Because most (if not all) of the caviar is farmed nowadays, producers such as Rossini have much more control on the final product. What…

The One story ephemeral restaurant kaiseki dinner by Zaiyu Hasegawa was served on the trays of this stunning bento box, produced by Taiichi Kirimoto, 7th generation designer, producer and owner of Wajima Kirimoto lacquerware company. (in business since the 1700s!). The pale yellow wood has been coated with room temperature…

Two chefs whose work I admire are not classically trained at all, but someone who had other lives before running their restaurants. Hedone’s Mikael Jonsson used to be Monaco based lawyer; Bruno Verjus, French doctor and businessman, now cooks at his restaurant La Table in Paris. What brought them behind…

I first met Takaaki Sugita at his former sushi-ya Miyakozushi in 2012. It’s never really been included in Michelin guide, but already then it was one of the hardest places to book and easily on the same level as Saito or other Tokyo’s best. Then I had the honour to…

After amazing turbot in Elkano and mouth-watering Galician beef in Etxebarri, it was the turn of Ibai, another Basque restaurant focusing on excellent ingredients. Alicio Garro name might not be famous internationally, yet he is one of the finest chefs I’ve ever encountered. His style of cooking is minimalist, but…

If there is one thing Basque country and Japan have in common is the obsession with perfect, seasonal ingredients. These impossibly small peas (“Guisantes lágrima” or “teardrop peas”) are only grown in an area of ​​five hectares north of Guipuzcoa and can cost up to 200 euros a kilo. Crunchy,…

This hairy crab is hairy… Despite of some wonderful bites like this delicacy from Hokkaido, Sushi Kanesaka is nothing like it used to be. Overcrowded, with too many locations in Tokyo, Singapore and, soon, Macau, the original branch in Ginza has lost its attention to detail and its magic.