Jean Georges (3*) 1 Central Park West, New York – 212 299-3900 Chef: Jean-Georges Vongerichten Ambiance and service: “Manhattan chic”, professional yet invisible service. Food? Well, I’ve written about Jean Georges before – I am still puzzled how come it has such high ratings everywhere. It is among “30 most…

I am jealous of all the great sushi restaurants you can find in Manhattan. In that sense, Europe is sad (I know, I am repeating myself ;)) – the fish quality is bad most of the times, the sushi masters (or those pretending to be sushi masters) don’t slice fish…

Katz’s Delicatessen is not only a pastrami institution, it’s part of New York history. If you visit New York, you must go there the same as you must eat a buttery croissant when in Paris or spicy currywurst when in Berlin. The question is, is it worth a return? Yesterday…

Address: L’Astrance (3*) (4 Rue Beethoven 75016 Paris, tel. 01 40 50 84 40 ) Chef: Pascal Barbot Have I been there before? Twice. First time when it already had one Michelin star and once when it just got it’s the second star. Ambiance and service: Friendly, professional, yet less…

I happened to spend the last days of 2009 in Vienna, the home of opera and Viennese cuisine. Wiener schnitzel, tafelspitz, Sacher cake, apple strudel, lot’s of hot chocolate, coffee and glühwein. I am glad that I never put on weight as I think I’ve had the calories intake for…

…La Pâtisserie des Rêves , the recently opened Phillippe Continici pastry shop in the 7th. As L’Express Styles magazine mentioned in November, “la pâtisserie surcréative” is out, while “les gâteaux classiques” are in. Will La Pâtisserie des Rêves dethrone the French pastry king Pierre Hermé? (the man who dared to…

Address: Passage 53 (53 Passage des Panoramas 75002 Paris – 01 42 33 04 35) Chef: Shinichi Sato (former of l’Astrance (Pascal Barbot) and Aida) Have I been there before? No Ambience: nonexistent. Because the restaurant is so small and has a huge window to the Passage des Panoramas (it used to…

Address: La Régalade (14 Avenue Jean Moulin 75014 Paris – 01 45 45 68 58) Chef: Bruno Doucet Have been there before? Yes Ambience: busy, lively and convivial Food: rustic, very generous… A Parisian bistro that sets the standards of how “a typical Parisian bistro” should be. What is in the plates?…

Melons for 500 dollars are a bargain compared to the current price of black truffles in Paris. One kilogram in Fauchon shop costs 3000 euros. Or, you just need to cross the place de la Madeleine and you will have even a “better” price at La Maison de la Truffe –…

Harutaka (1*, Kawabata Building 3F, 8-5-8 Ginza, tel. 03 3573 1144 ) – the last sushiya from the sushi from Tokyo series this year. And my favourite so far. Harutaka Takahashi ( left) comes from Sukiyabashi Jiro “school”, so you can see many similarities with Sukiyabashi Jiro Roppongi (and, I…