Le Meurice (3*) 228 rue de Rivoli 75001 Paris – 01 44 58 10 10 Chef: Yannick Alléno Have I been there before? Yes Ambiance and service: Typical Parisian “hôtel palace” atmosphere, quite formal service. Food? To be honest with you, not as good as when I was there two years ago.…

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…

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?…

Claude Colliot ( 40, rue des Blancs Manteaux, 75004, Paris, tel.01 42 71 55 45) is only two weeks old. Maybe you can feel the freshness of the place in the decor and the attitude of the waiters, but the cooking of Claude Colliot is solid and memorable (He used…

..club sandwich with foie gras, black truffles and celery. Obviously, Fauchon continues its tradition of high end “fast food”…

If you love Japanese culture, you must have seen or heard of an eighties movie called “Tampopo”, Japanese comedy about love, life and ramen. The movie starts with a younger truck driver Gun (Ken Watanabe) reading a book about ramen to an older truck driver Goro (Tsutomu Yamazaki). The younger…

I find it hard to believe myself but I’ve been three times in Nobu over a stay of two weeks in Tokyo. Why go to an international chain when Tokyo has so many exciting local places to offer? Well, the first time I went there was out of plain curiosity.…

I loved sukiyaki at Michelin starred Yoshihasi (1-5-25 Moto-Akasaka, tel. 03-3401-3129) not only because the wagyu beef was mouth-watering, but also because the place was so beautiful and serene. Yoshihashi is a traditional minimalistic restaurant with zen garden behind a window. When you come to the place you have to…