36-year-old Arnaud Donckele is one of the youngest chefs to receive three Michelin stars. (at 35) After making a few stops at France’s best restaurants like Michel Guérard’s, Louis XV and Lasserre, the Normandy native has finally settled down at Résidence de La Pinède in Saint Tropez. The classic and…

Juan ( 144 Rue de la Pompe, 75016 Paris, tel. +33 1 47 27 43 51) is a hidden pearl of Japanese cuisine in the French capital. The pocket-size restaurant is typically Japanese. It’s owner-chef Tadahiko Kinjo is the one who chops, slices, cooks and serves. The fare is simple, but…

Different from New York, Los Angeles or some other megacities outside of Japan, Paris has never been the best place to have top-notch sushi. Here, you will find plenty of unimaginative sushi belt restaurants or takeaways, but usually, their quality is poor and they have little in common with Japan.…

Vegetarian cooking has become increasingly more important in high-end dining. When I started eating at fine restaurants, it was very rare to see simple vegetables served as a dish by itself. Nowadays, thanks to the influence of such gastronomy luminaries as Michel Bras, Alain Passard or Rene Redzepi, some restaurants…

Despite the fact that picking the best restaurant in the world is as absurd as voting for the world’s best anything, no one could deny that the 50 best restaurants list is a genius PR initiative. Thanks to the marketing power of these annual, highly publicised awards living culinary legends…

I am quite behind with all the new posts I want to make, so I will start with the ones that are the shortest… The pulled pork sandwich at Frenchie To Go (9 rue du Nil, 75002 Paris) is seriously good. Just saying… ( No reservations accepted.)

Elaborate show and luxurious presentation is often a huge part of 3 Michelin stars restaurant experience and the price you pay for it. I recently read somewhere that people find expensive food better tasting. The simply poached asparagus with crushed egg condiment at Alain Ducasse Monaco was without doubt an excellent…

If internet rumours can be trusted, Sukiyabashi Jiro was not the first choice for prime minister Abe and president Obama dinner (see the Grub Street article here). 2 Michelin starred tempura restaurant Kondo was, but it was fully booked and the chef refused to cancel any of his bookings that…

Describing food as “honest” sometimes can sound as confusing as when a chef talks about how he “respects the ingredients”. Dishes and the ingredients they are made of are not people to be respected for their honesty. Yet, this is how I would describe the cooking at Il Luogo di…

Caramelized “insalata russa” at Cracco ( 2*, Via Victor Hugo, 4, 20123 Milano, Italy; tel. +39 02 876774 ), most famous thanks to a feature in the Oscar nominated movie “I am love”. This snack, I’ve already had before, was still pretty ingenious, but I couldn’t say the same about the rest. It…