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…

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…

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…

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…

Before this trip to Tokyo, I agreed with those who were sceptical about other than Japanese food in Japan. Well, after my dinner at 3 Michelin stars L’Osier, I don’t share this opinion anymore. Imagine what happens when the excellence of French gastronomy collides with Japanese perfectionism. It is a…

Kaizen (“continuous improvement”) concept is deeply tied not only to manufacturing and business(where it originally comes from) but to Japanese culture in general. Anything Japanese do, they will try to do their best. Whether its service in a hotel, asking directions in a metro station or simply growing vegetables and…

Before going to Sushi Kanesaka, I was preparing to spend my evening in a formal environment with an austere sushi master leading the show. Instead, I found myself in a friendly and vibrant place where the chef Shinji Kanesaka san was chatting with his guests and obviously enjoying doing so.…

Interesting how the concept of gastronomy has changed over time. Before, a gastronomic restaurant would have been unimaginable without foie gras and other products typical to French ” haute cuisine”. Now people travel not to have foie gras but instead experience new and refreshing. “Experience”, “new” and “refreshing” would be…

Alain Ducasse is French haute cuisine, French haute cuisine is Alain Ducasse. Well, maybe not, but without doubt, he is one of the famous French chef in the world and his name has become a synonym of the French gastronomy. It was my third time at Alain Ducasse’s Parisian location…