The team of the newly opened oyster bar by Guy Savoy were nice enough to accept an order from across the street- artichoke soup and brioche with truffles ( still warm), the legendary dish by Guy Savoy, I could never say no. L’Huitrade: 13 rue Troyon, 75017, Paris

Mitsuhiro Araki is a three Michelin star sushi master from Tokyo, who has recently relocated to London. When you talk about the world’s best sushi chefs (Jiro Ono, Hachiro Mizutani, Takashi Saito to name a few), Araki would be one of them. He is especially famous for his knowledge of…

The most famous (or infamous) dish at The Araki so far, the newly opened and the most expensive sushi restaurant in Europe. Fatty tuna from Ireland, that had been chopped in advance, was mixed with soy sauce, mayonnaise ( whisked in front of you) and generously shaved over with white…

When someone asked yesterday Mitsuhiro Araki, the 3 Michelin star chef from Tokyo, who has just opened London’s most expensive sushi-ya (FT.com review), if he was having any difficulties to source his ingredients in Europe, he laughed and answered that not all. I know I’ve been posting a lot about…

The world of gastronomy in Paris has been bustling with speculations lately about where will the former Ledoyen’s head chef Christian Le Squer go next. Three weeks ago it became apparent that it will be Le Cinq restaurant at George V hotel. Christian Le Squer is one of those uber…

I am wrapping up my Tokyo series this time with Ishikawa, 3 Michelin starred kaiseki restaurant, located behind Bishamonten temple. When kaiseki style cooking is concerned, less is usually more. Chef Hideki Ishikawa follows the traditional kaiseki rules by celebrating simplicity and seasonality. Michelin describes him as innovative, but the…

This was certainly not my favourite tempura I’ve ever had (my all-time favourite is 7 Chome Kyoboshi), but still better than any tempura outside of Japan. I love how Japanese are able to perfectionize anything from growing melons to frying vegetables in some batter, which actually end up tasting so…

What makes a good sushi restaurant great? Excellent fish and seafood? Chef’s experience, skills and obsession with consistency? Takashi Saito seems to correspond all these criteria, but it’s much more than that. Saito-san hits the perfect gustative balance in each morsel he produces, taste and texture-wise. Joel Robuchon called Sushi…

Zaiyu Hasegawa is a superstar among foreign travellers and chefs eating out in Tokyo. The reason why is simple – he and his wife Emi- san are friendly and accessible people. In the secretive city like Tokyo, where sometimes you have to be introduced or accompanied by a Japanese speaker…

Matsukawa is an introduction only kaiseki restaurant, considered by many, notably tabelog.com users, as the best in Tokyo. A friend of mine invited me there, but had last minute plan changes and I ended up going to Matsukawa alone. He warned me about two things before transferring his reservation on…