Good Food and Views are Worth the Journey
San Sebastian's Michelin two-starred Mugaritz gets polarising reviews and I wanted to find out why so I went recently to try out the restaurant. The best way I would describe the food is that it's exploratory and really tests diners' boundaries in some cases. So, while I didn't enjoy all the courses, I really had a good time because on the whole it was fun. The wine probably helped in this case as did going with open-minded and adventurous friends.
The restaurant is degustation /...
Of the restaurants I went to my last trip to Paris, David Toutain is the one that I want to go back to and the one that I have no hesitation in recommending. While the restaurants of Paris’ well known chefs - Joel Robuchon, Alain Ducasse, etc. - remain highlights of any trip to Paris, I find I have an increasing preference for eating food by the younger set. I think it’s partly due to the more casual ambience and less costly menus, but in many ways, I think the food holds a little more...
If you’re in Arashiyama for a day (or more), there are three great dining options for lunch - Shigetsu, Unagiya Hirokawa and Hirano-ya. They are very different from each other and I really enjoyed all three. So, depending on your food preferences and available time, at least one of these should tick the boxes.
Shigetsu - Zen Vegetarian (Shojin Ryori)
Shigetsu is a zen buddhist vegetarian dining hall in Tenryu-ji temple. The story goes that it started with the monks cooking...
Michelin 3-starred Kitcho Arashiyama is known as a temple of Kyoto Kaiseki cuisine that comes with a high price. Reviews thus, are often mixed. Having now been there in winter and summer, I say that it’s worth trying at least once because of the complete experience it offers. However, if you’re just going for the food, you can get as fulfilling a Kaiseki experience elsewhere for a lot less financial pain.
I’m a sucker for Japanese ceramics, so to see the antiques that Kitcho...
For a Michelin one-star establishment, La Ciau del Tornavento packs a punch. The restaurant sits on a hilltop in the town of Treiso in Piedmont with the dining room opening up onto a fantastic view of the vine laden slopes and valley below. The cuisine takes Piedmont’s traditional dishes up a notch - largely recognisable, nothing foamy here. But best of all it has the most impressive wine collection I’ve ever seen with its cellar holding more than 38,000 bottles.
We came here on...