What’s in the name.. Keith McNally. Balthazar. These are a couple of names that could give (some) restaurant scenesters a very sturdy erection. In NYC Balthazar has been one of the city’s *top* reservations, the partyground of the beautiful and the famous, and it’s the sort of place that you feel could transform you. When …
Why not for the beginners… This is an “Intermediate” guide for aspiring fine diners visiting Japan. My “Intermediate” means something between knowing the basic (i.e. different types of Japanese cuisine, key produce+ingredients, dining etiquette) and not knowing all the cultural culinary anecdotes (i.e. meaning of signs on porcelain, food symbolism). This should be ideal, I …
The Sushi of SHIORI Sushi of Shiori on Drummond Street is closed down. The lovely, talented duo of husband-chef Takashi and wife-manager Hitomi has moved on and re-launched Shiori without the “Sushi” in a bigger site in roast-duck-dominating Bayswater as a kaiseki restaurant. Kaiseki, if you do not know, is the traditional and acutely prepared …
41° Experience There is so much brilliance I can recall about this meal, but I have decided not to put all into writing. Lazy blogger, no. Necessity, yes. The “elements of surprise” are crucial, according to FAQ. When it was first launched, 41° Experience (or 41 Grados) by El Bulli-famed Ferran and Albert Adria was …
Cat Food.. You know…Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare is a three-Michelin-starred, 18-seat restaurant appendixed to a supermarket. You know, chef Cesar Ramirez is Mexican but inspired by the Japanese impeccability.The chef’s table concept is developed from a sushi bar. But, chef Ramirez is a man with great toys – an impeccably modern kitchen centrepiece, an …
Not the world’s 50 best restaurants.. Had I but world enough and time, trotting the globe to eat wouldn’t be such a crime. I am a self-confessed World’s 50 Best Restaurants junkie. I find it commendable that the list is streamlined towards unearthing innovations where (occasionally) no ordinary foodie has reached. There is a catch, …