About the Author William Herbert

A long-standing love for travel and food

I have loved travelling and good food for more than twenty-five years. It began quietly and became a natural part of how I understand places and people. When I travel, I am usually looking for something. A feeling for a location, a moment that stays with me, and often a meal that fits the place so perfectly that nothing else would make sense.

I think of travel as a gentle search for the perfect meal. And the perfect meal does not have to come from a famous kitchen. It can be very simple. Like a turbot grilled over charcoal on the sidewalk in front of a restaurant in a small fishing village in the Basque Country. Or waking up at six in the morning in Hakodate because I wanted to eat sea urchin one more time, the kind that comes from the small islands off the coast of Hokkaido and is only available in summer. Or driving to Zahara de los Atunes during the almadraba season just to taste tuna at the exact moment it is at its best.

These small detours, these small obsessions, have shaped how I experience places. Often the meal becomes the memory. And I can still remember something from much earlier. I must have been around fourteen when my uncle, who worked internationally, came back from a business trip to Lyon. He had been taken to Paul Bocuse by a business partner, and the way he described that meal stayed with me for a long time. It was the first time I realised that French haute cuisine might be something extraordinary, something worth discovering one day.

An Austrian abroad with a global perspective

I am originally from Austria, but I have lived abroad for many years and I work internationally. My job still sends me around the world, and by now I have travelled to more than sixty countries. The places sometimes blur with time, but the meals stay sharp.

Over the years I have visited more than fifty different three Michelin star restaurants and I have eaten well over one hundred three star meals in total, along with hundreds in one and two star restaurants. These numbers are simply part of my life and maybe also a sign of age. They are not meant to impress anyone. They just reflect many years of curiosity and the habit of paying attention.

I do not claim to be an expert, but I have simply spent many years paying close attention to what makes a memorable meal.

Why I started writing

For as long as I can remember, friends and colleagues have asked me for restaurant and hotel recommendations. At some point I realised that I should write these experiences down, partly to remember them and partly because thinking about a meal afterwards makes you understand it differently. You eat more consciously and you notice what the chef is trying to express.

Everything I write is based on my own visits and my own notes.

No rankings, just honest impressions

I do not make rankings. I do not think they belong in high gastronomy. Ranking great restaurants is like trying to choose the most beautiful painting in the world. It does not work. Still, I will say when something is exceptional or when I notice weaknesses. Honesty matters, but so does respect for the work behind every dish.

Eating with others, and sometimes alone

Most of the time I eat with friends or with my family. These meals become part of shared memories. When I travel alone for work, I always look for the best restaurant I can find and go there by myself.

Eating alone changes the experience. You see more. You hear more. You understand the rhythm of a dining room differently. There is nowhere to hide and the food becomes clearer.

Photography and discretion

All photographs on this site were taken by me. I enjoy using a Leica M when I travel, but in dining rooms I usually use an iPhone because it is quieter and less intrusive. I do not try to make the dishes look dramatic. I just try to show them as they were in that moment.

Writing under a quiet name

I write under the name William Herbert because I prefer to keep this journal separate from my professional life. Staying a little anonymous makes the writing feel freer. I live in Europe and I travel widely within Europe, but I return to Asia whenever I can, especially to Japan. The calm, the discipline and the way food is treated there continue to influence how I see dining everywhere else.

Why I Write

I enjoy reading how other diners describe their meals, and over time I realised that writing down my own impressions helps me notice things more clearly. The Fine Dining Journal is simply a place to keep these notes. Some meals were elaborate and some were very simple, but all of them meant something at the time. Putting them into words helps me understand why they mattered. And I remember.

For an overview of my three-Michelin-star visits, see this page.