A curated selection of my fine-dining experiences including Michelin-starred restaurants exceptional hospitality and refined travel. This page brings together the meals and places that define craftsmanship precision and a search for the perfect dining moment.
26 articles
Two three-star restaurants, one day and a walk through the Black Forest between them. Schwarzwaldstube shows why this rebuilt German institution still matters.
In Baiersbronn, Claus-Peter Lumpp still serves foie gras in several preparations, game in two services and cheese from a trolley. Restaurant Bareiss feels gloriously out of step with modern fine dining, and that is precisely why it is so compelling.
Eight three-star kitchens sit between Menton and Les Baux, the densest concentration in France after Paris. I have eaten in seven. The best food is in Saint-Tropez, the best single dish in Cassis, the best room in Monaco. Here is what each house is like and which one is worth your trip.
Fabien Ferré took three Michelin stars in a single stroke, and I gave him four courses to prove it: a driving day, the last meal of a family week in Provence, a plane to catch. Technique came through at full strength. Ambition stayed behind the longer menus.
Three stars on a terrace above the sea at Cassis, where Dimitri Droisneau cooks straight out of the water below. Book lunch in summer and you get the full experience; a winter evening gives you far less for the same price.
Casa Marcial sits alone on an Asturian hillside near Arriondas, far from any fine-dining circuit. You do not pass it; you set out for it. The Manzanos' Nordeste menu turns place, weather and memory into ingredients, in one of the finest three-star dinners I have eaten anywhere.
Aponiente’s 2026 season brings Ángel León’s marine cuisine closer to its source. Part of the meal now unfolds in the marshes, where water, light, fish, and landscape become inseparable from one of the world’s most distinctive fine dining experiences.
At Le Louis XV in Monaco, Alain Ducasse’s classical Mediterranean luxury feels composed and precise. A grand old-school restaurant, with exceptional John Dory, remarkable lamb, and service of rare confidence.
Kei Kobayashi’s 3 Michelin star tasting menu delivers French haute cuisine with Japanese precision, from the signature “vegetable garden” to perfect blue lobster and Gunma wagyu, in a discreet dining room with calm, professional service.
Paris has one of the highest concentrations of Michelin three-star restaurants in the world. With my recent visit to Kei, I have now dined at eight of the ten in the city. This comparison draws on more than fifty three-star restaurants I have visited worldwide, with Kei as the latest addition.
With Shiki Omakase, Vienna gains an intimate sushi counter dedicated to Japanese-style omakase. A thoughtful, chef-led experience that balances authenticity, ambition, and the realities of sourcing exceptional fish in a landlocked city.
Smoked Room Madrid is Dani García’s fire-first omakase: smoke as structure, not show. Despite the name, it isn’t a Japanese restaurant but modern Spanish cooking with Andalusian heart and a few quiet Japanese touches.
