A curated selection of my experiences in three Michelin star restaurants documenting the highest level of gastronomy. These reviews focus on precision craftsmanship exceptional hospitality and the distinctive character of each kitchen at the pinnacle of fine dining.
16 articles
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 twenty years, Mirazur is not looking back. A collaborative menu by Mauro Colagreco and Ferran Adrià unfolds as a thoughtful sequence of ideas, where cuisine, service, and setting merge into a precise and evolving experience above the Mediterranean.
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.
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.
Waitlist luck led to one of my finest three-star dinners at Plénitude, Cheval Blanc Paris. Donckele’s sauce-led Symphonie showed absolute control, from a perfect scallop to precise, warm service.
A midday visit to L’Ambroisie: precise, classical cooking under Shintaro Awa, with a legendary langoustine feuillantine and the quiet formality of Place des Vosges.
Le Gabriel at La Réserve shows Paris at its most polished: a palatial room, flawless service and precise, French cooking. The €148 four-course lunch is a clear, generous window into Jérôme Banctel’s three-star craft.
Pierre Gagnaire’s a la carte menu is demanding, complex and almost overwhelming at times. But the depth, clarity and expression of the dishes stay with you long after the evening ends.
A first visit to Le Clos des Sens in Annecy: nature-led, lake-fish focused Michelin three-star cooking, precise service, and a luminous Savoie mushroom composition.
A ranked guide to Barcelona’s 3-Michelin-star restaurants: Disfrutar, Hermanos Torres, Lasarte and ABaC. Based on multiple visits at each and 50 visits to different three-star restaurants worldwide, with highlights and booking tips for 2025.
Twice-dined at ABaC in 2025 confirms polished service but a tighter, safer menu. At 295 EUR, the tasting shows control yet less ambition than 2021. Good restaurant-with-rooms setup, but 30 minutes by taxi to the centre. Three stars now feel uncertain.
Chef Tohru Nakamura refines his signature blend of French technique with Japanese elements at Tohru in der Schreiberei in Munich, delivering a calm, precise and deeply mature cuisine that fully justifies its three-star Michelin status.
