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Osteria Francescana
I recently had the opportunity to dine at Osteria Francescana, a three Michelin star restaurant located in the breathtaking Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. Led by acclaimed chef-patron Massimo Bottura, Osteria Francescana holds the spot for the number three restaurant in the world and is renowned worldwide for its artistic flair, creativity, and masterful use of local ingredients. With a combination of impeccable service and dishes that wowed and delighted literally one after the other, my husband and I had a glorious time and cannot wait to go back.
We spent a couple days in Modena, where the restaurant in located, and I thoroughly recommend doing that as well if you are lucky enough to dine at Osteria Francescana. Modena is the home of true balsamic vinegar and also, interestingly, the birthplace of Enzo Ferrari and Luciano Pavarotti. There is a super cool Ferrari museum not too far out of town that is definitely worth a stop.
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Noma, Copenhagen
In a stroke of luck, I was able to snag a last minute reservation at Noma, just days after it was crowned the number one restaurant in the world by the San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards. Noma is renowned in the gastronomic world and needs little introduction. It held the top spot on the list for three years beginning in 2010, until it was ousted by Spanish restaurant El Celler de Can Roca, so the reclaiming of the title just a couple weeks ago was understandably pretty sweet. Led by chef-owner René Redzepi, the restaurant was one of the pioneers of “new nordic cuisine” and is known around the world for its meticulous attention to detail and unique ingredients foraged from the local countryside and seashore. My husband and I are no strangers to traveling for food, so we didn’t think twice about hopping on a plane for a rare chance to eat at Noma. As you can probably imagine, reservations are extremely hard to come by, so I was very lucky to have found a cancellation for a table for two a few days before.
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La Taberna de Lucio, Madrid
I was in Madrid over the weekend and sampled some truly amazing Spanish food. On the day before we left, we checked out La Taberna de Lucio, a tapas bar on Cava Baja known for their to-die-for eggs. Taberna de Lucio is owned by the landmark restaurant Casa Lucio, which is located just across the street.
La Taberna de Lucio’s signature dish is Huevos Estrellados and it sure did not disappoint. The dish consisted of three perfectly fried sunny side up eggs smashed over a
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Pierre Hermé, Paris
During my visit to Paris last weekend, I was delighted to finally check out the famed pâtisserie Pierre Hermé on rue Bonaparte in the sixth arrondissement. Pierre Hermé is an acclaimed French pastry chef who Vogue dubbed, “The Picasso of Pastry,” and upon entering his boutique it is not hard to see why. Rows upon rows of meticulously crafted brioche, millefeuille, ganache and truffles sat next to hundreds of brightly coloured, shimmering macarons. He has several boutiques, including a couple in London and Tokyo, however, the one I visited in Saint-Germain des Prés is his first boutique, opened in 2002, and perhaps his most special.
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Snickarbacken 7, Stockholm
On my first day in Stockholm, I quickly learned the café culture is huge part of life for people living in the city. We visited a few very good coffee shops during our visit, with one in particular really standing out and that was Snickarbacken 7. This hip little café rivalled some of my favourite spots in NYC’s East Village (this is a huge compliment coming from a 7+ year east village former resident), so I am excited to share some snaps and tell you more about it. It’s located on a tiny side street in the city centre and is in fact not only a café, but an exhibition space and a concept store all in one. It has this cool purple lighting and lot of funky furniture and cutting-edge decor. The idea of a
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Östermalms Korvspecialist, Stockholm
On our last day in Stockholm, we made a visit to the famous Östermalms Korvspecialist, a gourmet “hot dog stand” that cooks up mouth-watering sandwiches a few steps away from the Östermalms food hall. The stand has been featured on many food shows and makes an appearance in my trusty Where Chefs Eat book, so, with all this fuss, I initially wasn’t sure if the food would live up to all of the buzz.
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Restaurant Frantzén, Stockholm
My husband and I spent a snowy weekend in the Swedish capital of Stockholm, where we enjoyed a memorable meal at 2-Michelin starred Restaurant Frantzén. Located on scenic Lilla Nygatan in the historic Gamla Stan district, Frantzén impressed us from the moment we were met by the dapper doorman standing outside the restaurant. We opted to do the “early supper,” which allowed us to take our time and enjoy what turned out to be a true gastronomic journey.
Led by chef Björn Frantzén, the cuisine can best be described as “modern Scandinavian,” however, it’s more than that and the dishes touch on different influences from around the world, including, most notably, Asian cooking. Although there is no disputing the food is innovative and top notch, what got my attention was the
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Relais de l’Entrecôte Saint-Germain, Paris
At this classic Parisian brasserie, there is no menu and vegetarians are somewhat discouraged to attend. Relais de l’Entrecôte Saint-Germain is part of a group of 3 restaurants in Paris, all specializing in (exclusively) steak frites with their famous secret sauce. I was a bit weary of this place because it seemed gimmicky and appeared way too often in tourist books and cheesy “best of” guides. Since they do not take reservations, it is not uncommon to wait several hours for a table.
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La Gazzetta, Paris
A Parisian friend of ours recommended we check out La Gazzetta, a bistro in the 12th near the March d’Aligre run by Swedish-born chef Petter Nilsson. La Gazzetta isn’t a traditional Parisian bistro per-se, but rather a hip eatery with an inventive Nordic-inspired menu featuring plenty of French influences. Nordic food is all the rage
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Blé Sucré, Paris
Every time I visit Paris I try a new bakery or pastry shop and this time it was Blé Sucré, an acclaimed pâtisserie and boulangerie in the edgy 12th arrondissement. I heard Blé Sucré (which translates to “sweet wheat”) had some of the best madeleines in Paris (which essentially amounts to the best madeleines in the world) as well as many other sweet and savory brioche-based and pasty-dough-based creations. It’s a huge title to live up to, but the minute I walked into the charming little shop I could tell it was something special.
Rows and rows of golden butter croissants and crispy baguettes were lined up beside baked Kouign-amann, meticulously layered millefeuille, colorful macarons and mini Paris-Brest, not to mention
