The most memorable meal of our Roman holiday was the thoroughly modern, Michelin-starred Ristorante Il Pagliaccio (the weeping clown). We’d noticed that this elegant space was very busy at night while we were wine tasting across the road at Il Goccetto. But when we arrived for our lunch reservation, we were the only patrons there. Sometimes this can lead to a very dull meal where we have to whisper comments about the cuisine and feel as if the kitchen is on autopilot because there’s no...

One of our best meals in Rome was one of the most humble. No, we’re not talking about the bewilderingly overrated pizzas of Da Baffetto, where patrons line up for hours and are then packed like sardines in a tin can to eat sloppy production line pizzas and tell themselves ‘it’s the best in Rome!’, just like the guidebook says. We’re talking about a place recommended in passing by the good folks at Context. And by ‘in passing’, we mean as we passed this unassuming trattoria on the way to visit a...

One of our first stops in Rome was the elegant, wood-panelled restaurant L'Arcangelo. While it only opened in 2005, its timelessness gives it the feel of a restaurant that’s an old classic rather than a new one. And a classic it is. The cuisine is exemplary and the wines outstanding. Once you’ve made your selection from the menu, it’s best to just let owner-sommelier Arcangelo Dandini do his thing. Arcangelo has some superb wines that you won’t find in other restaurants in Rome and the lovely...

While in Istanbul, we interviewed, photographed and ate the food of the lovely and very talented young surfer chef Mehmet Gürs of acclaimed Mikla, which could well be Istanbul’s best restaurant (well, we’ve by no means eaten at them all – yet!). Mehmet is half Finnish and half Turkish. Born in Finland to a Turkish father and Finnish mother, he spent his childhood holidays with grandparents in both countries, lived in Stockholm for 15 years, and is married to a Turkish woman. Mehmet grew up...

The main purpose of our jaunt to Istanbul last month was for the opening of the über-cool W Istanbul and Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s equally sexy Spice Market restaurant at the hotel. It’s apt that the restaurant opened here in a city renowned for its spice markets. We’d admired Chef Jean-Georges before meeting him in Istanbul, having eaten at several of his restaurants – our favourites being Market in Paris and Jean-Georges Shanghai – but after interviewing him and hanging with him at the...

Caprice at the Londa Hotel is one very cool-looking restaurant. Its sleek, light, minimalist style and enormous floor-to-ceiling windows give the room a bright airy feel by day and on a fine one there must be fewer places in the city that take advantage of the sun in this way. It’s an ideal spot for a long weekend lunch with friends. By night, it retains its pared-back look and spacious feel, even after the lights are turned down and the mood levels are raised a notch or two. Then, the room...

We were alerted to the culinary offerings of Raffles Dubai’s Fire & Ice by the suave Etienne Haro, who is Pierre Gagnaire’s go-to man and manager of Gagnaire’s soon-to-open ‘Reflet’ restaurant at the chic new InterContinental Dubai Festival City. Etienne said that the chef at Fire & Ice had intestinal fortitude (or words to that effect…) and had us curious as to what was happening in the kitchen of what was being talked about and marketed as a steakhouse. Indeed, when we arrived the mood was...

The ADD, otherwise known as ‘all-day-dining’, concept is a hotel’s method of making their casual restaurant – the one that’s open from breakfast through midnight – a more attractive experience than the ubiquitous breakfast buffet room or drab 24-hour lobby coffee shop. In the case of the new InterContinental Dubai Festival City, it’s a waaaay sexier experience than we could ever have imagined, even in our wildest restaurant dreams. Anise, as their ADD eatery is alluringly called, was created by...

One of the most notable dining experiences we’ve had in a long time was at the excellent Bord Eau at Abu Dhabi’s Shangri-La Qaryat Al Beri Resort and Spa. This superb new French restaurant is easily Abu Dhabi’s best. A classically elegant candle lit space, with art deco and art nouveau inspirations in the sophisticated design, enormous ceilings, and generously spaced tables, Bord Eau’s dining room is one very beautiful space. Handsome young chef Gilles Perrin and smooth manager Hendrik Durot...

As Abu Dhabi’s future as the arty alternative to Dubai takes shape (a Guggenheim and Louvre are currently under construction), the hotel chains are starting to get their act together with a string of new openings planned. The Shangri-La’s Qaryat Al Beri Resort and Spa is one of the first cabs off the rank and the restaurants here bode well for eating options when the new museums open. In an elegant, contemporary Chinese space, Shang Palace serves up some of the best Chinese fare we’ve had...