Another very recent opening in Paris is Monsieur Blue (20, av de New-York 75116 Paris;tel. +33 1 47 20 90 47 ) restaurant at the Palais de Tokyo contemporary art center. Monsieur Bleu is definitely more about “see and be seen”, glamour, and the impressive location than the food, but the carte looks pretty good too. Simple and well executed potatoes salad with foie gras, soft boiled egg and summer truffles shavings, fresh tuna tartare or dishes yet be tried like lobster roll sandwich and hamburger with Wagyu beef…  I can taste the success already…

Located at the magnificent Éléphant Paname art and dance center, Goust (10 Rue Volney  75002 Paris;tel. +33 1 40 15 20 30 ) is the newest restaurant of “the world’s best sommelier” Enrico Bernardo. Spanish José Manuel Miguel is the head chef whose cooking is highly influenced by his Valencian origins. Tomato and strawberry gazpacho with shrimps from Barcelona and guacamole was particularly delicious, so as bomba rice with morilles, foie gras and Colonnata lard. And of course, the wine pairing is pretty serious, something you would expect from the best sommelier in the world, wouldn’t you?

Nowhere in the world you can have such excellent beef as in Japan. Wagyu (which literally means “Japanese beef” ) can be so marbled and fatty that if you go for the highest grade beef you might feel as if you are eating foie gras or pure fat.(So my tip is to choose one grade under the most marbled..) There are many ways of preparing beef in Japan and some of my favorites are Japanese style hot pot sukiyaki and teppanyaki, where iron griddle is used to grill the meat. Ukai-tei is a high end restaurant chain in Tokyo and some other locations in Japan specializing in teppanyaki. Ukai-tei Ginza (Jiji-Tsushin Building, 5-15-8 Ginza, Chuo-ku;tel. 03-3544-5252) and Ukai-tei Omotesando (Omotesando Gyre 5F, 5-10-1 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku;tel. 03-5467-5252) are the only teppanyaki restaurants in Tokyo which each have a Michelin star, but there are many other excellent teppanyaki restaurants around Tokyo where you can have an excellent wagyu steak without paying Michelin stars premium.

My lunch at Ukai-tei Omotesando.

Images from HKK, the lastest Hakkasan group opening in London . Probably the best high end Chinese food I’ve had since visiting Lung King Heen in Hong Kong few years ago… The restaurant offers tasting menus only.

HKK (88 Worship St  London, Greater London EC2A 2BE;tel. +44 20 3535 1888)

Even if Septime ( 80 Rue de Charonne ,75011 Paris;tel. 01 43 67 38 29) has been around for a while now, it’s still considered one of the hottest néo bistros in Paris and since a few weeks is among the 50 best restaurants in the world. I’ve been at Septime twice and I quite liked it the first time (see the images below), but the second time was a thorough disappointment. Boiled, chilled white asparagus with mushroom sorbet unfortunately stayed in my memory for the wrong reasons…

I think that by choosing not to have à la carte menu, chefs and their teams put too much pressure on themselves. How can one be creative every day and each time come up with a memorable tasting menu? When you think about it, all the best chefs careers are marked by only one or two really good signature dishes, for which you also want to return to their restaurants. Michel Bras is known for his “gargouillou”, Guy Savoy – for black truffle artichoke soup, Thomas Keller’s name is synonymous with the genius of “oysters and pearls” and I am not only talking about super high end restaurants… The ambiance at Septime is relaxed, the service is perfect and the crowd is cool, but finally you return to restaurants for the good food not the trendiness…

When someone asked Pierre Gagnaire what was the style of his cooking, he simply answered that he doesn’t have any style and that for him the most important is how his dishes taste and bringing joy to his guests.  I think nowadays so many chefs are focusing on style (“Scandinavian”, “local”, you name it) that they often forget about the taste. And, I must say, the Pierre Gagnaire’s creations are not only tasty and different from contemporary trends, but also very beautiful…

 Pierre Gagnaire 6 Rue Balzac, 75008, Paris; tel. 01 58 36 12 50 

Sometimes you need to travel to another side of the world to get answers to your questions. And the question I’ve been asking myself was – what had happened to Umu, my favorite Japanese restaurant in London, which has changed for the worse ever since it’s head chef, Ichiro Kubota left. Ichiro san is back to his home country and is now running a one Michelin star kaiseki restaurant at Hoshinoya ryokan in Kyoto. The luxury ryokan is a mix of the traditional Japanese inn, modern design and untouched natural surroundings, so typical to the Japanese aesthetics and the world view. And the modern kaiseki dinner at one of the ryokan’s  private dinning rooms transported me to “good old days” of Umu in London. Who could have thought!

Some images from the tea ceremony at Happo- en gardens in Tokyo,a complex and sophisticated centuries old ritual where each gesture has a meaning…

This little “guide” is based on my dining experiences at some of the best sushi restaurants in Tokyo over the last 5 years. It might sound simplistic to Tokyoites,but hopefully useful for those who have never been to this fantastic city!

• One thing you should know before going to Tokyo is that the quality of sushi there (especially at the high end sushi shops) will spoil you forever. Sushi as we know it was created in the beginning of the 19th century as an early form of fast food. It is called Edomae nigirizushi because the fish used for making nigiris would be caught in the Edo bay (“Edo”is what Tokyo used to be called; “mae” means “in front”) and then sold nearby by the street vendors. Nowadays sushi making is a sophisticated craft that requires years of training and an extraordinary knowledge of fish. A young sushi chef apprentice will only be allowed to touch fish after a few years of learning how to make rice.Rice is as significant as fish in the art of sushi making. Once you visit some of the best sushi places in Tokyo, you will notice that rice will differ from one place to another as each sushi master has his own distinctive style of vinegared rice preparation.

• Needless to say, the choice of fish at Tokyo sushi shops is much wider than in Europe or the US . There are hundreds and hundreds of different kinds of fish, clams and crustaceans sold at Tsukiji (the biggest fish market in the world) where Tokyo sushi chefs go to do their shopping almost every morning. Fish used for sushi making will depend on the season and will not necessarily be served completely raw. For example gizzard shad will be pickled for a few days, eel will be grilled, tiger prawn will be boiled moments before serving; I’ve seen some chefs marinating tuna for a few minutes…

• They say that there are over 160 000 restaurants and eateries in Tokyo and it’s the city that has most Michelin starred restaurants in the world. Even if some won’t agree with me, Michelin is a good guide for those who are not local, don’t speak Japanese or don’t travel to Tokyo that often. Finally it’s thanks to Michelin  worldwide publicity that Tokyo has gained a reputation of a gastronomic paradise. You can see Michelin 2013 here.  A guide that is considered “more authentic” by  globe trotting foodies though is a Japanese language website called Tabelog.com. I have recently compiled a list of the best Tokyo sushi restaurants according to Tabelog.com users which you can find here. Finally there are some great blogs whose authors  travel to Japan frequently  like Andy Hayler ,Streelife ,or are based there  Food Sake Tokyo , Tokyo Food File.

• My favorites are Miyako Sushi, Sushi Saito, Sushi Yoshitake, Sushi Dai, Sushi Kanesaka but there are so many good ones that finally it’s a question of personal choice or  budget.

• Most of the chefs and hosts of the high end sushi shops I’ve been didn’t speak any or spoke very little English. So unless you speak Japanese or have local acquaintances, you will need to ask your hotel concierge to reserve the restaurants for you. I’ve never had any particular problems getting into most of the high end sushi shops in Tokyo, but some places are much harder to book than others. To name two – Sushi Saito ,which needs to be booked months in advance and Sukiyabashi Jiro where a “non concierge” Japanese speaker needs to call for you.

• Don’t be surprised if you will be asked to give your credit card number in order to secure your reservation. I think it’s because there are too many foreigners who reserve and don’t show up, something that a Japanese would never do…

• Once you have your reservation, you should get a printed map of the area where the restaurant is located . Even if the concierge will note on your map the most recognizable shops, metro stations or  buildings, thanks to which you should find your restaurant, you still might need some help from your taxi driver or passers-by. Japanese addressing system is very different from the one used in the West, while high end restaurants exteriors in Japan are completely unassuming and often are located at ordinary office buildings or… at a parking garage like the case of Sushi Saito. It has happened to me many times that I would wonder around for half an hour before finding the restaurant I was going to. So just go in advance.

• There are three ways of ordering  sushi in Japan – omakase (chef”s choice),okonomi (your choice) or okimari (set menu). From my personal experience, I’ve been always expected to order omakase at all the high end sushi-yas I’ve been. But I’ve also noticed that most of the Japanese diners that I happened to share sushi counters with went for omakase. When you think about it, it’s the best way to enjoy the best fish of the season. Usually sushi omakase starts with white and non fatty fish and ends with fatty fish,clams,maki (rolls) and tamagoyaki (Japanese style omelette). Most of the sushi restaurants (except for Sukiyabashi Jiro) also serve otsumami, various cold or warm snacks, before serving nigiris. So omakase might end up with 15 to over 20 various different morsels and nigiris. (Lunch omakases are usually smaller.) Each nigiri will have different  fish topping and what surprised me most in the beginning that so little high end sushi shops serve salmon, which is very popular outside of Japan…

• You can eat nigiris with chopsticks or with your fingers. A small wet towel is provided for that purpose.

• As for drinks, wine is rarely served at traditional Edo-mae sushi restaurants (Sushi Saito and Sushi Yoshitake are the rare exceptions). Beer, sake,shōchū, tea or water are the drinks of choice.

• Price for a  lunch omakase can start from around ¥ 5000 (~40 € ), while dinner -  from  ¥ 10 000 (~80 € ) and can go up to  ¥ 30 000 (~250 €) or over . Sushi omakase at high end sushi restaurants rarely costs less than ¥ 15 000  or ¥ 20 000. For example ,my dinner  at Miyako sushi cost me something around ¥ 15 000; at Sushi Yoshitake - around ¥ 25 000; my 25 minutes lunch at Sukiyabashi Jiro was ¥ 31 500.

• Most of the restaurants in Tokyo accept international credit cards, but there are quite a few which don’t, so it’s always good to find out in advance and to have some cash. Keep in mind that not all the ATM machines in Japan will distribute cash if you are using an international credit card. The only places I’ve ever been able to withdraw money were Citibank , 7-Eleven convenience stores and at the Narita airport.

• Service charge is included in the final bill – you don’t need to tip in Japan. If you tip, you might be misunderstood.

So this is how the precious musk melon from Senbikiya Tokyo store looked when sliced. This one cost me around 80 € , while the most expensive musk melon at the shop that day was over 160 € !  As exciting as opening a Christian Dior shoe box

Below is the “Local Universe” tasting menu at  Quique Dacosta in Denia, Spain (Carretera de las Marinas a Denia, Km 3  03700 Denia, Alicante, Spain;tel. +34 965 78 41 79). Some describe this 3 Michelin starred restaurant as “avant-garde”, but for me, it’s the least avant-garde dishes that are most worth a trip back. “Red mullet with incrustation of it’s guts and eucalipto”, “red king prawns from Dénia” and “rice with truffles” were especially good.

One the biggest pleasures of traveling is the wonderful people you might come across. American-Japanese  Yukari Sakamoto is a sommelier, a chef and an author of a book called Food Sake Tokyo. We did the Tsukiji tour together – Yukari’s knowledge of Japanese products and cuisine is just incredible. After the tour we went to have a lunch at Sushi Dai ( Chuo-ku, Tsukiji 6-13-3). Not the one very close the outer market, but it’s sister restaurant 5 min walk from Tsukiji. This place is much more local and not touristy at all and the nigiris as well as some hot dishes we ordered were just fantastic. One of the dishes we had was Saikyo miso marinated gindara , which is basically “black cod” , mainly known outside of Japan thanks to Nobu Matsuhisa.