Luxeat

Le Pré Catelan

The signature bone marrow dish

Le Pré Catelan is one of my favorite 3 Michelin starred restaurant in Paris. Located in Bois de Boulogne,it  is just ten minutes drive from the city (16th arrondissement is the closest).  The restaurant is housed in a Napoleon III style pavillion, it's opulent interior was renovated few years ago. Le Pré Catelan's chef is the very talented Frédéric Anton who used to work at Joel Robuchon's restaurants. You can really feel Robuchon's influence in Frédéric Anton's cooking -  he creates dishes that are not only delicious but also beautiful to look at.

Le Louis XV by Alain Ducasse

Provencal products, especially vegetables and herbs are the main focus at Alain Ducasse  restaurant Le Louis XV in Monaco. Maybe the restaurant's plates are gold plated and the sumptuous interior is anything but modern, the cooking is contemporary and light.

Bo Innovation

Har mi, lo mein, chilli, sage,carabinero wonton

Alvin Leung of Bo Innovation in Hong Kong  is so passionate about what he is doing he could speak for hours about one or another product or a preparation method. Maybe he is  known for his bold statements, but what speaks most loudly is his creative yet delicious food and his ability of reinvention.

El Bulli

Dinner at El Bulli was like a dream come true and I am not exaggerating.How did i manage to get a reservation when there are only 8000 places available per year versus to one million ( or two million according to some sources) requests? Well, i didn't. I've never been lucky in lotteries.One day I got an email from a friend  who said she had a reservation and we finally went to El Bulli together. That day i started believing in Santa Claus again. You don't get invitations to go to Ferran Adrià's restaurant every day, do you?

L'Arpège

I think it's genius what  Alain Passard does. Not necessarily because he was the first (or one of the first) to explore salad leaves and root vegetables while other high end chefs were still heavily relying on animal products.Or that since many years his restaurants L'Arpège (84 rue de Varenne, 75007,Paris; tel. 01 47 05 09 06 ) has 3 Michelin stars and Passard's apprentices like Pascal Barbot have their 3 stars of their own.

Noma- the best restaurant in the world

According to The World's 50 Best Restaurants list,Noma is the best restaurant in the world in 2010. I love Noma and I am glad i went there last year as now it will be impossible to get a reservation!

Having said that i don't understand what Le Chateaubriand is doing on the list as number 11(you can see the whole list here). Le Chateaubriand has a higher position than L'Astrance.. )

Meanwhile, such extraordinary restaurants like L'Osier in Tokyo are not even in top 100.. And how Zuma  London( a trendy yet banal Japanese chain who got the 66th place) is more "worth" to be on the list than Sushi Mizutani  or Sushi Kanesaka in Tokyo is beyond my understanding...

Le Meurice

Le Meurice (3*) 228 rue de Rivoli 75001 Paris - 01 44 58 10 10

Chef: Yannick Alléno

Have I been there before? Yes 

Ambiance and service: Typical Parisian "hôtel palace" atmosphere,quite formal service.

Food? To be honest with you, not as good as when I was there two years ago. I have an impression that the restaurant made a choice to "play safe" rather than evolve.  But decide for yourself! The pictures are after the jump...

Jean Georges

Jean Georges (3*) 1 Central Park West, New York - 212 299-3900

Chef: Jean-Georges Vongerichten

Ambiance and service: "Manhattan chic" ,professional yet invisible service.

Food?  Well,I've written about Jean Georges before - i am still puzzled how come it has such high ratings everywhere. It is among "30 most Important U.S. restaurants" in OAD guide, 28 /30 in Zagat,is among The Worlds 50 Best and it has 3 Michelin stars. 3 Michelin stars literally mean "worth a special" journey. Yes, for me Jean Georges is worth a special journey from downtown Manhattan, but not from further.

L'Astrance

L'Astrance (3*) (4 Rue Beethoven 75016 Paris,tel. 01 40 50 84 40 )

Chef : Pascal Barbot

Have i been there before? Twice. First time when it already had one Michelin star and once when it just got it's second star.

Ambiance and service: Friendly,professional, yet less ceremonial than at some other high end restaurants in Paris.

Harutaka,Tokyo

Harutaka (1*,Kawabata Building 3F, 8-5-8 Ginza, tel. 03 3573 1144 )- the last sushiya from the sushi from Tokyo series this year. And my favorite so far. Harutaka Takahashi ( left) comes from Sukiyabashi Jiro "school", so you can see many similarities with Sukiyabashi Jiro Roppongi(and, i would guess with the original branch too). The rice was almost identical - each grain was very firm and separate.So different from another legendary sushi master Hachiro Mizutani , whose rice was much less al dente. The fish at Harutaka couldn't have been fresher or higher quality.Many people i spoke to ( Tokyo chefs or waiters), named Harutaka sushiya as their favorite. The chefs can't be wrong, no?