It’s Top Chef season in France, and my daughter—tiny Parisian royalty that she is—requested a pilgrimage to the temple of televised gastronomy: Bistro des Chefs. Tucked into a hulking roadside structure in Pantin and co-owned (at least in name) by Stéphane Rotenberg, the show’s silver-tongued presenter, this place isn’t just a bistro—it’s a brand. Backed … Read more
It started with crates of Bordeaux in the boot and a Friday night drive across Paris. I was the passenger. My best friend was behind the wheel. The wine was fresh from one of our favourite vignerons, and we were on a mission that ended, as all good missions do, with a surprise dinner and … Read more
Looking for the most trusted Paris restaurant guide in 2026? With the internet drowning in AI-written listicles and tourist-driven hype, it’s never been more important to seek out human-curated lists created by people who actually live and eat here. As a chef living in Paris, I constantly get asked where I eat, who I trust, … Read more
Let’s face it—eating out in Paris is one of the greatest joys of visiting the city. But it’s also where things can go wildly right or terribly wrong. With tens of thousands of restaurants, it’s a food-lover’s paradise—but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to navigate. Even as a chef and lifelong foodie, I’ll admit: you … Read more
Porto is one of those cities that pulls you back in. Maybe it’s the warmth—not just of the sun, but of the people. Maybe it’s the food, cheap and honest. Or maybe it’s the wine, which, on this trip, I realised just how little I knew about. Either way, this wasn’t our first trip, and … Read more
The exclamation that came out of my brothers mouth after his first forkful of the tomato sauce his main course bathed in caught me by suprise. You would expect that living in the ancient city of Marseille, Provence’s un-official capital, he would be used to eating exceptional Tomato sauce. But clearly not. Every forkful of … Read more
On my recent trip back to London, I had an unsettling realisation: I’m officially more Parisian than British. The pubs, the ales, even the accents—they felt both familiar and foreign at once. Yet, living in Paris, I still crave a proper British pub—the kind where you stand at the bar shouting at football matches, nursing … Read more
Despite dining alone, I couldn’t stop myself from murmuring, “Damn, this is gorgeous.” The poise. The plates. The whole experience at Bonnotte felt like a quiet revelation. I held back from announcing it to the well-heeled crowd around me—after all, I’d already confused the waitstaff with my English accent, perfect French, and the fact I … Read more