FoodMeUpScotty

NYC: 2* Aquavit the Nordic King

A long time before Noma… Well before Nordic cuisine became the new zeitgeist, there was Aquavit. A restaurant that was opened in 1987, espousing Sweden’s 500-year-old culinary traditions; literally the only restaurant to offer modern Nordic cuisine in New York and one of the first to really hit it outside of Europe. With the region…

Mr & Mrs Fox: Surprising and worth the effort

I have to admit to being a little lazy of late; perhaps worse even, a total lack of imagination. You see, apart from hitting fine dining restaurants in fabulous cities across the globe, I’ve been living the hermit life back in Hong Kong. Sticking close to home and eating pretty boring. So we decided to…

NYC: World #87 & 3* Per Se

Per Se is a culinary icon. Pure and simple. But boy did the Thomas Keller restaurant take a brutal blow in 2016. Plenty has been said about NY Times restaurant critic Peter Well’s review of the once ‘bullet proof’ restaurant, so I’m not going to harp on it. If you want to read it, I’m…

NYC: 1* NoMad the other Daniel Humm experience

Have I told you how much I love morel mushrooms? Probably not, I’ve only just realised how much those unusual looking little mushrooms need to be part of my culinary life. I was sitting in NoMad enjoying the most amazing morel mushroom dish and ……. Hold on, I’m getting way ahead of myself; let me…

NYC: World #58 & 2* Momofuku Ko

If you’re a foodie, then you’re probably familiar with the name David Chang. For those of you who have been living under a rock for the last decade or so, David Chang is the genius behind the Momofuku Restaurant Group. While the name Momofuku is synonymous with high end restaurants; Chef Chang’s beginnings were a…

Locofama: Inconsistent food but worse, bad service

I have a bit of a problem. You see, I’m on this super health kick that’s seen me drop about ten kilos and get very fit; that in itself is not a problem 🙂 But there is the fact that I’m a food blogger and really really love excessively fatty food; most notably calorie dense…

Arcane: The tastiest of meals

What is it that stops a restaurant from achieving that all elusive Michelin Star? It’s a question that probably has no clear answer. I guess, if you could package up all the right ingredients, then everyone would have one. It was also something that I’ve long pondered about one particular restaurant. Arcane is a restaurant…

Mexico City: Biko #65 in the World

I really didn’t know what to expect for my visit to Mexico City; but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous. After all, I was heading into the great unknown, although what I did know was that my intended destination was one of the murder capitals of the world. My trepidation…

Rech: The Alain Ducasse replacement restaurant

At what point does a chef throw in the towel with a concept? Is it when dropping from two Michelin Stars to one? Or the final ignominy of losing that final Michelin Star? I never went to Spoon by Alain Ducasse when it was a Two Michelin Starred restaurant, but I did have the pleasure…

Montreal: Toqué! Canada’s #2 Restaurant

I was cut, completely disappointed. When I found out that Canada’s number 2 restaurant (then #1) was located in Montreal, a city that I’d be spending a few days visiting for work, I immediately set about making a reservation. All to no avail. It seemed that (like most places), Montreal’s top restaurant was hard to get…

The Optimist: Another Spanish gem in Wanchai

There is this ‘no mans land‘ in Wanchai; it’s not quite in the hip and cool part, and it’s not quite in the seedier strip club district. It’s not really anything to be honest, but it most certainly is an unexpected spot to find a surprisingly authentic Spanish restaurant. We’d walked past The Optimist a…

Canada: Maison Boulud

It was a shock to my system, to be honest. I landed in Montreal with a temperature that was minus 17 degrees; yep, that’s right, a temperature where man cannot really survive for long. When you’re in the depths of winter, you really look for that hearty and warming meal that both keeps you warm,…

Honbo: Burgers that are a little healthy, right?

There’s not too many things I actually get cravings for; but I will admit that a good hamburger is something that I sometimes have a physical craving for. Maybe not such a good thing; all of the best burgers are pretty much not so healthy, so eating them too often can be a problem. The…

Paris: 2* L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon Paris St Germain

The original and the best? It’s what I hoped to find out when I recently made a pilgrimage to the original L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, located in the most Parisian of quarters; the 6th arrondissement. I’ve been to many of the L’Atelier’s around the globe; and there are many. It’s probably easier to list the…

12,000 Francs: Preservation is the name of the game

With a weird name that makes no sense initially, 12,000 Francs has delivered a meal that was incredibly rewarding. Let me explain. In 1795, a little fellow by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte offered a princely sum of 12,000 Francs to anyone who could devise a method of preserving food for his all conquering armies….

Paris: Arpège #12 & 3* in the World

Is it me, or is it you? It’s a question I’ve been struggling with for a little while now. I’m fortunate enough that I get to eat at some of the finest restaurants in the world, quite regularly. Lately, I’ve been contemplating just what it means to chase down meals at the world’s top restaurants;…

London: 1* The Clove Club #26 in the World

It’s been a pretty big week in the foodie world. At some point, you probably saw that the latest #Worlds50Best was released; you know, the annual glorification of the top end of the restaurant scene. I must admit, I watched the ceremony through the live streaming site and was interested to see who the winners and…

Pici: The most amazing pasta

Let me throw some numbers at you 19, 26, 31, 43, 45, 65 & 80 These numbers represent some of the best restaurants in the world; in fact, they are the number ranking of restaurants on the San Pellegrino list that I’ve visited in the last six weeks. I’ve been chasing that elusive high, the…

1* Elystan Street: The Square 2.0?

When I sat down to reflect on, then write about my top ten list from 2015, one restaurant stood out above all others. I’d love to have said it was a Hong Kong restaurant; but despite having some amazing meals in my new home, it was a UK restaurant that had won my heart. You…

London: 2* Dinner by Heston Blumenthal #39* in the world

Here’s what my Monday looked like: Flight arrives in London at 5:30am Check into Hotel at 7:30am F45 Training Session at 9:30am Visit to Lyle’s at 12:30pm Visit to Dinner by Heston at 6:30pm If ever there was a contrast between the old culinary world and the new, this was it. Lunch was at a…