Dining in Europe

8 rue des Grands-Augustins

33 1 43 26 75 96

Simply the best restaurant we have ever been to in the world. The chef, Manuel Martinez, has received the best chef award of France and spent years as the executive chef at La Tour d'Argent. The best deal is to go for their lunch menu. However, one must dress for this Paris establishment.

6 rue Coquilliere

33 1 40 13 77 00

A classic 24 hour restaurant in Les Halles, the old central market of Paris.  It features brasserie style food (i.e. sole meuniere, oysters, pigs feet, etc.) but has special dishes like ravioli stuffed with boudin noir with a cream lobster sauce.

Gare de Lyon

01 43 43 09 06

This restaurant is on the list of the National Monuments of France with a fin de siecle decor worthy of a voyage to another time. It is located in the Gare de Lyon and has probably the most reliable and best roast lamb in Paris. Recently, Michel Rostang was added as the Executive Chef.

21 bis Bd Diderot

01 43 43 99 70

An independent and authentic brasserie with an original art nouveau decor; good food in a Proustian atmosphere. 

10 rue de la Grande Truanderie

 01 40 26 09 36

Our favorite oriental restaurant in the world with a delicious cuisine fusing Chinese with Cambodian in a delicate blend; their frog legs and 5 perfume duck is not to be missed.

5 rue de la République 

33 4 90 86 17 07

If they have local lamb, it is hard to do better ordering it here; wash it down with a good bottle of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. You will not so much be eating in the medieval city of Popes as you are in the city of Petrarch and his love sonnets to Laura (not to mention her descendant, the Divine Marquis).

7 Place du Chapitre 

33 4 90 15 90 15

This was one of my favorite restaurants in the world with a garden and pool to die for, but it has recently changed ownership and does not seem to be as good or anglophone friendly. Still the grounds and site are unique. 

3 rue Commandant Lemaitre 

33 4 90 22 78 34

If the weather is nice, their garden dining looking down and over the Rhone should not be missed. This place has a great wine list, great history, and its food is good too. 

60 Chemin de l'Aire 

33 4 66 61 98 25

This is a place I continue to return to just for their lamb shank. Other items on their menu are great, and it really is off the beaten track but worth a detour from either Nimes or Montpellier.

Place du Village

33 4 66 85 43 94

Really off the beaten path in the heart of the Cevennes, about an hour and a half from Avignon, but the restaurant's site and view alone is worth the trip located as it is in an isolated mountain village. Before Covid the food was highly rated by the Guide Michelin and still seems to be.

via Rosina, 2

An authentic trattoria, catering to market workers and students. The place to get a real bistecca. It is run by the 3rd or 4th generation of the same family. Open for lunch Monday thru Saturday, and dinner Thursday and Friday. Not to be missed. 

via della Vigna Vecchia, 40r

The original restaurant that created vodka / gorgonzola sauce for penne pasta in the 70s. Needless to say, it is one of the best pasta restaurants you will find. Located near the Bargello Museum, which should not be missed, it is always busy.

via del Proconsolo, 8

Also near the Bargello, this is a much better restaurant than it seems, and charming too.

Piazza della Repubblica, 15

My favorite cafe in Firenze across from the legendary literary cafe, Le Giubbe Rosse (now closed), on a famous late 19th century plaza. Good for a morning coffee with a paste, people watching, and a light meal.

via Santo Spirito, 36r

Pricy but it carries an air of a restaurant in Firenze in the years just after WWII when water was not safe and electricity was delivered by a bare bulb with fly-paper with stuck insects hanging not far away.

via Panzani, 9/a

39 055 282802

A classic high-end joint, famous for the people who ate there in the past (60s and 70s) and not now.

1R via del Trebbio

39 055 213768

Classic and fancy Florentine restaurant, which is closed for the month of August each year. A place for bistecca fiorentina and super Tuscans, but not inexpensive.

via dei Cherchi, 34r

The best place in Firenze to get a mid-morning slice of pizza or the first day's pastry. Run by an ancient Florentine Jewish family that survived the Holocaust.

via Isola delle Stinche, 7r

The best Italian ice cream in the world on a street that follows the trace of the winding hypodrome of the late ancient Roman city of Florence.

via Torquato Taramelli, 70

39 02 683807

In walking distance from the main train station, this is one of the best seafood restaurants I have ever enjoyed, in the world. Their black rice made with squid ink is worth a trip all on its own to Milano; for years a one star Michelin rated joint.

via Fiori Chiari, 10

39 02 860663

Near the Brera Museum and not far from the Duomo, this restaurant serves Milanese classics and wine in a columned dining room or, weather permitting, an outdoor terrace. 

Marktgasse 21

Located in the oldest section of Zurich, the Niederdorf, steps away from the medieval cathedral (converted to a  with Protestant church in the 16th century), I find that it has the best Italian food at a reasonable price, although part of the Bindella restaurant chain. Get their wood fired thin sliced ham pizza.

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The best way to go to Ticino from Zurich is by train, and the best seat on the train is in the dining car. You can eat there even with a 2nd class ticket and eat in 1st class style. However, be sure to take the 11.06 or 1.06 train as that is direct and you will not need to change trains in the middle of Switzerland. The food is very good but be sure to spend a little more and order a bottle of Swiss wine and not beer (although the beer is excellent).

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