Later this week, Greedy Girl and her equally gluttonous husband are heading to Europe, via Singapore for two months of gorging. It’s a great time of year to go eating. Late spring, early summer produce is inspiring chefs and the weather is (sometimes) mild enough to dine alfresco or, at least, enjoy a promenade to walk off all those delectable calories in time to be able to sleep.
Greedy Girl has been assiduous in preparation – checking online restaurant reservation sites to try to get into as many of the San Pellegrino top 100 restaurants in the world. It’s better to do that before the list comes out in late April as the reservation systems tend to go into meltdown after the annoucement. A case in point – I managed to get a table at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal before it stormed into the list at number nine. I wouldn’t like my chances now.
So – apart from being on the waitlist for Noma for every lunch and dinner spot the week I’m going to be in Copenhagen, here are the restaurants I’m heading to and will report back on during this blog, as well as some other very special and personal food destinations.
- Dinner by Heston Blumenthal (London, 9)
- Steirereck (Vienna, 11)
- L’Atelier Saint-Germain de Joel Robuchon (Paris, 12)
- The Ledbury (London, 14)
- Mathias Dahlgren (Stockholm, 41)
- Restaurant Andre (Singapore, 68)
Speaking of Restaurant Andre – the exceedingly talented and delightful chef Andre Chiang (who responded to my cyber-stalking on Facebook when I was trying to find out where he went after Jaan par Andre on top of the Swissotel) made some wonderful recommendations for our trip and we’ve managed to get into one of them so far, Formel B in Copenhagen.
We’re also off to Gidleigh Park in Devon to enjoy the cuisine of the incredible Michael Caines, to Cornwall to do a cooking course with Rick Stein and check out the food of bright young chef Paul Ainsworth at Number 6 in Padstow. In France, we’re making a day trip to Lyon to go to Paul Bocuse – his restaurant in Melbourne (long gone, but not forgotten) was the first fine-dining experience my husband and I enjoyed together 15 years ago and in Paris, we’re doing an unashamedly touristy thing by visiting Le Jules Verne for dinner (an Alain Ducasse restaurant) on the Eiffel Tower.
We’ve booked all of these things online – a huge boon for travellers from far-flung places. Once we arrive in the northern hemisphere we’ll be ringing Noma on a daily basis to beg for a spot! Hey, it worked for us in New York City last year when we begged for a table at Per Se. Initially it felt like the early-bird special (having to arrive at 5.30pm) but we weren’t rushed and left just before 10pm, sated, heavier and very content.
Greedy Girl loves her food and looks forward to sharing her experiences with you.
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