A Fine Dining Journal
A Fine Dining Journal
Where every table is a stage.
A journal dedicated to the art of dining — written for those who understand that a great meal is not merely about what is on the plate, but everything that surrounds it: the narrative of a course, the philosophy of a chef, the weight of a room.
Scroll to read
"Two days in, already at world-class technique"
The halibut held a firmness and a chew that did not register as halibut at all, closer in texture to a good Japanese scallop or one cooked with only the lightest touch of heat. I do not recall ever encountering this level of cooking precision in a dish from a Korean chef before.
Read the full reviewA three-star team without a superstar, and a baseline for the Spanish path to fine dining
Anyone who has planned a serious dining trip to Barcelona will know two restaurants there: the three-star Lasarte and the one-star Oria. Both are Berasategui's, and both take their names from this very neighbourhood, Lasarte-Oria.
03The Japanese path to tonkatsu, met by Korea on its own terms
Not one of them has fundamentally shaken my view that this is the single dish where Korea, on its own terms, has caught up.
04Japan's number-one French on Tabelog, and the cleanest test case for the Michelin gap
What Ao's cooking demonstrates is what happens when the quality of ingredients is pushed to the very top of the scale: the flavour of the produce is not overwhelmed by the sauce, which is the central pillar of French cooking, but stands beside it and holds its own.
"The greatest meals I have known shared one quality: they did not ask to be admired. They asked to be understood."Mise en Scène — On Fine Dining
About
I am not a professional critic. I am a dedicated diner — someone for whom the act of sitting down at a great restaurant is an act of serious attention. Over the years I have eaten at the three-star tables of Paris, in the seafood counters of San Sebastián, at the sushi-ya of Tokyo, and in the mountain auberges of Provence.
This journal exists because I believe that the best writing about food starts not with the menu, but with the experience of being in the room. I write in English to share these experiences beyond borders. The tables I love have no nationality.
— Mise en Scène
Follow on Instagram →Join the Conversation
Behind the reviews — the photographs, the moments, the lists.
Follow on Instagram
