Salon Romano
Salon Romano is chef Eyal Shani’s hip Mediterranean bar restaurant in south Tel Aviv. With its raw bar and gastro pub design, Romano invites you to stroll around, enjoy the atmosphere and, of course, the great food. Shani’s fans come here for one of Israeli’s most talked-about dishes in the city: French fries. Shani calls his “the best fries in the world.” His trick? Large potato strips are triple fried, then dried for several hours in the refrigerator, which creates a thick, crispy crust while retaining a soft interior. The fries are served warm with excellent homemade mayonnaise and tomato sauce. These golden treats are so precious they are limited to one bag per table.

Le Jardin Restaurants & Bars
No dining experience on the Gold Coast would be complete without a visit to Palazzo Versace. Opened in 2000 as the first Versace hotel in the world, the hotel embodies sophistication and luxury. Designed as a reflection of the architecture of the Riviera as well as a tribute to Gianni Versace’s life, the interiors, from furnishings to cushions and tableware to cutlery, were designed and furnished by Versace. A magnificent chandelier that formerly belonged to Gianni Versace takes pride of place in the hotel’s marbled lobby. Despite its luxurious setting overlooking the hotel’s pool, the Couture High Tea in Le Jardin is surprisingly welcoming and relaxed. Served on a three-tiered stand, the new menu is the handiwork of Executive Pastry Chef Alex Liddle (previously at Hayman Island, Merivale, Becasse and The Ritz, London). It’s a feast of delightful morsels including savories such as house-cured salmon open sandwiches, asparagus and gorgonzola tartlets, saffron scones with Valrhona dolce crema and apricot jam, and handmade macarons with hand-piped banana ganache. Top it off with a glass of ‘R’ champagne from Ruinart, the oldest champagne house in the world. This is an exquisite indulgence not to be missed.

Madrigal
Madrigal, nestled in the heart of the Casco Viejo neighborhood of Panama City, is the restaurant of Michelin-starred chef Andrés Madrigal, who moved from Spain to Panama a few years ago. Well-traveled, the chef’s menu often features dishes with Asian, European and Latin influences and, like many of his generation, he tends to use local ingredients. Masterfully prepared local fish and seafood are the stars at Madrigal, including Caldereta Mallorquina, a seafood cazuela with jumbo shrimp, lobster, squid, clams and a rich fish stock; or what the chef calls “Cocina sin Fronteras” (Food without Boundaries), a trio of yellow corn arepas filled with a tuna salad, bao buns stuffed with squid in a tomato sauce, and Panamanian carimañolas (yuca croquettes) stuffed with caramelized pancetta. Also in his repertoire: Pulpo con Mojo Afroantillano con Papas revolconas (octopus with a curry mojo and potatoes); and the favorite Arroz Socarrat con guandú, setas y pollito orgánico (Socarrat-style rice with pigeon peas, mushrooms and organic chicken). Desserts at Madrigal are works of art, like the pannacotta of white chocolate and passion fruit, and the tiramisu, which is probably the best I’ve ever tried anywhere.

Azafrán
Alvaro Perrino is a young Spanish chef who owns and runs the kitchen at Azafrán, one of the hottest restaurants in Panama City. Every dish he serves is masterfully prepared with mostly locally sourced ingredients and impeccable technique. Azafrán, meaning saffron in English, speaks of a Spanish origin but here chef Perrino mixes global influences with his native cuisine. Thus, you will find dishes like octopus a la plancha sitting on a bed of creamy hummus, braised short ribs in a dark ale sauce with Parmesan risotto, and chocolate croquetas for dessert. They offer a decent wine list and very good service. Reservations are highly recommended.

Salt & Malt
Michelin-starred chef Josh Eggleton is now part owner of Salt & Malt - a tea room and fish and chip shop on the edge of the Chew Valley Lake, just a short drive from Bristol's city center. This is the place to go for fish and chips: perfectly cooked, juicy line-caught fish, the best chips I've had this year and vibrantly fresh crushed peas. Be sure to try their chip shop curry sauce. It's perfect for dunking the chips in.

Cicchetti
Cicchetti is stylishly classy yet welcoming, boasting impeccable service, an award-worthy wine list and Michelin star earning culinary prowess. The dining experience is never far from Venice, two of the owners’ city of heritage. Featuring Vince Valitutti’s atmospheric photographs of Venice’s famous canals, it’s easy to catch the allusion: Cicchetti is merely the palette that shows off the subtleties of Venetian culture, her attentive sophisticated service and the diversity of her cuisine. Fare is classic Italian with a modern twist. Cassiunzei, (beetroot ravioli made in the mountains of Belluno), gets a tweak of regional modernity by adding goat cheese curds to enhance the sweetness of the beetroot, freshness and crunch in the form of candied walnuts and sprigs of local chervil. Spectacular and delicious, it’s impossible not to be impressed.

BSKT Cafe
Owned by four Titans football players, BSKT started as a simple concept: a dual function holistic café integrated with a yoga/pilates center upstairs to offer the best in food and health practices all under one roof. The business has now diversified, launching a range of health foods – bars, chocolate, granola and super foods. Health is the key at BSKT: unadulterated, nutrient-rich food with vegetarian, antioxidant and gluten-free options clearly marked on the menu. There also is a little dairy (besides goat cheese). While some food names might be foreign to the uninitiated, the dishes still hold familiar elements: eggs, bread, rice, salad, steak and fish. There’s even a burger with chips and a beer or wine to go with it. One of our favorite dishes is the BSKT Healthy Bene - poached free-range eggs with smoked salmon and spinach on house-made native flat bread (our choice of bread) topped with kalenaise. Add in a side of asparagus, and it’s super food for superheroes.

Etsu Izakaya
Wildly popular, Etsu is a "whole concept" dining experience. It begins at the izakaya signpost, a red lantern outside the fortress-like wooden door, continuing with the barrel of Hokusai’s Great Wave, a rogue ocean "okinami" that runs along the ceiling of the restaurant. Past the bar, the restaurant opens up into a satirical Japanese comic book mural by local artist Mark Wilson. Diners embark on a dining experience for all the senses, swept away by classic izakaya delights, paired with a good range of Japanese drinks: sparkling sake to accompany sashimi, Japanese beer to team with tempura, sake, shochu, Plum wine and Japanese-inspired cocktails. Order a selection of small dishes or "omakase," a Japanese phrase that means "I'll leave it up to you," the chef’s choice. Value adding, the McCluskeys, owners of both Etsu and Commune in Burleigh, have purchased land to grow organic vegetables, particularly Japanese herbs that are difficult to source. Etsu is A modern take on a timeless Oriental story,

The Paddock Bakery
The Paddock, tucked away on a backstreet of Burleigh, began with the painstaking renovation of an 80-year-old weatherboard beach cottage. Reborn with gardens, a vegetable and herb patch and a front lawn where diners sit on outdoor furniture under a tree, a white picket fence completes the look. Inside, surrounded by antique farm and bakery pieces, the wood-fired oven forms the blazing heart of the house. It’s on display, with the rest of the working bakery, behind floor-to-ceiling glass and, along with the garden, it’s an obvious embodiment of farm-to-table dining. The oven also is the key to The Paddock’s evolving menu. Using carefully sourced local produce, free-range eggs and house-made sauces, bread straight from the wood-fired oven forms the central core of the menu. The ever-popular Dippy Eggs (‘Egg and soldiers’ to me), served in an egg carton with sourdough toast soldiers and organic trimmings, dips right into the nostalgia bucket, taking us back to our childhood breakfast.

The Lamb Shop
Peter Gloftis’ The Lamb Shop oozes masculinity; a modern take on an old-fashioned butchery with a spit perched above glowing coals, and your meal being prepared by gorgeous men in leather butchers’ aprons. Peel away the mystique. How we love to watch men at work! It’s a workman’s meal: a modern take on traditional souvlaki, with no shortcuts taken. Choose your meat: shoulders of Junee lamb and Byron Bay pork are marinated for 24 hours, then slow-cooked over charcoal for 4 to 5 hours, basted constantly during cooking. Then the meat is packed into a soft pita with onion, parsley, tzatziki and, in a turn which would make the purists blush, hand-cut chips. Earthy and unfussy, it carries the legacy of coals and herbs that only slow cooking brings. The flavors play with my imagination as well. If only we could see where this aroma had wafted before through history, what stories would it bring?