With over 100 years of experience, Izuju Sushi is renowned for Kyoto-style sushi. Sitting on prime real estate in Kyoto’s Gion district -- across from the Yasaka Shrine gates -- Izuju has been on a roll since World War II. Bright red entrance curtains reveal a century-old interior decked in wooden Japanese panels and furniture, traditional paper walls and sepia photos honoring past chefs and family members. Diners pack a handful of tables to enjoy Izuju’s Kyozushi (Kyoto’s sweet style of sushi). Best eaten without soy sauce, the condiment is not offered on each table but will be provided if you ask. Restaurant staff says soy sauce overpowers the taste of the sushi’s delicate sweetness, specifically the rice. Fans recommend ordering a sharing plate like the saba-zushi (chub mackerel and kelp sushi), which includes many items from the menu. Chub mackerel is not a delicate-tasting fish, but the kelp wrapping and sweetened rice take some of the fishy kick out. The inari-zushi, sweet rice wrapped in a tofu pouch, is delicious. The selection of hako (boxed) sushi — seafood or vegetables pressed into sweetened rice with wooden frames — includes sea bream and shimeji mushrooms. 

If the lines are too long, consider takeout. Izuju is worth discovering.

Maneki is impressive on paper: well-over a century old, it’s seen celebrated sushi chefs start their careers and even employed a future Japanese prime minister in the dish pit. But it’s even better in person, when you can taste the food: huge slabs of fresh fish comes as nigiri, draped over the rice like a royal cape; marinated black cod, sticky with flavour, flakes at the sight of a fork; and both are complemented with the gentle sour of elegant pickles. A reservation is a requisite, especially for those hoping for one of the coveted tatami rooms, but, should you show up unannounced, check for a spot at the bar where, if the timing is good, an octogenarian known as “Mom” will serve your snacks and sake. 

Sattelei is in an old hiking hut set in the forest, a short walk from the Bareiss hotel, who own it. The setting, surrounded by pine trees, is magical. Here waitresses in traditional costume serve steins of beer and hearty local dishes. We enjoyed a very delicate tarte flambee (a kind of local flatbread or pizza) and a much more rustic Swabian pork dish with mustard and excellent sauerkraut. To finish you can try apple strudel or Black Forest gateau.

Baurenstube is a cosy little dining room in the same wooden building as its 3 Michelin star sister Schwarzwaldstube. It serves rustic local dishes, as its name suggests (Bauren is “peasant”). For example, you might try excellent lentil stew with bacon and Frankfurter sausage, which was rich and comforting. You could finish with their take on Black Forest gateau, a lovely concoction of cherries and chocolate.

This three Michelin star restaurant is in a luxury hotel at the base of a gorgeous Black Forest valley, so as you look up you see the pine forest on either side. The cuisine is traditional French. The head chef has worked here for decades. You may try dishes such as langoustine tails with fried fennel with two contrasting sauces or venison from Bareiss’s own hunting estate, cooked with juniper and chanterelles and served with baby vegetables. A wide variety of spectacular cheese and mignardise selection are also available here. 

The most famous restaurant in Germany and running since 1978, Schwarzwaldstube has a lovely view of the Black Forest and has three Michelin stars. Thirty other chefs that have trained here now have Michelin stars of their own. Its cuisine is firmly classical French but using German ingredients where appropriate, such as local venison. Enjoy dishes such as red mullet with artichokes and bell pepper nage, rich lamb royale and finish with pitted cherries with a hazelnut core and cherry granita. 

Sugar toads, a tiny species of nonpoisonous puffer fish with a sweet, mild flavor are abundant in the Chesapeake Bay region where they are eaten as a delicacy. At The Dabney, chef/owner Jeremiah Langhorne treats sugar toads like Buffalo wings and the result is a legendary bar snack. Dunked in a buttermilk marinade spiked with hot sauce and salt, the fish are dredged in seasoned flour, dunked and dredged again. Deep-fried for a few minutes, they are tossed in a glaze of local honey, house-made hot sauce and benne seeds (similar to sesame seeds). Served with a buttermilk dressing infused with a Pecorino-style cheese from Pennsylvania, mayonnaise, chopped parsley, chervil, tarragon and chive, the fish arrive with a small salad and sprinkled with more benne seeds and chives.

Pro tip: If you order sugar toads, eat them with your hands, Langhorne says. “I think that’s the best way to eat a lot of things.”

Read the blog post: https://tinyurl.com/yypv8q7f

Chef Aaron Silverman helms Rose's Luxury, recently ranked the No. 1 new restaurant in America by “Bon Appetit” magazine. Customers often wait hours for a taste of Silverman’s treats, including his Pork Lychee Salad. Served in an appetizer portion, the intense and spicy dish blends sautéed sausage and garlic with fresh basil, cilantro and mint leaves, roasted peanuts, shichimi togarashi (an Asian spice mix), lychees, thinly sliced red onion, lime juice and a flourish of coconut-chile sauce.

The invention of the gourmet panini can be traced to Bar Quadronno, one of the oldest sandwich bars in Milan. According to legend, in 1964 a barman named Faravelli decided to elevate the simple michetta of salami, ham and cheese by adding sauces and culinary delicacies. His made-to-order panino imbottito (stuffed panino) creations topped with cheeses, truffles and high quality cured meats continue to attract fans today.

Ramen Jiro opened in 1968 near Keio University. Fifty years later, hungry students and fans still brave the queues and time-worn interior for manly portions of Ramen Jiro. The faithful return because the shop kick-started the Ramen Jiro trend – and all of Tokyo’s other 30-plus Ramen Jiros are descended from it in some way. Thick noodles, chunks of fatty pork, a mound of cabbage and bean sprouts are enhanced with garlic and karame, a special soy sauce-based seasoning, to create the classic dish. The bread flour noodles are coarser than normal ramen, in diameter and uniformity, and the pork stock is fatty but lighter than a Fukuoka-style tonkotsu broth.  At the original shop, with its red Formica counter, a row of bar stools and antique meal ticket vending machine, Ramen Jiro creator Takumi Yamada cues up piles of ingredients and trains apprentices, who go on to open branches around greater Tokyo.