By Cedric Lizotte
PARIS, France – “To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.” And even if that weren’t true, there’s a lifelong romance that was sparked by the author of these lines: Oscar Wilde gave his last breath at L’Hôtel d’Alsace and, since then, the place has been marketed as such. It’s the smallest 5-star…
ROME, Italy – Some fancy restaurants want to offer a prim and proper atmosphere. Some like to go over the top. Some fine-dining establishments make everything extra-formal, strict, procedural, and every single move is associated with a specific etiquette. And some other higher-end restaurants simply want (you) to have fun. For me, restaurant Imago, in…
ROME, Italy – When chef Oliver Glowig left hotel Aldrovandi Villa Borghese’s restaurant, Assaje, he took his Michelin star with him. The famous chef’s exit was never explained officially, leaving the reason behind the split up to speculation. But when the hotel hired a chef in his early 30’s to replace him, many deducted that…
ROME, Italy – Being treated to a wonderful fine dining restaurant is one thing. Being invited by one of the most iconic celebrity chefs out there – Heinz Beck – to one of the most decorated restaurants in the world – La Pergola – atop the grandest hotel in the Italian capital – the Rome…
ROME, Italy – It was in the middle of service, during my visit at La Pergola in Rome, that chef Heinz Beck invited me to the kitchen to have a chat. Chef Beck, in his kitchen whites, directs a large team of cooks in a kitchen that sometimes looks like a science lab. With good…
MUNICH, Germany – The capital of Bavaria is known for its beer festival, Oktoberfest, and it dictates what to eat in Munich. Every year people drink hundreds of litres of good beer, eat kilometres of sausage and scarf down thousands of roast chickens. But does Munich, during the rest of the year, resemble the city…
PRAGUE, Czech Republic – Foodie travellers — the brand new fashionable term for gourmands who like to spend time on the road — like to stop and eat pretty much everywhere in Western Europe. Barcelona, Paris, Rome, Copenhagen, so many great destinations for foodies. But for the countries of Central Europe — especially the ones that were…
What’s a food blogger to do when a dinner goes awry? I don’t pay for the meals I review on this website. I don’t disburse a penny and get to eat in some of the best restaurants in the world in exchange for my work. Of course, if my website was full of negative reviews,…
In this series, Cédric Lizotte visits some of Europe’s best restaurants. He shares his inside knowledge about the best places to sample the delights of some of the best chefs on the planet. Follow his gastronomical journey with the hashtag #CedricInEurope. ZURICH, Switzerland – Obviously, 24 hours in Zurich is not nearly enough. On the…
MARSEILLE, France – Marseille, France’s second most populous city, is too frequently overlooked or avoided by tourists who have been turned off by news reports portraying it as the French capital of crime. Someone should have told me that before I showed up there! All my things were stolen at the Saint-Charles train station. Passport,…