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At the Michelin-starred restaurant resting inside a quiet and cozy room on West 11th Street in New York’s charming West Village, chef Kurt Gutenbrunner wows diners with his modern Austrian fare. At Wallsé, the well-known and well-established eatery that has become a regular hang-out of New York’s art world elite – like Julian Schnabel – guests are treated as members of the Austrian Habsburg empire. And, I’m not complaining. Recently sitting down to dinner at the modern and beautifully decorated restaurant, I found out, first hand, what all the talk was about. Upon entering, it is obvious that attention and love is in the details. The entire room is thought-up and constructed by Austrian designers, right down to chairs that date back to the early 1900s. The silverware, the china, the art – it’s all Austrian. I was escorted to my table and immediately presented with a menu. I opted for the 6-course tasting which is curated by the chef. An amuse-bouche of quail egg and trout roe was delivered. Even in its tiny stature, the flavor packed a punch that left me excited for the additional courses to follow. Like the ever-graceful Danube River, food flowed effortlessly from the kitchen to table. Red beat terrine with horseradish, snail ravioli with butternut squash, cod with chanterelle mushrooms and cherry tomatoes, slow-cooked skate with clams, artichokes and basil, sea scallop with pineapple, tomato and yellow-curry sauce, venison goulash with wild mushrooms and, to finish, apple strudel with cinnamon ice cream. All of this was paired with a strictly Austrian variety of wines that matched the flavors of the meal perfectly. The service at Wallsé is extraordinary. It’s clear the people working at the restaurant believe in their product and are genuinely happy to share it with their guests. It shows. Mr. Gutenbrunner’s dinner is marvelous and worth the cultural exploration if you’re not familiar with traditional Austrian cooking. The flavors, simplified, are accessible to most palettes and will please you. They did me. I will definitely be back for more.

Chef Hans Zahner invites you to La Cuisine, the Michelin starred restaurant at the beautiful Hotel Royal Monceau in Paris. And, if you like good food, you should accept his invitation. I dined in the modern and gracious space for lunch recently. When you enter the restaurant you instantly get the feeling you’ve arrived to an immaculately clean and well-designed dream space – fit only for the most delicious and beautiful food in the city. Lunch in the dining room allows you enough time to notice the thought-out decor, imagined by Philippe Starck, which includes an open kitchen plan with gleaming surfaces and staff dressed in crisp white uniforms. The tables are set perfectly, some private booths have fabulously oversized silver domes that reflect soft light to give each diner the perfect glow. If appearance and lighting is important to you, this restaurant has your back. The food during my lunch included: an amuse-bouche of crab, blue lobster salad, white fish laced with truffles and dessert by famed pastry chef Pierre Hermé. It all dazzled me. The flavor profiles and presentation were unparalleled. Macarons came in varieties like rose, foie gras with fig and orange. They were all interesting, creative and delicious. I managed to stuff two slices of king’s cake into my mouth before running to my next engagement. Truthfully, I wish I could have spent another few days lunching at La Cuisine with the multiple options that enticed me. But, I take comfort in the fact that there’s always next time.

Augustiner Breau is a restaurant and brewery in the center of Berlin whose reputation is based on their delicious and traditional Bavarian food as well as their handcrafted beer. Berlin is a melting pot of cultures and cuisines. So, it’s not likely you’ll run in to delicacies that the international set typically think of when they think of German Food. But, at Augustiner Breau, you will meet the heartiest and tastiest German food in Northern Europe. I dined at the establishment, which sprouted from the original Munich brewery opened in 1328. Inside, the wide oak flooring, wooden tables lit with single white candlesticks and huge pints of beer make for the perfect ambiance to send your mind clear into the German Alps for the evening. I sat at the table, breathing deep in an effort to prepare myself for large portions and many courses ahead. Course after course I indulged in homemade soft pretzels, potato and vegetable soup with marjoram and wiener sausages, Bavarian sausages with mashed potato and sauerkraut and a famous Augustiner beer. For dessert I ordered their incomparable warm apple strudel. By the time the strudel came, I was waving a white flag back and forth in an effort to surrender to the kitchen. I couldn’t eat one more bite, but I did. I would recommend Augustiner Breau for those who want to experience an evening in Bavaria. My advice is to skip lunch though, otherwise you might not make it through dinner.