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When travelling to new places,
whether for food-related reasons or
not, I always use these top tips:
• Follow your nose. When choosing
somewhere to eat, shun the obvious
and follow your nose. If you pass a
restaurant that smells great, eat
there. Your sense of adventure will
be enhanced as you come off the
beaten track to find those hidden
wonders.
brains behind this informal level
of fine-dining that was recently
awarded a Bib Gourmand. His
Beetroot, Beetroot and More
Beetroot is a wonder to behold
and the chicken butter will have
you shunning all other butters for
the foreseeable future.
• L’Atelier by Joël Robuchon,
Covent Garden. Again, visit for
lunch and experience Michelin-
starred amazingness. Order the
crispy, noodle-wrapped hen’s egg
and record your reaction for your
next Insta-story. I promise that
your wide-eyed wonderment will
get likes.
o o San Sebastian, Spain. Small
enough to be relatively quaint,
large enough to have thriving
beaches and nightlife. The number
of Michelin stars per square metre
is extraordinarily high, but the cost
of these eateries may restrict you to
a one-off visit. Supplement a three-
Michelin star night out, with the
restaurants hidden around the city
and try the amazing array of fresh
seafood, as well as the brilliantly
evocative
Basque-style
tapas;
pintxos.
o o Romania – This is on our to-do-very-
soon list, as I have been lucky enough
to be in the presence of Romanians
and their cuisine for the past four
years. The Transylvania and Bucovina
regions stand out especially, but a
famous ‘must-try’ restaurant is the
Caru cu Bere in Bucharest, as well
as the slightly more ubiquitous,
Taverna Sarbului, which can be
found in multiple locations. Thanks
to my fellow teacher, Alexandra
Fatu, I can recommend that you try
tripe soup; a soup well known across
the Balkan, Bulgarian, Turkish, and
Greek regions. Just try not to think
about what is inside the soup, but
it will invigorate you for the holiday
fun you have planned. Alex’s top tip
for you is in line with my own; try it
all! Romanians have a special gift for
making the weird and unappetizing
taste amazing.
o o Amman, Jordan. This is my wild-
card. Wandering down Rainbow
Street and trying mansaf is
contrasted by fine dining in the
major hotels, but one thing is the
same - the aromas and flavours of
the Middle East remain with you
and are distinct enough from what
we eat here in the UAE. Once you
have braved the roads, the walkable
centre of Amman is littered with
history and wonder. This is definitely
the place to follow your nose around
the backstreets, where you can find
meals that cost almost nothing.
• Try the same dish more than
once. For example, when I first tried
bouillabaisse and mansaf, I tried
them in different places so that I
could compare how they made me
feel. This ensures that you avoid
eating one inferior version of a dish
and having a skewed view of what a
dish/cuisine should really be.
• Be open-minded and polite. This is
so obvious, but my own experience
of travelling with others shows
me that so very few do this. As
international teachers, this should
be a given, so allow yourself to try
the local foodstuff. A polite manner
will encourage restaurants to let you
try samples of their favourite dishes,
especially if you try and order in the
native tongue.
• Ask the locals. Where do they go?
What is their favourite dish? What do
they eat to celebrate? The answers
to these questions should ensure an
authentic experience.
• Do not ask the internet. Following
on from the point above (and
bearing in mind you are reading
this via the web), popular websites
for travellers are full of angry,
biased people. The fact that a fake
restaurant was able to become the
number one rated eatery in London
tells you everything you need to
know. Be brave, explore for yourself.
I hope that these four destinations can
at least inspire your own journeys or
change the way you eat when travelling.
Too often, I see conservatism and
mundanity in food choices, when
being on holiday should be the time
to remove those culinary shackles
and go wild. Where are you going this
summer for your travels, and what can
you expect from the cuisine? I am keen
to hear more at @finediningmatt.