Top restaurants set to go global

Once there was a time when we travelled for a change of scene and food; now we travel huge distances, risking deep-vein thrombosis, hijack or, at the very worst, the theft of our Louis Vuitton luggage, to be able to follow the same routine that we keep in London.

We no longer rate a destination by how exotic it is, but by the quality of its designer shopping. Is the Prada there bigger or better? Does its Loewe carry more sunglasses than London? But the real kitemark of approval is the presence of the food that we know and love.

This is not a new concept: one has long been able to walk into a McDonald's in Bangkok or a Burger King in Bogot?. But these days, the chain is chic not cheesy. Any city worth its Air Miles has to boast a Nobu or Vong , perhaps something by Alain Ducasse, or a bar in a hotel by Ian Schrager.

In Nobu's case, it even has a branch at 35,000 feet - in BA's London-Tokyo route . There are also plans to take the Groucho and Soho House across the Atlantic, so that if you get homesick you can slump in your favourite third place.

One of the first practitioners of global chain-dining was Michael Chow. His influence on shaping the eating habits of at least two generations of the global elite has been seismic. Mr Chow on Knightsbridge opened in 1967, and branches in Beverly Hills and New York followed shortly after.

What is most interesting is that the rules Chow established then are still followed today by those hoping to break into the lucrative world of international haute cuisine chain-eating. A restaurant has to be design-led and have a high art content (Mr Chow features Peter Blake, Jim Dine, Warhol, Haring, Basquiat); design-conscious touches are everywhere (menu covers at Mr Chow are from Herm?s); the importance of a cleverly placed label cannot be underrated.

Alan Yau, who launched the £4-million Hakkasan off Tottenham Court Road, and is hoping to take his concept to New York, LA and three more cities, has Bill Amberg waiters' wallets, Hussein Chalayan uniforms and a Christian Liaigre interior. Nobu staff wear Donna Karan. Menu covers at Hush (branches planned for Monaco and Geneva) are by Angelo Galasso of Interno 8.

Food must be quirky and of a unique genre that is not entirely geographically specific. This 'World Cooking' follows the same ethos as World Music - it belongs to all and is not just the property of one country. Thus, the food is exotic everywhere, freeing it from the restrictions of one culinary genre. Another advantage is that pedantic foodies are lost without a geo- and gastro-specific context within which to deconstruct the cuisine. Food that is as entirely sui generis as Chow's green prawns can only be judged by its own standards simply because it is only offered by Chow.

People will then travel across the world to eat Chow's green prawns, much as they do Nobu's black cod and Wolfgang Puck's gourmet pizzas, which defined late-Eighties Cal-Ital cooking. These items are to the gastro-tourist what the Eiffel Tower or Taj Mahal were to an earlier generation of travellers.

Diffusion restaurants, like fashion labels, have become an important part of maximising brand value. Sure, Ducasse has a brace of triple-Michelin-starred restaurants, but his pick-and-mix eaterie Spoon+ offers a less expensive, less formal, yet Ducasse-branded experience. If Nobu in New York is full, then try Nobu Next Door, its less formal sibling; in London you can shun the noise and fast table turnover of Nobu Park Lane for a takeaway from Ubon in Canary Wharf.