The chef recommends...

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10 April 2012

Five London foodies take Lucy Hunter Johnston on whistle-stop tours of their favourite gastronomic cities

Dynamic Delhi
by Ravinder Bhogal
I'm North Indian, and the inspiration for my cooking comes from the Persian and Mughal influences on the food of my childhood. They can all be found in Delhi. The city is full of little gems that have been there forever, but it is becoming increasingly cosmopolitan, with lots of contemporary places now as well.
Cook in Boots by Ravinder Bhogal is out now (HarperCollins)

WHERE TO EAT
Karim's This is a Delhi institution. They make biriyanis in vast copper pots, and then cook them in traditional clay ovens. The food is incredible. There are two; I'd go to the one in Old Delhi, overlooking the Red Fort. Matiya Mahal, opposite Hotel Bombay Orient (0091 11 2326 9800)
Paranthe Wali Gali This translates as Parantha Alley; it's in Chandni Chowk. Parantha are a North Indian staple, and you'll find the best ones in the whole of North India here.
The Olive Bar & Kitchen This is the latest hot hang-out; all the Bollywood stars love it. Go up to the roof terrace - it has the most stunning view. By candlelight it's really romantic. (olivebarandkitchen.com)
Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib I'm Sikh so I always go to the Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib, a beautiful and peaceful temple. If you want a free meal they do 'langar', an open kitchen for everyone; they feed about 9,000 people a day.
The Grey Garden The Hauz Khas village area is the Covent Garden of Delhi, with a thriving art scene. The Grey Garden is a sort of supper club, set up by three friends, serving modern food - everything from pear pizza to Japanese-style chicken. (00 91 11 2651 6450)

WHERE TO SHOP
Chandni Chowk Chandni Chowk has one of the biggest spice markets in the whole of Asia. You simply cannot miss it. Chandni Chowk itself is massive, and also sells wonderful fabrics and jewellery. Mittal Tea House is a great place to stop for a rest.
Khan Market This is a parade of high-end shops. Good Earth sells beautiful soft furnishings. Upstairs is the café Latitude 28, which does lovely chai. I have a stationery fetish, so I stock up on beautiful recycled paper with hand-blocked prints at Anand. (anandstationers.in)

WHERE TO STAY
Leela Palace Hotel Leela Palace is full-blown opulence. I love to lounge in the Library Bar with champagne and a book. It's somewhere to go for a really special treat. (theleela.com)

Exquisite Essaouira
by Mourad Mazouz
I was born in Algiers and when I first visited the coastal city of Essaouira many years ago I fell in love with this quaint and authentic corner of Morocco. Essaouira is like a smaller version of the Marrakech of 20 years ago, when it wasn't polluted by billboards and commercial hotels. The architecture of this walled city, perched on a long beach, is like something from a medieval film set.
Mourad Mouzaz is the founder of Sketch, Momo and Momo at the Souks, Beirut

WHERE TO EAT
Gargote is a tiny restaurant on the beachfront. If you wander down across the port, you will stumble upon it, but it doesn't feature on any websites or in any travel guides so it can be difficult to find. But when you track it down, you will eat the freshest fish you'll ever taste. It comes straight from the morning's catch so changes daily. Ask a local for directions.
Elizir is a small and popular restaurant in a very stylish riad. I love it because it's just like eating in someone's home, which is very romantic. They serve amazing local food, such as tagine, and some Italian dishes as well, including a very good cuttlefish risotto, and gnocchi. 1 rue d'Agadir (00 212 524 472103)

WHERE TO STAY
Riad al Madina is one of the old houses in Essaouira. It was built in 1871 and is charming. It's inside the old walls, hidden in a mass of narrow streets, and is one of the most popular riads in the town. It's where all the international artists stay when they visit for the Festival de Gnaoua. (riadalmadina.com)
Villa Maroc was the first riad in the city to build a spa and is the best place to go for a massage. They offer all the traditional Arabic treatments and a hammam, and also serve delicious home-cooked food. (villa-maroc.com)
Dar Mimosas is built in the middle of a beautiful forest of mimosa trees, right at the edge of the ocean. It has a variety of beautifully decorated suites, each furnished with antiques and wonderful paintings. There is space for just 24 guests, so it feels very intimate. It's the perfect place to hide away. (00 212 24 475934)
Heure Bleue Palais For a more traditional hotel experience it can only be Heure Bleue Palais, a colonial-style former palace with a roof terrace to die for and spectacular views over the beach. (heure-bleue.com)

WHEN TO GO
Festival de Gnaoua: 21-24 June
The best time to visit is during this music festival, which encompasses all types of music, from jazz to rock. The musicians perform together, fusing their different styles; it's a bit mad but super-cool and non-commercial. The performances are in the evening, giving you time to chill in the morning and trawl the medina for artefacts, or lounge on the beach in the afternoon. (festival-gnaoua.net)

Perfect Paris
by Pierre Koffmann
I come from the Pyrenees yet Paris is my favourite city in the world to spend a weekend and eat good food. I've never lived there but I go twice a year. If you're in Paris, you must walk everywhere, all day long. It's the best way to see the city, and you always see something new.
Koffmann's (the-berkeley.co.uk/koffmanns.aspx)

WHERE TO EAT
La Brasserie Thoumieux Jean-François Piège has two restaurants in this building. On the first floor is his two-Michelin-starred Le Restaurant de Jean-François Piège and on the ground floor is this lovely brasserie. He does very traditional French food, brilliantly cooked. (thoumieux.fr)
Le Taxi Jaune This bistro is run by a chef who used to work for me, Otis Lebert. It is a simple place, but the food is very nice indeed and he changes the menu every day. It
is in a really eclectic part of Paris, between Menilmontant and Oberkampf, so you get to see a different side of the city. (taxijaune.fr)
Rino Eating here is like eating in someone's garage; there is no décor and it is very small, just a little kitchen/dining room. The chef is Italian, and mixes this inspiration with Provençal cooking. Jean-François Piège told me to go - he said he'd eaten his best meal in Paris there, for just 25, which makes it pretty unmissable. (rino-restaurant.com)
Le Repaire de Cartouche When I saw the menu here I thought the food wouldn't be good because it was so cheap. I was ready to leave but saw the wine list, which is one of the best in Paris, and we stayed. The food is very good but the service is so terrible it is almost comedic - it has very brusque French waiters - but as long as you take it as a joke then it is fine. 8 boulevard des Filles du Calvaire (00 33 1 47 00 25 86)

WHERE TO SHOP
Atelier Boutique Légeron This is a working atelier where they make artificial flowers for the top Paris couturiers. Ring the bell and go up to the first floor. A nice boyfriend will take a girl there to rummage through the drawers. (legeron.com)
E. Dehillerin This is the oldest cooking shop in Paris. It hasn't changed since the beginning of the last century - an Aladdin's cave of everything you need. (e-dehillerin.fr)
La Librairie des Gourmets If there is a cookbook you are looking for, they will have it. 98 Rue Monge (00 33 1 43 31 16 42)
Da Rosa Epicerie A typical old-fashioned French epicerie. It sells lovely spices and fresh ingredients. Or sit in the pretty area outside and have a little snack. (darosa.fr)
Fromagerie Quatrehomme This is the best fromagerie in Paris. It always has very interesting cheeses but it can be very smelly. 62 rue Sèvres (00 331 47 34 33 45)
La Pâtisserie des Rêves They do a wonderful inverted chocolate éclair here, with the choux inside a chocolate tube - very delicate and highly recommended (lapatisseriedesreves.com)

WHERE TO STAY
Le Petit Moulin This used to be a bakery and still has the old windows and the door. But now it's very sleek inside, with interiors by Christian Lacroix. (paris-hotel-petitmoulin.com)

Marvellous Mexico City
by Thomasina Miers
I fell in love with Mexican cuisine on my gap year and later lived there for a year, to work out if it really was as amazing as it had seemed. It was, and I set up Wahaca on my return. I go back at least once a year, to meet chefs and research recipes. Thomasina Miers is co-founder of Wahaca(wahaca.co.uk)

WHERE TO EAT
Pujol and Biko These both made the list of the best 50 restaurants in the world this year. Each serves first-rate Mexican food. I had the best meal of my life at Biko: it was like eating poetry. (pujol.com.mx; biko.com.mx)
Dulce Patria This is run by a female chef. Her plates look like works of art. She uses ingredients such as grasshoppers (eaten as a matter of course in Mexico), roasted or deep-fried, so that they taste crispy and meaty. (dulcepatriamexico.com)
Contramar This buzzy seafood restaurant is always full of Mexican actors and models; Gael García Bernal is there whenever I go. It's a big, airy cantina and I love its fun atmosphere. (contramar.com.mx)
El Cardenal An old-school cantina, serving mouthwatering food. It's especially good at breakfast when they do eggs in about 40 different ways. Try the escamoles, which are ant eggs and sort of the Mexican caviar equivalent. The best way to have them is sautéed in shallot and garlic butter and served in a taco for lunch. Sensational.(restauranteelcardenal.com)
El Califa Delicious steak and cheese tacos with cactus. Fast-food nirvana.(elcalifa.com.mx)

WHERE TO SHOP
San Juan market An amazing market for foodies. You can find anything you could ever want to cook here; it's absolutely incredible. There are also amazing food stands serving ceviches and prawn cocktails.

WHERE TO STAY
Condessa DF This is a really hip boutique hotel. I find it slightly intimating - it's so über-designed I wouldn't even be able to find a light switch - but they have fun club nights. (condesadf.com)

Vintage Venice
by Russell Norman
I've been going to Venice for 25 years and about 15 years ago decided to stop bothering with the main tourist attractions. The last time I purposefully saw St Mark's Square was five years ago at three in the morning at 'acqua alta' - when the water level rises and parts of the city flood. I recommend that people see the less obvious side of Venice. (dapolpo.co.uk)

WHERE TO EAT
Alle Testiere Venetian restaurants are almost all atrocious but one that stands head and shoulders above the rest is the tiny Alle Testiere, run by Luca and Bruno, the former head waiter and chef from Corta Sconta. It's closed on Sunday and Monday; when I asked why, Luca looked at me like I was crazy and said, 'Because the market isn't open on those days.' The day's menu isn't even written until they've been to the market in the morning. It's not cheap, but it's worth every euro. (osterialletestiere.it)
Corte Sconta This is a lovely family-run osteria. They do very fresh food, very well and are quite imaginative with ingredients. It's down an unassuming alleyway, and at the front is a dark bar and dining room, but it opens on to a large courtyard with a beautiful tree at its centre. When the weather is good, tables are highly sought after, and during the film festival it's packed with Hollywood A-listers. (veneziaristoranti.it)
All'Arco Another tiny, family-run place. Really, really tiny. It can only fit about 30 people; the locals call it a 'postage stamp'. They do delicious bar snacks. In my opinion the food here is the best in Venice at the moment. Calle dell Ochialer, 436, San Polo (00 39 041 520 56 6)
Antica Adelaide My new favourite wine bar. All the old fittings have been refurbished and it's been brought back to its former glory. They play funky music and attract a young crowd. It was a complete revelation and I can't wait to go back. Try the salted cod and squid. (anticaadelaide.it)
Ca' D'Oro (Alla Vedova) Usually in Venice I eat standing up in one of the brilliant wine bars that were the inspiration for Polpo. The best is Ca' D'Oro, which is beautiful and many centuries old. Most guide books call it 'Ca' D'Oro' but locally it's known as 'Vedova', meaning widow, because it was run by a widow in the early years of the 20th century. Cannaregio 3912 (00 39 41 528 5324)

WHERE TO SHOP
Rialto Market I got up at 4am once to come here because I was convinced that I'd see all the fresh fish arriving, but it's not like that at all. The first activity isn't until about 7.30am and then everything arrives within an hour, in polystyrene boxes. But it's fascinating because it's a part of the living city - the 40,000 people who live in Venice do actually go there to buy their fish.

WHERE TO STAY
La Calcina This was recommended by a local. It's a lovely pensione in Dorsoduro, in the south of the city. It's also known as 'Ruskin's House' because it's where he stayed. It's very simple, with beautiful old furniture. There's a lovely calm, even in high season. It's the best part of town to stay in because it's the least inhabited and it's not expensive. (lacalcina.com)
Pensione Segusso An authentic pensione with no mod-cons. It's in a palazzo with lovely grand details such as Venetian glass chandeliers and ancient, decaying mirrors. It really does feel like part of a Venice that is dissolving before your eyes. (pensionesegusovenice.com)

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