As his name may lead you to believe, Konstantin Filippou is half Greek and half Austrian and his heritage shows in his cooking which he demonstrates in his eponymous restaurant. 

The restaurant is designed, modern and fashionably informal which describe both the setting and the cuisine here. You will find attractive wooden tables, a cooking station in the dining room and small windows offering views of the busy chefs at work in the kitchen.  

At lunch, the chef offers the Business Lunch menu consisting of two courses for 26 Euros or three courses for 37 euros plus a dessert for 9 euros. 

Our lunch on Friday March 3rd, left us with mixed feelings: our two amuse-bouches, “Beet’s Root with Foie Gras “and “Mussels with Japanese Pearls”, were incredibly tasty and original. So was the case for the first dish, “Marinated Salmon, Passion Fruit Yoghurt sauce” and the third “Skrei, Curried Cabbage, Salsa Verde”. However, the second one based on Salsify Roots and our surprise dessert based on Black Currant Fruits with a Blackberry Sorbet were not on par with the level of our amuse-bouches. Too bad. 

For the wines, we tasted a white wine from the Vienna region called Wiener Wermischter Satz 2016 which was excellent.  

The service was a little bit too prompt to take our plate away, but besides this faux-pas, it’s professional and efficient. 

We still think that Konstantin Filippou deserves his Michelin Star, but he should review his cooking, it’s good to take risks and to be innovative, but the cooking still have to be refined to the palate of his guests.

Restaurant Konstantin Filippou 

Dominikanerbastei 17  

1010 Wien, Austria 

www.konstantinfilippou.com

Mraz & Sohn are Marcus, Lukas and Manuel Mraz, the chefs of the two Michelin stars restaurant in Vienna, Austria. 

Dining at Mraz & Sohn was a trip and a journey into fine and high dining. They offer a total experience from the moment you stand in front of the restaurant and ring the bell. Once you step inside, you are in the universe of Marcus and Manuel Mraz. 

It starts with the dining room itself. The style is personal as you will find on the walls beautiful paintings by Manuel Mraz himself. The restaurant is filled with the Mraz family’s creativity. 

Their seasonal cuisine is highly creative and you will soon notice the playfulness of the presentations which is a feast for both the eyes and the palate. The menu comes in three options (4 dishes; 6 dishes; 9 dishes). 

The wine list is just as amazing, dominated of course by the best selection of Austrian wines. 

The service was swift, jovial, friendly and professional. 

Mraz & Sohn is a restaurant which should be on everyone’s top restaurants list when in Austria. The amazing breads and cheese trolley alone makes it worth a visit  

Mraz & Sohn exactly represents what fine and high gastronomy should be, with the best products, great cooking, amazing wines, top service all wrapped in a wonderful setting. 

At Mraz & Sohn you will have an incredible experience, an enjoyable evening and will never be bored by your meal. It’s so far one of our best meals in 2017. 

Restaurant Mraz und Sohn 

Wallensteinstrasse 59 

A-1200 Vienna 

www.mraz-sohn.at

Martin Lavecchia worked and lived for nine years in Spain, where he trained at El Celler de Can Roca, a three stars Michelin and #1 in the 50 World's Best Restaurants of 2013; he also worked at the restaurant Alkimia in Barcelona.

Since 2012, he’s back in his native country of Uruguay and settled down in Montevideo where he opened his own restaurant in the Old Town called "FOC" which means “fire” in Catalan. In February 2016, he moved his restaurant to Punta Carretas, a posher neighborhood. The restaurant is spacious and beautifully designed in black with dark wood tables and comfortable chairs and sofas; it has two floors and a wonderful patio for summer lunch and dining.

Now, let’s talk about our dinner of Friday November 4th 2016: we chose the tasting menu of five dishes at 1,500 Uruguayan Pesos (50 Euros) which was the best quality/price meal that you can find anywhere in Uruguay.

The menu consisted of one amuse-bouche, an entrée, a fish dish, a meat dish and two desserts. It was simply wonderful, the best meal of our entire stay in Uruguay, besides the Bodega Bouza’s restaurant.

Each dish was well prepared and tasty, even the croquetas that our son had ordered were crispy and flavorsome, even our pre-dinner "FOC" cocktail was quite original.

The service was very nice and helpful, tried to speak some English.

The wine list had a very good local selection and international brands, with a nice choice of cocktails.

Martin Lavecchia is probably the best chef cooking in Montevideo at the moment, and FOC surely is the best restaurant in the whole Uruguay.

FOC

Address : Ramón Fernández, 11300 Montevideo, Departamento de Montevideo, Uruguay

Telephone : +598 91 654 227

Mail: focresto@gmail.com

Schedules Tueasday to Saturday from 20H00. Closed on Sunday.

 The best thing you could do on a Sunday in Montevideo is to visit the Bodega Bouza which is probably the most beautiful bodega in Uruguay and also to lunch at its restaurant which offers one of the best cooking in Uruguay.

Besides  a stunning landscape with a beautiful view of the vineyard and an impressive collection of antique cars and motorbikes, there is a very good table led by the chef Marcelo Garcia with his professional staff,  particularly the sommelier, Juan Alvarez.

The restaurant is spacious, airy with a view on the large kitchen. The chef proposes an à la carte menu with seven choices of cold and hot entrées, seven choices of meat and fish dishes, and finally ten desserts. All the vegetables and ingredients come directly from the bodega own garden

Every dish was perfectly prepared and cooked, especially the Gambas Risotto with saffron and the Orange Panacotta. Our meal was served with a white wine Albarino 2016 and a red wine from Monte Vide Eu 2014.

The service was very professional and competent with some members of the staff speaking English.

The Bodega Bouza was a great choice for us to spend our Sunday afternoon in the countryside with good wines and good food.

Bodega Bouza

Address : Cno. de la Redención 7658 bis

Telephone : +598 2323 7491

www.bodegabouza.com

Torralbenc is the place to be in Menorca if you have a lot of euros to spare, and if you do, it’s an incredible place to stay and relax while you’re on weekend or holidays. The hotel is beautiful with its view on the countryside and even a glimpse of the not-so-far sea. Torralbenc is located just outside the town of Alaior. 

But most of all, we came to Torralbenc for the gastronomic experience. The dinner was made truly unforgettable by the restaurant’s setting – amid 70 acres of private farmland, vineyards and olive groves, with views down to the Mediterranean Sea as the sun sets. 

Gorka Txapartegui with Executive Chef Luis Loza has replaced Paco Morales who now has his own restaurant, Noor (One Michelin Star) in Cordoba. In their craft, both chefs hold a deep respect for ingredients and authenticity which was reflected throughout the spring/summer menu which was in line with the famous Catalan and Basque cooking philosophy “Mar and Muntanar” 

On July 14^th 2016 for our dinner to celebrate my wife’s birthday we chose the tasting menu at 70 euros. We can tell you right away that it was very good, probably one of the best meals we've had so far this year. Every dish was perfectly cooked, prepared and served from the amuse-bouche to the dessert. 

The wine list was excellent, with incredible international and local references. For our dinner, we chose a cava called Clos Lenticus – Sumoll Reserva Familia – Blanc de Noir Brut Nature which was a stunning discovery. 

The service was excellent -- our host even welcomed and waited on us in French. 

Torralbenc is a true gem in Menorca, it’s the kind of place that you wish you could keep to yourself. 

Restaurant Torralbenc 

Ctra. Maó – Cala’n Porter,  Km.10 

07730 Alaior (Menorca) 

+34 971 37 72 11, +34 971 74 78 76 

info@torralbenc.com, www.torralbenc.co