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FT editor Roula Khalaf selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
José Andrés brings the Levante closer to Collins Avenue
Because the guerrilla superchef and philanthropist José Andrés and his World Central Kitchen He has done so much for so many in need, any restaurant he owns deserves his celebration money. New Yorkers and DC politicians have been enjoying their version of Eastern Mediterranean share plates at Zaytinya since 2022.
Now Miamians have their own outpost at the Ritz-Carlton South Beach, just off Collins Avenue. Andrés’s menu flies Greek, Turkish and Lebanese flags; go for shakshuka or menemen for breakfast, or book a large table for dinner and order one of everything from shish taouk to smoked beet salata, grilled octopus and lamb taharat, plus all the usual suspect mezze.. There are excellent wines from the Peloponnese, Macedonia and the Bekaa Valley to accompany.
East-west haute cuisine in a former nightclub
Crispy salmon sushi. Egg toast with caviar. Citrus burrata salad with lime and basil finger. Since Jean-Georges Vongerichten burst onto the New York scene in the 1990s and set it alight with his instantly successful bistros, JoJo and Vong, he has forged a global restaurant empire innovating fusions of Western and Eastern flavors. (Credit to the combination of an Alsatian upbringing and an early career in some of the best hotel kitchens in Bangkok and Hong Kong.) More recently, he took up residence at The Leinster, a stylish 55-key newcomer on the site of a former nightclub in the center of Georgian Dublin.
Jean-Georges at The Leinster dominates the hotel’s rooftop spaces – a spacious glass-enclosed space softened by a coffered timber ceiling, banquettes and generous views. The salmon in the crispy sushi here is Irish, of course; the Irish tenderloin comes with pistachio and tarragon aioli. The burrata has a more continental tone, tempered with figs and balsamic vinegar, and a heavenly Parmesan-crusted chicken is also a regular on their other menus. But there are plenty of Asian inflections, from a yuzu-y tuna tartare to maitake mushrooms with black tahini and scallions. Downstairs on the first floor, the spirit of the nightclub lives on in the form of The Collins Club, a speakeasy-style bar and brasserie. Throughout, the hotel’s design is bold and saturated with color, featuring almost 300 original works by Irish artists.
A Southeast Asian solution in the 24/7 capital of North Africa
Cairo is many extraordinary things. Unfortunately, the “bastion of multicultural dining options” is not one of them. Fortunately, Tianma, the Singapore restaurant inside the St Regis Cairo, which opened three years ago in an elegant tower next to the Nile, satisfies some cravings. The sexually lit dining rooms, reached via a walkway lined with life-size terracotta horses, have the feel of a Peranakan teahouse: pretty baskets, painted boxes and mysterious chests of drawers. But the food is what’s important, and as a former Lion City resident, I can attest to that. Singapore’s delicious melting pot of Chinese, Malaysian and South Indian flavors is here.
There’s super-rich Hainanese chicken rice, redk fruit, and excellent roast duck, with crispy spiced skin, sliced table-side and served with parchment-thin pancakes. The hotel? One of the best in the city, still sparkling, with phalanxes of smiling staff, rooms with views, super modern bathrooms and a delicious breakfast that starts at 6am, for those visits to the Pyramids at dawn.
The best seafood in Tuscany… is inland
The Four Seasons Hotel Firenze is a best, best and biggest hotel. The largest private garden with pool in the city. The best frescoes (the restoration of the 15th-century Palazzo della Gherardesca, which houses some of the grand exclusive suites, reportedly cost more than $50 million). The most extensive and pleasant spa. Now he has a new star restaurant. Boldly billed as Florence’s premier seafood destination, Onde is overseen by Paolo Lavezzini, the Italian chef who took over the hotel’s dining offerings, including its fine-dining temple Il Palagio, in 2021.
The rooms strike a calm note, with bright hues and indoor and outdoor seating, but Lavezzini takes his cooking seriously and the quality and presentation of his food is exceptional. Starting with the raw: Delicate slices of scallop carpaccio peek out from a heavenly spiced yogurt sauce sprinkled with lime and sea salt flakes. The bluefin tuna from the Tyrrhenian Sea is dressed with lemon, shallot mayonnaise and breadcrumbs. The sea bass tartare is served with beetroot, walnut oil and delicious mustard seeds. Florentines, not known for their open displays of approval or their embrace of the new, are already in an uproar. Reserve well in advance.