Delta restaurant (**)

Delta restaurant, Εστιατόριο Δέλτα,  Ίδρυμα Σταύρος Νιάρχος , Γιώργος Παπαζαχαρίας, Θάνος Φέσκος, 2 αστέρια Μισελέν

Delta opened in 2019 on the 5th floor of the Stavros Niarchos Cultural Centre. It currently holds 2 Michelin stars and a place on the 1000 best restaurants in the world by La Liste with a score of 91.00/100. The chefs in charge are George Papazacharias (Maaemo/ The fat duck/ Alinea) and Thanos Feskos (Geranium/ Hytra). 

There is only one 12 course omnivore menu available, while a vegetarian or vegan menu can be requested in advance. The wine list comprises many wines from Greece, Italy, France, USA etc. There are many wine options by glass served with CORAVIN method. Wines are fairly priced starting at 30+ euros for a normal sized bottle or at 15 euros up to 70 by the glass. 

The setting is magnificent with very high ceilings and glass windows all over the main dining area offering an extensive sea view. 

1st Course Τραγανό κοχύλι γεμιστό με μελοκύδωνο μαριναρισμένο σε νερό ντομάτας και γαλάκτωμα θαλασσινών

Crispy shell filled cockle marinated in tomato water and seafood emulsion. 

2nd Course Βρώσιμος κρίνος σερβιρισμένος με κρεμώδη γαρίδα, χαμομήλι και αέρινη σάλτσα από περγαμόντο

Edible lily served with creamy diced shrimp, chamomile and airy bergamot sauce

3rd Course Χτένι αρωματισμένο με φράουλες σε ζύμωση σερβιρισμένο με αγκινάρες τουρσί, κουφοξυλιά και ώριμες ντομάτες

Scallop flavored with fermented strawberries served with pickled artichokes, elderflower and ripe tomatoes (no photo)

4th Course Αιθέριο έλαιο αχλαδιού αρωματισμένο με πεύκο γεμιστό με πορφύρες και φρέσκα μυρωδικά, καπνιστό κολοκυθάκι  

Pear essential oil scented with pine, infused with murex snails (?) and fresh herbs, smoked zucchini. Brilliant 

5th Course Καλόγνωμη μαριναρισμένη σε βασιλικό shio koji και πέταλα τριανταφυλλιάς σερβιρισμένη με μακαρόνι από γογγύλι 

Ark clam marinated in shio koji with rose petals served with turnip pasta

6th Course Προζυμένιο μανιτάρι αρωματισμένο με πάστα παλαιωμένων λαχανικών, άγριο σκόρδο και μεδούλι 

Sourdough mushroom flavored with aged vegetable paste, wild garlic and bone marrow

7th Course Μπακαλίαρος, σαν χτένι αρωματισμένος με φύλλο νεραντζιάς σερβιρισμένος με σάλτσα θαλασσινών, ψητό βερίκοκο 

Cod flavored with Seville orange leaf served with seafood sauce and apricot. Perfectly cooked, amazing flavor. 

8th Course Ρύζι σε ζύμωση γεμισμένο με γλυκάδια στις φλόγες αρωματισμένο με λεμονοθύμαρο, σάλτσα λαχανικών σε ζύμωση και λάδι από ιπποφαές

Fermented rice filled with flamed sweetbreads, fermented vegetable sauce and sea buckthorn oil 

9th Course Καλκάνι αρωματισμένο με μαστίχα και θαλασσινό νερό μέντας, σέσκουλα, γεμιστό κολοκυθοανθό με ψητά κεράσια, μάραθο, κουμκουάτ, και αφρώδη σάλτσα κρασιού από ραβέντι

Turbot flavored with mastic and mint seawater, stuffed courgette flower with roasted cherries, fennel, and sparkling rhubarb wine sauce. The fish was one of the best I have ever had. 

10th Course Περιστέρι περασμένο από τις φλόγες γλασαρισμένο με καπνιστά κεράσια σε ζύμωση, άγρια μανιτάρια και ψητό αντίδι μαριναρισμένο σε λάδι από μάυρα κάστανα

Flame-grilled pigeon glazed with smoked fermented cherries, wild mushrooms puree and roasted endive marinated in black chestnut oil aged for one year. The sauce was based on the pigeons bones and red wine. The pigeon was cooked to perfection, rare with flavorfull crispy skin. 

11th Course Δροσερή κάμπια από μυρώνια σερβιρισμένη με ένα μαλακό μπισκότο αρωματισμένο με κουκουνάρι

Cool caterpillar from chervil served with a soft cookie flavored with pine nuts

12th Course Τραγανός ηλίανθος με κρέμα ψημένης σφολίατας και πραλίνα από κάστανα και παλαιωμένους ψητούς ηλιόσπορους

Crispy sunflower with baked puff pastry cream, chestnut praline and aged roasted sunflower seeds

This is a serious amount of food served in one meal. The attention to detail is immense in every aspect, from plates to presentation, ingredients or cooking techniques without even the slightest compromise in flavor. If I m allowed to be quite picky,  maybe the bread course could be a smaller sized one to better appreciate the upcoming amazing main courses. The pigeon sauce on the 10th course was quite high on salt too. Service is 10 out of 10. This is without a doubt some serious cooking and it has the potential to become the first 3 Michelin star restaurant in Greece.  

Highly recommended 

Field, Prague (*)

Prague has only two Michelin starred restaurants, La Degustation Boheme Bourgeoise and Field, both holding one star. The latter being open during lunch and dinner while the former just for dinner. 

While being in the city we visited Field to try some local refined cooking. Field is located in a quiet neighborhood in the north part of the city center easily accessible on foot, just a few minutes walk by the central place and the clock. The cooking of  Radek Kasparek, head chef of the restaurant, is modern with local Czech characteristics. The decor of the salle is modern and minimal with wooden floors, light grey to white walls, wooden tables and no tablecloths. Big windows provided plenty of daylight on our table during our lunch. 

The restaurant offers a ten course degustation menu and a four course set menu which is available only for lunch as also an a la carte menu available both for lunch or dinner. All menus can be ordered with wine pairing (there is a regular and a more fancy wine pairing option) or with non alcoholic drinks pairing. We opted for the lunch menu which we supplemented with 2 extra courses from the a la carte menu. 

We started with some amuse bouche and country bread. All were very very good, the bread having great texture and flavor nicely complimented by the amuse bouche presented like a painters palette. 

Our first course was char with miso, apple and cider. Char was raw served in an acidic apple broth having great flavor. 

Chanterelles, curd, brown butter and yolk. A very tasty dish with a classic winning combination of ingredients, although a bit heavy on salt. 

Frog, fennel, sorrel and bacon. You don't often come across frog on any menu in Greece, with the exception of Ioannina city which traditionally serves fried frog legs, so we though we should give it a try. Quite a small portion for an a la carte dish as you can see in the photo above. I wasn't very impressed by the whole result too. 

Sturgeon, cabbage, black trumpet, broccoli. Sturgeon is also a rare dish to come across in Europe let alone Greece. Here it was very well cooked with gelatinous texture supplemented by very tasty mushrooms and an excellent sauce. 

Beef, watercress, jerusaleam artichoke, fava. This was the main course of our meal and it was a let down. The beef was very well cooked although again very heavy on salt while both pieces were of mediocre quality having a lot of fat and elastic tissue. Moreover fava beans should be excluded from any menu because of their potential life threatening harm to certain people that are not aware of it. There are so many ingredients available, why use fava in a restaurant? 

Defrutum, chamomile, madeleine, rosehip. Amazing predesert and mignardises were offered afterwords. 

Plum, kefir, sheep cheese and tarragon. A very refreshing and tasty dessert. Plus a very good espresso was complimentary in our meal. 

Service was excellent throughout the meal, relaxed and professional. 

In general this was a nice meal with some misfires. There is good quality of ingredients which are skillfully prepared and presented although there is also excessive use of salt in almost every dish I tried. 

Guy Savoy, Paris (***)

This Guy Savoy's flagship Parisian restaurant dates back to 1980. Priorly being near the Arc de Triomph until 2015 when it moved to its current location in the Monnaie de Paris, the one of 2 locations in France where the national mint is located. The restaurant is quite vast with different connected rooms, 5 of them, all overlooking the river Seine from the left bank though high windows.

Guy Savoy gained two Michelin stars in 1985 and a third followed in 2002. There is a second flagship restaurant with his name in Las Vegas (2 Michelin stars) and 3 more in Paris, Le Chiberta, Les bouquinistes and Atelier maitre Albert. After completing his 3 years long apprenticeship in the Troisgros brothers he opened his own restaurant in New York before moving to Paris. Besides the most coveted accolade, the 3 Michelin stars, the restaurant has also been featured in the Top50 restaurants in the world, as also gained the 1st place in La Liste 2019. La liste takes into account and summarizes rankings and reviews from many guides, locals or not, or websites in one rank. For 2019, Guy Savoy and Le Bernardin took the first place followed by Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athenee.

photo from guy savoy.com

photo from guy savoy.com

The restaurant is located on the second floor with an entrance inside the Monnaie building. All 5 rooms have high ceiling with dark grey wooden walls, grey carpets and charcoal chairs with white fireplaces and perfectly ironed white tablecloths. Despite the dark colours all rooms have natural light from the huge windows. The characteristic Guy Savoy presentation dishes on the other hand are so colourful in contrary to the black and white interior. 

There is a huge wine list, presented in a giant black book with rare vintages of grand cru wines. There even a Chateau d Yquem from 1899. We opted for a glass of Crozes-Hermitage red wine from Domaine Des Hauts Chassis which was pretty good, at 15 euros per glass. 

We started with bread, only of one kind, which was rather dry and overcooked. No butter was offered alongside. Three amuse bouches followed, a foie gras sandwhich, potato scales tart with parsnip cream and last, mushroom, chestnut and milk veloute. All were pretty good. 

Artichoke soup with black truffle, layered mushroom brioche

This is the signature dish of Guy Savoy and one that our waiter recommended to try. The soup consists of artichokes, chicken stock to enhance the flavor, Parmesan cheese and black truffle shavings accompanied by a round layered mushroom brioche and truffle butter which had the texture of chantilly cream. A very good dish with earthy intense flavors and great quality black truffle. After we finished our brioche the waiter came up with a much appreciated additional one saying ''Why not?''. 

Red mullet 'swimming in the sea'.

Another classic dish of Guy Savoy. Two whole roasted big sized red mullets deboned, served with sauteed spinach, squid and mushrooms, the red mullet jus bound with its liver. The mullet was of great quality, skillfully prepared and cooked on time, retaining its texture. The rich liver sauce elevated the dish giving sharpness. 

Five week aged beef paleron and marbled 'basse cote' Wagyu chuck with a seasonal salad

Seared beef shoulder and Wagyu with confit vegetables and a seasonal salad with beef jus vinaigrette, fried spring onions and beef paleron carpaccio. The beef was perfectly cooked in both preparations, the salad was amazing with nice crunchy textures.

Quince and walnuts, maple jus and quince vinegar. walnuts base biscuit, quince in different preparations. Nicely combined, quite refreshing with earthy aromas and a high level of refinement. 

Granny Smith apple with sweet chestnut. Small diced apple with chestnut cream, slices of the fruit and apple shaped cream. 

After dessert we were offered a very interesting pear and pumpkin seeds cream with tea sorbet. There is also a mignardises trolley with riz au lait, macarons, small pastries and fruits. Before leaving while we were waiting for our coats, they offered us a round brioche-croissant with rhubarb jam to take away. A very nice gesture. 

As you might expect the service is flawless, professional, friendly and attentive with huge attention to detail. Monsieur Guy Savoy himself came in the salle to great us and every other guest. I would only suggest that you try to book well in advance. 

Astrance, Paris (***)

It's been many years I wanted to visit L' Astrance in Paris but I always hesitated. The booking process was one of the hardest in the city. You had to call in a specific two hours long period and find one of about 10 tables available for lunch or diner, at least 2 months in advance as there was a permanent waiting list. Luckily nowadays the french website has an email address to contact them. So one and a half months prior to my lunch I sent them an email which they answered promptly and confirmed me a table for 2 for early December. The restaurant was indeed full at the time. 

It all started in 2000 by the head chef Pascal Barbot and the maitre d' Christophe Rohat both working at L'Arpege before creating L'Astrance. They won their first star after only one year in the business, the second came in 2005 and the third in 2007 retained ever since. The restaurant located in a quite street near Trocadero in the 16th arrondissement has a two level salle with a few tables. The minimal modern decor has mainly dark colours with dark grey walls, yellow chairs and perfectly ironed white tablecloths. The cooking is modern french with Japanese influences.

The restaurant open from Tuesday to Friday for lunch and diner has no a la carte menu. You can only choose from 3 different carte blanche set menus. The lunch menu available only for lunch followed by the seasonal menu and the Menu Astance both available for lunch or diner. As it was the white truffle season you could supplement your menu with a little or a lot of white truffle at 80 or 150 euros extra respectively. We chose the lunch menu.

We started with country bread and salted butter. The bread only of one kind was amazing with yeast aromas, nice crust and moist interior with the necessary open crumbs. 

Three amuse bouche followed. An earthy hot consomme, a small tartelette with Parmesan cream and cooked pear and a crispy white almond sandwich with lime cream filling. All were flavorful and skillfully made. 

The wine that the sommelier proposed was from Cotes du Rhone from the Domaine Gramenon. A Grenache full bodied wine  from 2012 with spicy aromas. Great overall, came from a magnum bottle and served by glass at 30 euros per glass. 

The first course was the signature dish of L' Astrance. Foie gras and mushroom tart served with concentrated hazelnut oil and lemon confit puree. Raw finely mandoline sliced button mushrooms alongside green apple slices were carefully placed on layers of foie gras on top of a crispy caramelized extremely thin pastry base. The earthy notes of the mushrooms complimented the fatty foie gras while the acidic lemon puree balanced the flavor. A well thought glorious dish that I will remember for many many years. 

Cod fillet with Japanese rice and beurre blanc with soya sauce was simply stunning. This was in fact one of the tastiest dishes I can recall in any Michelin starred restaurant. Perfect technique in every element and utterly delicious. The cod perfectly cooked with translucent interior, caramelized on top, the rice with lime as good as it can possibly be ( I really have no words to describe it). The purple cauliflower and the beetroot supplemented on the acidity while the soya sauce on the beurre blanc on the saltiness. 

Duck breast from Challans, sour cherry puree, sweet chili pepper and quince made the main dish, accompanied by a second small bowl of duck leg meat, vegetables and a thin toasted slice of bread with duck foie gras spread on top. A very rich dish with a perfectly cooked duck breast and an amazing sauce. 

A pre-dessert followed, described as a restaurant's classic. Sweet chili and lemongrass sorbet. I found this very interesting, as the heat from the chili was strong while the sorbet was inverting this feeling.

The main dessert was a thin caramel multi layer cylinder filled with pears, walnuts , chocolate, and lemon zest Chantilly cream on top. A piece of cognac soaked Perigord truffle was alongside on the dish and a quenelle of perfect coffee ice cream in the bowl. I didn't find the dessert to be in same league with the previous dishes as it was too sweet and quite on the heavy side. 

Fresh fruits, madeleines and jasmine eggnog followed after dessert. 

The service was abundant, attentive and professional working like a Swiss made watch. The value for money is very good, this is the cheapest of all the 3 Michelin starred restaurants in Paris and after visiting most of them I would also say one of the very best.