Tables Worth Travelling For

Beaune

The best bistro in Beaune — a short, seasonal menu, a wine list that reads like a Burgundy primer, and a room that fills with vignerons on market day.

Beaune

The Loiseau group's Beaune outpost — refined Burgundian cooking in a vaulted stone cellar, with one of the most comprehensive village and premier cru lists in the Côte d'Or.

Beaune

Set in medieval stone arches beneath the city, this is the place for classic Burgundian cooking — escargots, jambon persillé, and a carafe of Bourgogne Rouge — at honest prices.

Gevrey-Chambertin

A village restaurant in the heart of the Côte de Nuits — simple, seasonal cooking and a short list of domaine wines poured by the glass. The kind of place you find by asking a vigneron where they eat.

Fleurie, Beaujolais

A classic Beaujolais auberge in the village of Fleurie — honest regional cooking, a cellar stocked with Cru Beaujolais from the surrounding vineyards, and the kind of unhurried lunch that the French countryside does better than anywhere else.

Beaune

The finest pâtisserie in Beaune — Fabien Bertau's precise, beautifully made pastries are a fixture of the Saturday morning market and the ideal way to begin a day on the Côte d'Or. The pain au chocolat alone justifies the detour.

Reims

The essential Reims brasserie — a grand room, classic cooking, and a Champagne list that covers the full spectrum from the grandes maisons to the growers of the Montagne de Reims.

Reims

Set in a Belle Époque château on the edge of Reims, Les Crayères is one of the great destination restaurants of northern France — two Michelin stars, a cellar of extraordinary depth, and a terrace that looks out over the chalk vineyards of the Montagne de Reims.

Épernay

The best table in Épernay — a relaxed bistro with a serious Champagne list and cooking that matches the wines in precision and seasonality. The grower Champagne selection is exceptional.

Hautvillers

In the village where Dom Pérignon is buried, Au 36 serves honest regional cooking — terrines, slow-braised meats, and local cheeses — with a short list of grower Champagnes from the surrounding villages.

Badia a Passignano, Chianti Classico

Inside a 1,000-year-old monastery on the Antinori estate — refined Tuscan cooking with a cellar that spans the region's greatest producers.

Panzano in Chianti

A family trattoria that has been feeding the Chianti Classico wine community for generations. The ribollita and the bistecca are definitive.

Panzano in Chianti

Dario Cecchini's legendary butcher shop and dining room — a pilgrimage for anyone who takes Tuscan food seriously. No menu, no choices, no regrets.

Florence

A temple to the Florentine bistecca — thick-cut Chianina beef cooked over wood embers, served rare as tradition demands. The wine list is a serious survey of Tuscan reds, with Chianti Classico and Brunello given the prominence they deserve alongside a bistecca of this calibre.

Lucca

A beloved neighbourhood osteria tucked inside Lucca's medieval walls — marble-topped tables, a short daily menu chalked on a blackboard, and the kind of unfussy Lucchese cooking that the city's residents have been eating for generations. The tordelli lucchesi — the local stuffed pasta with a rich meat filling — is the dish to order, and the Colline Lucchesi house wine is poured without ceremony and drunk with pleasure.

Logroño

The most famous pintxos bar on Calle Laurel — the mushroom pintxo on a skewer has been the same for forty years, and it is still the best thing to eat in Logroño.

San Sebastián

Three Michelin stars and four decades at the summit of Basque cuisine — Juan Mari Arzak and his daughter Elena have defined what modern Basque cooking means. The wine list is a masterclass in Rioja, with verticals of López de Heredia and Remírez de Ganuza that are rarely seen outside the region.

Haro, Rioja Alta

The essential Rioja asador — a wood-fired oven, whole roasted lamb, and a cellar of old Rioja that includes bottles from the legendary 1964 and 1970 vintages. The wine list is one of the great bargains in Spanish fine dining.

Folgosa, Douro Valley

Rui Paula's restaurant on the banks of the Douro — a glass-and-steel room that frames the terraced vineyards, and a menu that takes the region's ingredients seriously. The wine list is the best survey of Douro reds and whites in the valley.

Gouvinhas, Douro Valley

Lunch on the terrace at Crasto, overlooking the old vine Touriga Nacional plots and the river below — a simple menu of regional dishes paired with the estate's wines, served with the informality that makes the Douro so appealing.

Porto

A quietly essential address in Porto — Casario's kitchen draws on the best of northern Portuguese produce, from the coast and the Minho, with a wine list that gives serious attention to the Douro and Vinho Verde. The kind of restaurant that rewards a second visit as much as the first.

Franschhoek

The restaurant that put Franschhoek on the international dining map — a tasting menu that draws on the Cape's finest ingredients, with a wine list that is the most comprehensive survey of South African fine wine available anywhere.

Kleine Zalze, Stellenbosch

Michael Broughton's restaurant at Kleine Zalze — the best estate restaurant in Stellenbosch, with a menu that changes with the seasons and a wine list that covers the full range of Cape varieties.

Babylonstoren, Franschhoek

Set in the extraordinary garden at Babylonstoren, Babel serves a menu built almost entirely from what is grown on the farm — a rare and genuine farm-to-table experience in one of the most beautiful settings in the Cape Winelands.

Chablis

The best bistro in Chablis — a short menu of seasonal dishes, a wine list that covers the full appellation from Petit Chablis to Grand Cru, and a room that fills with vignerons on market day.

Chablis

The grand table of Chablis — a Michelin-starred dining room with a cellar that spans every producer and every appellation in the region. The andouillette and the sole meunière are the dishes to order.

Chablis

The natural gathering point for vignerons and visitors alike — a relaxed wine bar in the heart of Chablis with an exceptional list of domaine-bottled Chablis poured by the glass, honest small plates, and the kind of unhurried atmosphere that makes an afternoon disappear.

Hidden Valley, Stellenbosch

Bertus Basson's restaurant at Hidden Valley — one of the most consistently excellent tables in the Cape Winelands, with a menu that draws on the best of the Western Cape's produce and a wine list that is a serious survey of Stellenbosch Cabernet and Chenin Blanc.

Stellenbosch

George Jardine's eponymous restaurant in the heart of Stellenbosch — a tasting menu that changes with the seasons, a wine list that covers the full range of Cape varieties, and a room that is one of the most elegant in the Winelands.

Notting Hill, London

Brett Graham's two-Michelin-star restaurant in Notting Hill has one of the great wine lists in London — deep in Burgundy and the Northern Rhône, with serious coverage of Australia and a cellar that rewards those who ask the sommelier for guidance. The cooking is precise, seasonal, and built for wine.

Tribeca, New York

A Paris bistro transplanted to Tribeca — the wine list is one of the most intelligent surveys of French regional wine in New York, with particular strength in the Loire, Jura, and the lesser-known appellations of the south. The cooking is honest, generous, and exactly right for the wines.

11th arrondissement, Paris

Bertrand Grébaut's restaurant in the 11th has become one of the defining addresses of the Paris natural wine movement — a short, seasonal menu, a list that covers the full range of France's most interesting small producers, and a room that is always full of the people who make the wine.

Tampa, Florida

The most improbable great wine cellar in America — Bern's has accumulated one of the largest and deepest private wine collections in the world, with verticals of Bordeaux, Burgundy, and California Cabernet that stretch back decades. The steaks are the occasion; the wine list is the destination.

Copenhagen

Rasmus Kofoed's three-Michelin-star restaurant at the top of the Parken stadium has a wine programme that matches the ambition of the kitchen — a list built around the great estates of Burgundy and Champagne, with thoughtful coverage of Germany, Austria, and the emerging regions of Scandinavia.

Rome

Heinz Beck's three-Michelin-star restaurant atop the Rome Cavalieri hotel has one of the great Italian wine lists — a cellar of extraordinary depth in Barolo, Barbaresco, Brunello, and the Super Tuscans, with serious coverage of Burgundy and Champagne. The cooking is refined, precise, and built to show wine at its best.

Cork, Ireland

One of Ireland's most serious wine destinations — Terre's cellar is a thoughtful, wide-ranging survey of Europe's great regions, with particular depth in Burgundy, the Loire, and natural producers from across France and Italy. The cooking is rooted in the best of Irish produce, and the sommelier team brings genuine knowledge and enthusiasm to every table.

San Francisco

Michael Tusk's three-star restaurant in the Jackson Square neighbourhood has one of the finest Italian wine lists in the United States — deep in Barolo, Barbaresco, and Brunello, with serious coverage of Burgundy and a cellar that reflects the kitchen's Italian-Californian sensibility.