Ristorante Cibreo, Florence

If you’re going to go to a restaurant in a tourist city like Florence it certainly helps to go with a couple of Italians. Especially if one of them is a well-known chef* and - better still - has been recommended by one of his mates at one of the poshest local hotels.

That said, there are enough rave reviews among the notoriously pernickety contributors to Tripadvisor to suggest our experience wasn’t a one-off.

Cibreo is one of 3 restaurants run by Fabio Picchi and his family - a restaurant, a no-reservations trattoria and a cafe all around the via dei Macci. It’s all rather confusing because the restaurant looks like a trattoria but the trat apparently has a shorter menu and doesn’t take bookings so you should be able to spot it from the queues outside.

The restaurant menu simply announces what you’ll pay for each course: primi at 20 euros, secondi and contorni at 36€, cheese at 10€ and dolci at 15€. That’s going it a bit for simple Tuscan food but bear with me . . .

What’s on offer that day is explained by one of the staff, who in our case appeared to be Signora P who cosily sat herself down at the table and jotted our order down on a scrappy piece of paper. Then they proceed to ignore the whole process and bring a dizzying number of small plates for us to try (apparently a universal experience not just because we were with a VIP)

There was yoghurt mousse with turmeric, almond paté, the lightest freshest, homemade ricotta, broad beans and pecorino, prosciutto, preserved leeks and artichokes (their own) and a spiky tripe salad with chilli (the first time I’ve taken to tripe). Oh yes, and really good chicken liver crostini which managed to avoid the coarseness and bitterness you so often get with that dish - and some sundried tomato ones.

Then a round of homemade soups and other starters which included a vegetable soup with bottarga, kale soup, fish soup, yellow pepper soup (right) - a signature dish of the restaurant - and my own starter, a light potato flan with a classic ragu (above - which I’d strongly recommend if they have it).

Next, lambs brains with lentils, slow-braised beef cheeks with beets and potato puree, chicken and ricotta meatballs and and an evil-looking but tasty braised dish of squid which went brilliantly well with a bottle of 2006 Rocca di Castagnoli Stielle. And heavenly zolfini beans which apparently cost 25€ a kilo - more than the sausages that accompanied them (I thought this was an exaggeration but found them on this site for 17.58€ for 500g). By this time plates were whizzing round like crazy in one giant food swap.

Then just as we were thinking we couldn’t eat a morsel more a battery of desserts - panna cotta with saba (red wine reduction), cheesecake, a creme caramel spattered Jackson Pollock-style with its sauce (right), another one with coffee syrup and a sinfully rich chocolate tart. And a grappa. My god, we needed that grappa . . .

All this was served with such enthusiasm and good humour it was impossible to resist the extra plates that kept coming but the question is would you have the same experience? It appears from the reviews I’ve read (and some feedback from friends) that you would though some complain about the prices (true, 20€ for a vegetable soup is hard to justify, even in Florence) and slow service. You certainly appear to get better value though possibly not the same experience at the trattoria for quite a bit less.

But I have to confess I loved it. in a world of increasingly uniform restaurants run by accountants rather than families it was a wonderful, life-enhancing evening. Eccentric, charming, faintly bonkers, even. I would definitely go back.

Cibreo is at 8 via del Verrocchio. Tel: 055 234 11 00. Note the restaurant closes from July 25th-September 5th and on Monday.

*Franco Mazzei of L’Anima

I ate at the restaurant as a guest of Eurowines, I think. Actually I'm not sure who paid in the end but it wasn't me.

Does The Kitchin deserve a second Michelin star?

You can’t help feeling that it’s Tom Kitchin’s misfortune to be in Edinburgh. Not because his isn’t proud of his Scottish roots - he obviously is - but because if he were in France I’m sure he’d have two stars rather than one.

Certainly there are plenty of two star dishes on his ‘Land and Sea Surprise’ tasting menu including a shellfish broth of wonderful clarity and umami-rich depth of flavour, a terrine of octopus monkfish liver that cleverly mimicks foie gras and a precisely cooked ‘nose to tail’ dish of lamb including liver, kidney and testicles which has to be the best offal dish I’ve eaten. Was that what Michelin thought was inappropriate for a two star establishment? If not it has no balls.

Other dishes might not have reached such technical heights but were beautifully presented. A delicious ‘amuse’ of jellied chicken consommé, with discs of pressed chicken breast, crunchy apple and crisp bacon that would make a great full-size starter. An imaginative dish of razor clams (known locally as spoots) served with diced vegetables, a judicious touch of chorizo and lemon confit.

Tom’s signature dish of boned and rolled pig’s head and langoustine with a crispy ear salad (maybe the pork had slightly too powerful a flavour for the delicate langoustines if one were inclined to quibble). A dish of cod cheek with fresh Wye asparagus and a blood orange sauce that was bang in season. Dark sticky braised beef with ‘bone marrow’ potatoes (i.e. the ‘bone’ was made out of potato. Clever stuff.)

And two gorgeous desserts - a sharp yet creamy lemon meringue tart with frozen yoghurt and lemon confit and - my choice which I was reluctant to share - a light, airy rhubarb cheesecake with a rhubarb compote and rhubarb sorbet you may spot I’ve made my match of the week this week (with a Cabernet Franc ice wine)

Service too is impeccable even down to a fellow in the corner whose only job seemed to be sorting and polishing the appropriate cutlery for each order. And serving the pre-dessert and cheese. I wonder what his job title was. The cutler? The sorbeteer? The cheese somm?

The wine list too is appropriately wide ranging and expensive though we were treated to the wine pairings - and a couple of beer pairings, including the Kelpie seaweed ale with the Shellfish Rockpool you’ll see in this Vine. It included some adventurous choices such as a sweet Coteaux du Layon with the monkfish liver terrine, a Western Australian riesling with the razor clams and a robust Etna Rosso with the pig’s head and langoustine dish though I felt some of the wines used (a heavily oaked New Zealand chardonnay and commercial New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc didn’t match the quality of the food). I’d order a bottle another time.

What else might Michelin object to? There’s an unglamourous view over a large depot on one side of the restaurant and the room is rather dark - probably better in the evening than the day. There’s the occasional misfiring dish - some overcooked poached monkfish and some really poor bread rolls that tasted as if they’d been reheated - a strange aberration in a restaurant of this quality.

But overall this is lovely, graceful food with a real sense of place made from top class ingredients and presented without excessive artifice by way of foams, smears and blobs. Not cheap but definitely worth the detour. Come on, Michelin - give it the credit it deserves.

The Kitchin is at 78 Commercial Quay, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 6LX - about 15 minutes by bus from the city centre. Tel: 0131 555 1755. The tasting menu we had costs £75 (with matching wines a further £55) - but that would probably still work out cheaper than eating à la carte. There’s also a good value three course set lunch at £26.50 or £36.50 with cheese. The restaurant is closed on Sunday and Monday.

Disclaimer: Tom Kitchin treated us to a number of free dishes and the wine pairings

The Walnut Tree, Abergavenny

The Walnut Tree at Llandewi Skirrid has been on my radar for as long as I've been interested in eating out. First under Franco Taruschio and now Shaun Hill, it’s been a place I’ve returned to every couple of years, always wondering why I don’t go more often.

This week, when we visited for my husband’s birthday, was no exception. True, the gaffer (Shaun) was in town that night, the clientele a little more elderly than I remember, the bar and dining room stuck in bit of a 90s timewarp but the welcome and the food were as great as ever. And it didn’t rain. Hallelujah!

Being with two of our (grown-up - in theory at least) kids we gave the menu a thorough working through. My OH and I kicked off with fish - always Hill’s forte. Mine an unusual combination of plaice with cucumber and mustard sauce I remember from his Merchant House days, his a more indulgent dish of red mullet and scallops in a rich langoustine bisque I ended up sneaking off his plate.

My veggie daugher had light-as-air malfatti of spinach and ricotta that were worthy of Franco’s era and skinny meat-eating son a generous platter of Spanish charcuterie about which he unusually didn’t complain there wasn’t enough.

He was as pleased with his perfectly seared skirt of beef with crispy shallots - as was I with my rabbit fillet and liver with rabbit pudding, a light wobbly dome of delicate rabbit flavoured mousse that I’d chosen to go with the very good value 2010 Colinot Irancy Vieilles Vignes that we’d ordered. On the other hand it went equally well with OH’s very fresh skate with shrimps and dill. Only veggie daughter’s spring risotto seemed slightly off-key - a tasty but slightly garish plate of veg-dotted rice that would have met with strong disapproval from any self-respecting Piemontese.

We couldn’t agree whether to have puds or cheese so had both - sharing a generous cheeseboard for £10 (why can’t other restaurants do this rather than charging a fortune for a stingy cheese plate?) then ploughing in to coffee crème caramel with praline (perfect and I don’t even like coffee flavoured desserts), roasted nectarines with basil ice cream (unseasonal but lovely) and walnut tart with Poire William ice cream with which I made the mistake of having an extra Poire William on the side. It was that kind of evening.

Our bill came to a total of £267.50 for four including a half bottle of champagne, and a bottle of Leon Boesch Pinot Blanc, another well priced option from the very good wine list. More than we normally spend but great value for a special occasion. You could spend considerably more if you didn’t exercise restraint with the wine list. On the other hand the very good value set price lunch only costs £22 for two courses.

One thing fellow Walnut Tree followers might have noticed is that the cooking and presentation have become slightly more 'haute' in the last couple of years - a harkback to Hill’s more refined cooking at the Merchant House and Gidleigh Park - which is obviously why it now has a Michelin star.

Don't let that put you off though. The kitchen doesn't go in for foams, streaks or blobs - just good fresh ingredients respectfully treated. The Walnut Tree is a comforting sort of place. Hill won’t be there forever so go while you have the chance.

The Walnut Tree is at Llandewi Skirrid just outside Abergavenny. Te: 01873 852797

PS There are a couple of cottages down the road you can rent for the night if you don’t want to drive after this kind of orgy and a regular taxi service to and from Abergavenny. I’d take advantage of that if I were you (we rented one of the cottages)

The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Francais

When I first went to Le Quartier Français in Franschhoek around 10 years ago I was blown away. Since then its chef Margot Janse has become one of the world’s most high profile chefs and the food more experimental. Would the experience be as memorable?

I remember sitting outside on a warm evening and eating by far the most delicious meal I’d had on the trip - Janse was way ahead of her competitors then in terms of use of ingredients and technical skill.

There was one dish - one of the ‘boks’ with a sweet, spicy cure - I was so impressed by that I persuaded her to give me the recipe and adapted it to a Chateaubriand in my book ‘Steak’ (now sadly out of print*).

This time the meal took place in a smartly designed room with a neon sign outside from a no-choice 8 course ‘surprise’ tasting menu for which we were advised we should allow 3 1/2 hours - although I think we managed it in 3. Surprise is the right word. It was a roller-coaster of an experience involving a kaleidoscope of different colours, tastes and textures.

You’ll be relieved to know I’m not going to talk you it through course by course, specially as my companion had a slightly different menu which meant I tasted 13 dishes in all - plus amuse-gueules. But the highlights for me were:

• one of the simplest dishes, described as 'a summer walk through Franschhoek' (right) a fresh-tasting salad of young vegetables and salad leaves that went perfectly with the subtle, delicious 2011 Reyneke Chenin Blanc we were drinking.
• a marron (crayfish) with gooseberry water and lemon verbena - a delicate accompaniment pitched just right for the super-fresh shellfish
• quail with amasi (a yoghurt-like fermented milk) savoury granola, shallots, corn puree and sprouts - my favourite of the main course dishes - I liked Janse’s use of grains
• Karoo Wildebeest loin with wild grains, sorghum, rainbow carrots and celeriac purée (right) - the prettiest dish of the meal
• Swartland guineafowl with fennel, porcini and liquorice root - again, a great looking dish. Meat and game are clearly Janse’s forte
• and two really inventive cheese courses - a gooey, fondue-like Dalewood lanquedoc custard with vinegar ‘flings’ and crisp shards of leek and jagged hunks of Klein river gruyere with rusks, mebos (dried plum) custard and raisins (below).

I was less wowed by a slightly tortured starter of a beetroot sponge ball with buttermilk labne and dill and cucumber granita which had lost touch with its beet roots and a rather messy looking dish of oyster with a thick vichyssoise purée and roasted cos lettuce where again the flavour of the oyster had been lost in translation. And the service, while charming, was almost too full-on - a bit like being jumped on by a labrador puppy. It would be hard to go there and have a an intimate meal.

But my main reservation - and this is my beef with most fine dining restaurants - is that there was too much repetition of favoured techniques. Too many crumbs, smears, blobs and pools of puree. Although many were visually arresting it was all rather overwhelming but that may say more about what I’m looking for from a restaurant these days than Janse’s undoubted prowess in the kitchen

We could also have had wine pairings with each course - they looked well chosen but cost another R400 (£29) a head and I’m not sure it wouldn’t have made the meal even more of a sit-up-and-pay-attention performance. After the Chenin we drank a deliciously gamey Eben Sadie 2010 Sequillo - a Rhoneish blend of Syrah, Mourvedre and Grenache which worked particularly well with the game dishes.

Interestingly although Janse continues to pick up awards she no longer appears quite as consistently in the San Pellegrino top 50 as she did in the 'noughties', an indication, perhaps, of how much the restaurant world has moved on since then but also of the fact that staying at the top is tough as chefs seek new ways to grab the critics' attention. I’m not sure I didn’t prefer it the way it was.

If you’re a fan of top-end fine dining experiences you should add it to your bucket list but there are other restaurants in the Winelands where you'll get equally good food and a slightly more relaxed vibe. I'll be writing about some of them shortly.

I ate at Le Quartier Français as a guest of the restaurant. The menu is R770 (£56), R1170 (£85) with wine pairings - expensive for the area but not by comparison with similar restaurants internationally.

Le Quartier Français is at Cnr Berg & Wilhelmina Streets Franschhoek, Western Cape, 7690. Tel: 0027 21876 2151. You'll need to book well ahead.

*actually I was expecting to find, like most of my books, that it was selling for 1p on Amazon but turns out the UK edition is fetching £48.99. Should have kept more copies!

Apologies for appalling pix, due to the low light (though why should chefs light their restaurants for customers who want to snap their food?) Here’s a slightly better set from a similar meal by blogger Jason Bagley