Stepping up to the plate

Indian, Korean, Chinese, French, Italian VIR and more. Check out which chefs hit the SANGHVI high water mark across cuisines and continents

Massimo Bottura's Gucci Osteria in Florence serves a unique blend of Italian, South American and Japanese cuisine, and has a Michelin star.

Last week, I wrote about the best hotels I stayed at in 2023. But this week, I am going to bite the bullet. Here's a list of the best meals I ate in India and the rest of the world. You won't find Gaggan Anand or Manish Mehrotra on this list. You already know what I think about the world's two greatest Indian chefs.

Italian Massimo Bottura: I was blown away by how good Massimo's food was when he cooked at a pop-up at the Leela Palace, Delhi. Massimo had slipped and fallen the day before and the wound on his head required stitches. But he was there at the pass, checking each plate.

Gucci Osteria In Florence is one of Massimo's ventures. Takahiko Kondo, who was Massimo's long-time aide, and Karime Lopez create a unique blend of Italian, South American and Japanese cuisine. I have never eaten any food like this and it should soon get another Michelin star.

Americano is the best Italian restaurant in India. It mingles influences from chef Alex Sanchez's American and Latin roots with the dishes he picked up while working with Italian nonnas.

French

Alain Ducasse is the king of chefs. I love Blue, the Ducasse restaurant in Bangkok, where the chef is Wilfrid Hocquet who brings his own style and experience to complement Ducasse's food.