"On a scale of one-to-10, how hungry are you?" "I flew 24 hours to have this dinner." "Understood." So it began. I had first met Dave Pynt in Abu Dhabi where he cooked a camel chop the size of a baby with gremolata and bone marrow bread. My second encounter was in London at what I've described HERE as the best collab meal I've ever had. When I saw him a few nights later at the 50 Best ceremony, he pointedly asked, "When are you coming to Singapore? What are you waiting for?"

I first met Chef Julien Royer of 3* Odette in 2022 at a 50 Best collaboration in Abu Dhabi. The meal was a stellar example of deeply rooted French cooking with familiar, modern Asian touches. When I saw Chef again at 50 Best in London, later that year, I was urged to stop dreaming about visiting Odette, and actually pay it a visit in peson. Fast forward, and I'm finally seated in this temple of Royer's deeply-personal cuisine. The dining room has undergone a refurb for Odett

It's been an arms race in the UAE for restaurant recognition with 50 Best moving in before the tire guide muscled its way to the pole position. This was my fourth trip to the always wonderful UAE, but first since stars had been awarded. Erth , a 1* Abu Dhabi, is a true representative of refined Emerati cuisine served in the Qasr Al Hosn cultural complex. Do yourself a favour and spend some time either before or after your meal admiring the exhibits. There's even a Ducasse coo

Legendary La Tour d'Argent in Paris is known worldwide for its duck. Mine was overcooked. When you serve more than a million ducks, I guess that has to happen. But what I'd rather talk about was a point of confusion. The first drop off after snacks consisted of tomato soup. Bread was being passed around the dining room and I didn't receive any. I found that odd and off putting. Except it wasn't the first course at all. It was an amuse, to be followed by..... another tomato "