Every year, I tell myself I’ll stop planning trips around food. Yet here I am this December, reflecting on meals that emptied my wallet, expanded my waistline, and made me question my life choices—in the most delicious way possible.
For the past decade or so, I’ve eaten out five nights a week, on an average. That’s more than 2,500 meals in restaurants. With this, I’ve somehow managed to make a career out of my insatiable love for food. Some people climb mountains for glory, others run marathons for charity. I just order the tasting menu (for science, of course).
How could I possibly manage to eat so much? Here’s my secret: life’s too short for just one dinner a day. I’ve mastered the art of the double dip: a 6 pm seating at one restaurant, followed by a 9 pm tasting menu at the next. It’s not for the faint-hearted and certainly not sane medical advice. But if the Greeks can have two breakfasts, why can’t I do two dinners? Call it gluttony, but I prefer to think of it as my unwavering commitment to the culinary arts.
This year, my appetite for discovery took me from the snowy peaks of the Dolomites to Copenhagen’s foraged plates, from Seoul’s temple cuisine to Tokyo’s bustling streets, and from Bilbao’s pintxo bars to Shanghai’s hawker stalls. Along the way, I found myself in Milan, Bangkok, London, Madrid, Dubai, and Cairo. And there was that 16-hour trek to Kasauli—totally worth it for this one dish on the menu. Read on for the 12 dishes that wowed me this year.
