Luxury food

Situated in the heart of Montone, just 50 metres from the stunning piazza, La Locanda del Capitano nestles within one of Italy’s most enchanting medieval villages. With its narrow cobblestone streets, historic churches, and panoramic views of the Umbrian countryside, Montone is a place that draws visitors from around the globe. Over the past 17 years, I’ve visited this village dozens (if not hundreds) of times, sometimes twice in a single day. Such is its charm and breathtaking beauty.

Le Clarence, nestled in the heart of Paris, a stone’s throw from the recently renovated Grand Palais, is full of both old-world charm and modern elegance. Set within a grand mansion just steps away from the Champs-Élysées, this two-Michelin-starred restaurant is complete with a wine store that holds bottles of France’s finest wines from the best vintages. The mansion and restaurant are owned by Domaine Clarence Dillon, the family-owned company behind Château Haut-Brion. This alone sets the tone perfectly for what you might expect. 

“We really should do this more often”. These are the words spoken by one of my oldest friends who had cancelled a business meeting to join me for dinner. It is not that we don’t meet up to eat regularly, we do often. It was the fact that this was in one of London’s finest steak restaurants - CUT at 45 Park Lane. Sometimes, an exceptional piece of meat, cooked medium rare, with great company is just what you need. 

I am old enough to remember the rarity of seeing caviar on a restaurant’s menu. Dining at Michelin-starred restaurants was a regular occurrence in the early 1990s, yet the only recollection I have is from Marco Pierre White at Harvey’s. His now-legendary Tagliatelle of Oysters with Caviar was a right of passage for this writer along with Pigs Trotter Pierre Koffman. It is, of course, guaranteed that other gastronomic giants featured caviar. The notion that Le Gavroche, Manoir aux Quat Saisons didn’t would be absurd - I just cannot recall them.

The delightful spa town of Malvern is located 3 hours from London by car in Worcestershire and accessible directly by train from Paddington.