EAT > Restaurant Hiramatsu Kodaiji, Kyoto (16/20)

One lane in from the stone steps of Ninenzaka, a four-storey house looks out over the rooftops of Higashiyama to the Yasaka Pagoda. Restaurant Hiramatsu Kodaiji, the Kyoto house of the Hiramatsu group, cooks French food grounded in classical technique, built around Kyoto produce, and holds one MICHELIN star in the 2026 Guide.

2 days ago

ByCrispin

A smiling chef behind Etto's counter with a basket of chestnuts and fresh pasta, Kyoto

EAT > JAPAN EAT > KYOTO WHERE TO EAT >

EAT > Etto, Kyoto (18/20)

West of the Imperial Palace, in the quiet residential grid behind the Kyoto Prefectural Office, a narrow stone path leads off Aburanokoji-dori and keeps going. At the end of it, past the kind of approach that only Kyoto townhouses seem to manage, is Etto: eight seats, one counter, one chef and an omakase of Italian…

5 days ago

ByCrispin

STAY > JAPAN STAY > KYOTO WHERE TO STAY >

STAY > The Villa Nene-no-Michi Kazeno Heritage, Kyoto (16/20)

On the stone-paved Nene-no-Michi, between Kōdai-ji and the Yasaka Pagoda, a former culinary ryokan has become three private suites. The Villa Nene-no-Michi Kazeno Heritage, until April 2026 the Nene building of HOTEL VMG RESORT KYOTO, is the rare Higashiyama stay where the old town is on your doorstep and almost none of its noise comes…

November 7, 2026

ByCrispin

ALMANAK > Wine Bar Origin, Kyoto (16/20)

DRINK > BARS DRINK > JAPAN DRINK > KYOTO

DRINK > Wine Bar Origin, Gion Kyoto (16/20)

Walk south from the vermilion gate of Yasaka Shrine along Shimogawara-dori and you will almost certainly walk straight past it. Origin, or Gion Shimogawara Origin to give it its full name, sits at the end of a very narrow alley that looks like it leads to someone's front door, and in a sense it does.…

CAFE > Hario Cafe, Higashiyama Kyoto (17/20)

Halfway between Yasaka Shrine and Kōdai-ji, on the flagstoned lane of Ishibe-kōji, the company that gave the world the V60 has opened a coffee room inside an old Kyoto machiya. Hario Cafe is part showroom, part tea-house pause, and one of the few places in Higashiyama where the coffee ritual feels as considered as…

November 5, 2026

ByCrispin

Bottle of Valfaccenda Roero Rosso with its multicoloured striped label

DRINK > WINE DRINK > WINE > Nebbiolo (including Barolo)

WINE > Valfaccenda Roero Rosso, Piedmont Italy 2020 (17/20)

For a long time the Roero was the quiet bank of the Tanaro, the place across the river from Barolo and Barbaresco where Nebbiolo was grown and rarely celebrated. Valfaccenda is one of the estates changing that. Luca Faccenda and Carolina Roggero make wine only from the Roero's two historic grapes, Arneis and Nebbiolo, on…

October 25, 2026

ByCrispin

STAY > AUSTRALIA STAY > NSW STAY > SYDNEY WHERE TO STAY >

STAY > Capella Sydney, Sydney (19/20)

A century-old sandstone landmark in the Sandstone Precinct, steps from Circular Quay, Capella Sydney has turned the former Department of Education into the city's most composed luxury hotel: heritage bones, a light-filled heart and service that seems to know what you want a moment before you do. an edwardian baroque civic monument, reawakened as the…

October 20, 2026

ByCrispin

EAT > AUSTRALIA EAT > NSW EAT > SYDNEY WHERE TO EAT >

EAT > Clam Bar, Sydney (18/20)

Sydney's CBD has never been short of a steakhouse. Rockpool Bar & Grill, The Gidley, Bistecca, Kingsleys, Chophouse and now Grill Americano all compete for the same expense accounts, so a New York-style grill needs more than a good rib eye to stand out. Clam Bar has it. Dan Pepperell, Mikey Clift and Andy Tyson,…

October 12, 2026

ByAngie

ALMANAK VISIT > Torbreck Vitners, Barossa

VISIT > AUSTRALIA Visit > Barossa Valley VISIT > SA

VISIT > Torbreck Vintners, Barossa Valley

Torbreck is the Barossa at full volume: old, dry-grown vines, Rhône varieties handled with unapologetic ambition, and a portfolio that runs from a genuinely useful weekday Shiraz to some of the most expensive bottles in the country. This is a visit for anyone who wants to understand why the Barossa’s ancient vineyards are treated as…

October 11, 2026

ByCrispin

EAT > AUSTRALIA EAT > NSW EAT > SYDNEY WHERE TO EAT >

EAT > Grill Americano, Sydney (18/20)

Sydney is not short of a serious steak. There seems to be a grill on almost every corner of the CBD, so it takes a certain confidence to bring another one up the Hume. Grill Americano has been the Melbourne banker's favourite since it opened on Flinders Lane in 2022, and Chris Lucas has…

October 10, 2026

ByCrispin