Experts - The Local Tongue

The world's greatest food and drink experts share where they love to eat and drink in their home city.

EDITOR'S PICK

Washington DC

Swati

Bose

"The wine and cocktail programme is the best in the city."
Cambridge

Danielle

Pattavina

"In the 60s, Cambridge was a place people flocked to from all over the world like they do now with New York or Berlin."
Lyme Regis

Harriet

Mansell

"It's a really magical part of the world."
Seattle

Evan

Leichtling

"Seattle has the infrastructure to support anything from high-end restaurants to laid-back venues."
Dubai

Pallavi

Sangtani

"The evolution started when homegrown chefs began developing their creative output and showcasing their take on the cuisines they were cooking."
Capetown

Vusi

Ndlovu

"You’ll never run out of options."
Hong Kong

Oli

Marlow

"It's my favourite Indian restaurant in the world."
Kraków

Przemysław

Klima

"Kraków can easily be regarded as the Polish wine bar capital."
Marseille

Alexandre

Mazzia

"The smell of anise is typical of our city and brings back memories of walks in the mountains and along the sea.”
Madrid

Dabiz

Muñoz

"Madrid’s food culture is the coming together of all the backgrounds that make up the city."

CHEFS

Washington DC

Swati

Bose

"The wine and cocktail programme is the best in the city."
Cambridge

Danielle

Pattavina

"In the 60s, Cambridge was a place people flocked to from all over the world like they do now with New York or Berlin."
Lyme Regis

Harriet

Mansell

"It's a really magical part of the world."
Seattle

Evan

Leichtling

"Seattle has the infrastructure to support anything from high-end restaurants to laid-back venues."
Dubai

Pallavi

Sangtani

"The evolution started when homegrown chefs began developing their creative output and showcasing their take on the cuisines they were cooking."
Capetown

Vusi

Ndlovu

"You’ll never run out of options."
Hong Kong

Oli

Marlow

"It's my favourite Indian restaurant in the world."
Kraków

Przemysław

Klima

"Kraków can easily be regarded as the Polish wine bar capital."
Marseille

Alexandre

Mazzia

"The smell of anise is typical of our city and brings back memories of walks in the mountains and along the sea.”
Madrid

Dabiz

Muñoz

"Madrid’s food culture is the coming together of all the backgrounds that make up the city."

FOOD WRITERS

Dubai

Pallavi

Sangtani

"The evolution started when homegrown chefs began developing their creative output and showcasing their take on the cuisines they were cooking."
Rome

Rachel

Roddy

"It's a really visceral food city: the chicory grows through the gaps in the pavement and the capers are crawling all over the walls."
Thessaloniki

Nena

Dimitriou

“In the world of food, most things happen in Thessaloniki before they do in Athens."
Rome

Federico

De Cesare Viola

"This bistro encapsulates the young and creative energy in Rome."
Marseille

Ezechiel

Zerah

"Marseille is the one place that smells of bread in every corner of the city."
Antwerp

Barbara

Serulus

"A lot of the things there are loud – the music, the art, the melting disco balls – but the food is really delicate and amazing."
Helsinki

Kenneth

Nars

"Helsinki is a small city with many alternative places that celebrate being different and having a unique style."
Stockholm

Anna

Norström

"It's a must stop at some point on a night out."
Athens

Fotis

Vallatos

"It has what has become rare in the restaurant scene: to be passionate."
Tbilis

Carla

Capalbo

"ManDili became a kind of icon of Georgian wine and opened the door for a lot of other young women to sign their own labels like Mariam Iosebidze."

BARTENDERS

Ghent

Olivier

Jacobs

"When they opened their own restaurants in Ghent, it encouraged a wave of young chefs to do the same and it freshened up the whole scene."

DRINK WRITERS

Adelaide Hills

Rachel

Signer

"It feels like it’s always in flux, always looking for new ways to offer food in a sustainable, affordable way."
Singapore

Vivian

Pei

"Within 10 years, our cocktail scene went from zero to world class."

WINEMAKERS

Gippsland

Patrick

Sullivan

"We have a deep, ingrained sense of agriculture. We know what food should taste like, not what it used to taste like."

RESTAURANT MANAGERS

Delf

Bilal

Al Mashta

"The most interesting places in Delft today were created by the boys and girls I grew up with and placed the city on the culinary map."
Belgium

Aurelien

Delouf

“The people of Brussels are notoriously very friendly but the food doesn’t get the credit it deserves.”
Paris

Elie

Obeid

"The vibe they’ve created is what's actually making Paris more fun and laidback."
Copenhagen

James

Spreadbury

"It's a fantastic wine bar below street level, and a place that I and the team at Noma go to often."

SOMMELIERS

Washington DC

Swati

Bose

"The wine and cocktail programme is the best in the city."
Cambridge

Danielle

Pattavina

"In the 60s, Cambridge was a place people flocked to from all over the world like they do now with New York or Berlin."
Marseille

Laura

Vidal

"Communities of different backgrounds kind of live together and it doesn’t feel that way in other cosmopolitan cities."
Montreal

Ryan

Gray

"Quebec drinks more wine per capita than any other place in the world."
Tallinn

Kristjan

Peäske

"Here you can stock up on things such as sauna-smoked meat and really good mature cheeses."
Portland

Brent

Braun

"It's the clear-cut number one in this city for wine geeks."
Warsaw

Piotr

Pietras

"The staff is helpful and knowledgeable and will guide you through their wine selection, which is one of the best in the town."
Bratislava

Valentina Kasper

Rosputinská

"A batch brew has kind of become the norm in most places. It was only when travelling to other places that I realised how coffee-forward we were."
Slovenia

Alen

Audič

"Slovenia has an extremely rich winemaking culture that gets passed on from generation to generation."
Barcelona

Stefano

Colombo

"Nobody knows this but they have a sick selection of old Champagne."