Restaurants, estate kitchens, and the private dinners we've staged on beaches and in deserts. Chosen for what's on the plate, not what's on the wall.
Our clients tend to want the same thing: excellent ingredients, cooked simply, without a production. That is far harder to find than tasting menus. Every restaurant on this list has a preference sheet from us on file before anyone sits down — allergies, dislikes, how the beef is done, which coffee with which milk. It is the least visible part of the work and the part people notice most.
La BucacciaCortona, Italy
Traditional Tuscan cooking in a thirteenth-century palace, rustic and intimate. Go up to Cortona at six, walk the town while the light goes, then eat outside. Bring a sweater.
TuscanyTraditionalSunset first
Asador CarmenPalma, Mallorca
Galician wood-fire grill. Premium beef, simply prepared, no sauces getting in the way. The default answer when someone wants a great dinner and nothing complicated.
MallorcaGrillSimple
Forn de San JoanPalma, Mallorca
Contemporary Mediterranean in the old town, and the right last-night restaurant — good enough to matter, relaxed enough that nobody's performing.
MallorcaOld townFinal night
BarbàrPalma, Mallorca
Modern Mallorquin built on island ingredients and clean preparations. The one to book on arrival night when appetites are uneven and nobody wants a four-hour dinner.
MallorcaLocalArrival night
Villa d'Este, VerandaCernobbio, Italy
Reached by a short boat ride across the lake, which is most of the point. Dinner jacket required for men — worth knowing before you pack.
Lake ComoFormalBoat access
Ristorante BilacusBellagio, Italy
Where a morning ride that finishes in Bellagio should end. Unfussy, reliably good, and positioned so you can take a taxi boat home afterwards with a drink on deck.
Lake ComoPost-rideCasual
Casadonna RealeAbruzzo, Italy
Niko Romito's minimalist retreat in the mountains — the same kitchen behind the Bulgari Roma restaurant, in a far quieter setting. A destination in its own right.
AbruzzoDestinationMichelin
The OwlNew Preston, Connecticut
Twenty minutes from Litchfield and the reason a weekend here doesn't feel like a compromise. No reservation needed, which in this part of the world is a luxury.
NortheastNeighbourhoodWalk-in
Private dinners, stagedVarious
A beach in Mallorca with torches, candlelight and a guitarist. A Sonoran desert at sunset with a chef and a fire. A suite deck over Lake Como. The menu is built and approved weeks before anyone flies.
BespokeAnywhereApproved in advance