Travel & Leisure came out with a list of European restaurants where you can eat like a local. The
original list has 32 restaurants but I have cut it down to 20. I did some research and on of the restaurants in Paris is close to our hotel so I'm thinking we have to give it a try if I'm not full of pastries, desserts and macaroons!
Ottolenghi,
London
Follow Islington’s beau monde to
this high-end Middle Eastern bakery and café, where the tantalizing bread
platter (toasted table side) is a full meal in itself.
Café Central, Vienna
Though it’s welcomed plenty of tourists over its 137
years the grand café inside the majestic Palais Ferstel is known among
pastry-obsessed Wieners for serving the best, flakiest strudel in town.
Mr. Minsch, Berlin
The vibe is Mad Hatter meets 1950’s hausfrau at this
Kreuzberg takeout bakery, where master pastry chef Andreas Minsch turns out his
extravagant confections. You won't want to choose between their enormous
cinnamon rolls or a slice of the popular Black Forest cherry cake.
Cristalli di
Zucchero, Rome
Adjacent to a farmers’ market just off the Circus Maximus
is a pretty-in-pink pasticceria where Parisian-style tartlets are made
with regional ingredients like apricots and pistachios.
Sora Margherita,
Rome
The most delicious plate of pasta in Rome is served in a
narrow space with 15 paper-topped tables: cacio e pepe with pecorino
and handmade noodles, garnished upon request with a generous dollop of
sheep’s-milk ricotta.
Hive Beach Café,
Burton Bradstock, England
A chalkboard menu behind the counter tells you what’s on the
menu for the day. It can vary from fish pies, grilled herring, or a crab
sandwich with chips.
Pantelis
Marathi, Marathi, Greece
On a tiny, car-free isle between Patmos and Bodrum,
Turkey, this harbor front restaurant is a popular stop for the sailing crowd.
Everything is impossibly fresh, from the crawfish sautéed in lemon oil to the
creamy local goat cheese.
Els Pescadors,
Llançà, Spain
Beside the harbor in a tiny Costa Brava town, Els
Pescadors serves up the day’s catch brought in by the fishing boats just a
stone’s throw from your table.
Ardigna
Ristorante Rustico, Salemi, Italy
The most charming restaurant in western Sicily sits an
hour’s drive inland from Marsala, on a remote hilltop. Nearly everything is
made in-house: tangy ricotta, fragrant wildflower honey, garlicky salumi, silky
tagliatelle, even the bittersweet amaro digestif.
Restaurant
Ziegelhütte, Zurich, Switzerland
Take a tram from downtown and then walk up a trail to
this traditional country restaurant and beer garden, where regulars gather over
plates of schnitzel and Älplermagronen, a creamy macaroni with cheese
and potatoes.
Chez Aline, Paris
Choose your own fillings or defer to Chef Delphine
Zampetti for a deceptively simple baguette sandwich at her petite,
retro-flavored deli in the 11th Arrondissement.
Frenchie Wine
Bar, Paris
Across from impossible-to-book Frenchie in the Second
Arrondissement is its edgy sibling whose shared tables, 80’s rock playlist, and
small plates are all the rage.
Glass, Paris
It’s all about creative cocktails, grilled hot dogs, and
Brooklyn Brewery beer at this South Pigalle nightspot.
El Vaso de Oro, Barcelona
Among the old fishermen’s houses of Barceloneta, this
sepia-toned cervecería is full of local sea dogs and other salty types
who come for house-brewed lager and an array of tapas
Ved Stranden 10
Vinhandel & Bar, Copenhagen
On Monday nights, the canal-side wine bar becomes the hangout for the city’s culinary scene.
A guest cook prepares a simple, tasty one-pot dish that functions like a staff
meal, except it’s open to all.
Sa’ Pesta, Genoa,
Italy
Liguria’s beloved equivalent of the French socca is a thin, pizza-like pancake made from
chickpea flour, served hot from the oven and typically adorned with chunks of
gorgonzola or Stracchino cheese.
Paco Gandía,
Pinoso, Spain
In a sleepy hamlet 35 miles west of Alicante, the chef at
Paco Gandía layers rice in a pan the size of a bicycle tire, along with rabbit,
tomatoes, saffron, and snails that feed on wild herbs.
Xocolat, Vienna
Even the most jaded epicurean succumbs to the Willy Wonka-esque
sense of wonder at this haven for the cocoa-obsessed. Lose yourself amid the
shelves of chocolate bars, truffles, and pralines. You can also sign up for a
class to create your own.
Bar Strelka, Moscow
On warm nights, the roof deck atop the Strelka Institute
for Media, Architecture & Design is the stomping ground for the city’s
freethinking intellectuals and cultural elite. An eclectic menu ranges from
shareable snacks to hearty classics.
Da Cesare, Rome
On the ground floor of a 1970’s building in the
residential Monteverde neighborhood, this nondescript space is touted by food
lovers as the best trattoria in town. The standouts on the menu are fried
meatballs in a basil sauce, tiny cuttlefish, and gnocchi.
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