The very best fish and outstanding shellfish - a love letter from the Garcia Azpiroz family to the fishermen of La Coruña and the treasures of the sea. All the produce at Desde 1911 is of incredible quality and starts, every morning, with the day’s catch. Alongside chef Diego Murciego is sommelier Sergio Otero, who manages a cellar of the best bottles in the Iberian peninsula, and restaurant manager Abel Valverde, formerly of Santi Santamaria in Can Fabes who was a pioneer of Spanish locavorism. Having lost such a brilliant chef far too early - Santamaria died in 2011 - it’s wonderful to see his team continuing his good work.

Apricity means the warmth of the sun in winter, but Chantelle Nicolson is sprinkling her sunshine on London’s Mayfair year-round thanks to the balmy success of her 2022 opening. Known for plant-based cooking at Tredwell’s and pandemic pop-up All’s Well, former lawyer Nicolson runs a mostly female kitchen with head chef Eve Seeman, and describes Apricity as “conscious cooking and joyful dining”. Hit dishes include black pearl and oyster mushrooms in XO sauce, butterhead lettuce with miso aioli, cured Cornish sea bass, and pork dumplings with horseradish. Eat in the light-flooded dining room or the chef’s table downstairs. Beautiful plates, complex flavors, and the comfort of great food from experienced hands, with plenty of surprises in the mix.

Following in the footsteps of Charles Barrier and Jean Bardet, there’s a new star chef in the Loire, Christophe Hay. His luxury hotel in Blois with its spa, bistro, patisserie, and restaurant is one of 2022’s most significant openings. Hay is completely in tune with the times, using regional suppliers, breeding his own Wagyu, and serving food that is contemporary but deeply rooted in the region and classical French cooking. Dishes include the three-bird pie Belle Aurore aux trois plumes with lavender sabayon, poached Sologne pike-perch with agastache and corn, and carp in Chambord with black summer truffles and crayfish. He’s only been on our radar for a decade, but Christophe Hay is bound for great things.

Modern Chinese restaurant Mora on Hong Kong’s car-free Upper Lascar Row celebrates the cuisine’s best known ingredient, soy. Chef-owner Vicky Lau, founder of Tate Dining Room, opened this bijou 28-seat space with head chef Percy Ho to explore the texture-based cuisine China is known for and the versatility of the soybean, bringing diners tofu in all its incarnations, from silky and soupy to crunchy and meaty. Don’t miss the cold chicken and soy milk broth with udon and bean paste, and the “butter”, which is actually thick soy cream whipped with fermented tofu. Lau has even invested in machinery to extract her own high quality soy milk.

Lucky Texas : Mashama Bailey’s much-lauded The Grey in Savannah, Georgia, has spread its wings and landed in Austin. The Diner Bar has its roots in the same style of Port City Southern cuisine, but with splashes of Texas and a menu showcasing the best of Austin’s growers, gamers, and fishermen. Try head chef Kristine Kittrell’s eggplant and okra, foie and grits, curried goat, and shrimp rice, or drop by for happy hour Martinis and oysters. The more casual Grey Market, with counter food and sandwiches to go, is located in the same new hotel, The Thompson Austin.