The Mediterranean region includes at least twenty countries across southern Europe, north Africa and western Asia, and is as vast as it is diverse. Its cuisines include French, Spanish, Greek, and Italian to Turkish, Moroccan, and Lebanese, an astounding array of cultures, climates and culinary history. How to bring it all together? Jerusalem-born, London-based chef Yotam Ottolenghi has been working to do just that for decades exploring and translating the magic of the Med’s rich produce and incredible variety into millions of homes with his Mediterranean Feast TV series and nine cookbooks, including Plenty, Plenty More, Simple, and Flavour. It is 20 years since he opened his first Ottolenghi delicatessen in Notting Hill and he now has five, along with restaurants NOPI and ROVI. From these and his infamous Test Kitchen, he has trained and inspired scores of chefs and influenced our store cupboard, turning Mediterranean and Middle Eastern ingredients such as preserved lemons, za’atar, pomegranate molasses, and tahini into everyday staples.

Lyon, the legendary food destination nestled between the Saône and the Rhône, is a city of old friends and new faces. The bouchons such as Daniel et Denise, the beating heart of Lyon’s food scene, rub shoulders with famous restaurants like La Mère Brazier and the Auberge du Pont de Collonges - best known as Paul Bocuse - along with the wine merchants of the old town, and the cheesemakers and butchers in the covered market. Alongside all this are a new generation of dining spots, both innovative and even meat-free, including Ludovic and Tabata Mey at Les Apothicaires, Maxime Laurenson at Rustique, Louis Fargeton of L’Établi, and Peruvian Miraflores. Culina Hortus is probably the best known vegetarian spot, then we have the new food court, Food Traboule, and the Lyon Street Food Festival, which celebrated its sixth year this summer. Together they deliver a gourmet destination fizzing with life, making Lyon, once more, the true capital of great eating.