Looking for a breakfast spot in Argentina, a local fave in Latvia, or a late night tapas bar in Norway? Where Chefs Eat: A Guide to Chefs’ Favourite Restaurants has you covered. As long as you don’t mind lugging along a 662-page book.





With more than 2,000 recommendations from 400 top chefs (including Gabrielle Hamilton, David Chang, and Daniel Boulud, among others) around the globe, the international restaurant guide includes everything from bargain noodle joints to high-end brasseries.

Billed as “the ultimate insiders’ guide,” the project was a collaboration between publisher Phaidon and food writer Joe Warwick, cofounder of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards. After selecting the chefs, Warwick and a 25-person editorial team e-mailed them eight questions, including “which restaurant would you travel any distance to eat at?”

Chef recommendations are key to finding the best restaurants, according to Warwick, because “they tend to be plugged into their local restaurant scene and beyond–and are full of insider tips.”

Designed by former I.D. art director Kobi Benezri, Where Chefs Eat features more than 50 fonts and, according to Benezri, was inspired by British phone books from the 1950s and ’60s. The finished product is nearly as heavy as a phone book too.

There’s no question that the book contains oodles of info about where to eat around the world, but realistically, who wants to schlep such a hefty tome with them when they’re on the road?

“It’s about the size of a concise Oxford Dictionary. I’ve managed to fit one in my luggage,” says Warwick, who acknowledges that some readers may prefer to jot down recommendations ahead of time and leave the book behind.