From Taitung on Taiwan’s rugged east coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean, to Yuguang Island in Tainan in southern Taiwan, Nick Yang (Yang Po-Wei)’s restaurant has always been a destination in itself.
After the closure of Sinasera 24 and before the opening of YuDao at the end of last year, he remained relatively low-profile for a period of time.

Shanghai’s fine dining scene is highly developed and exacting. But if you focus only on fine dining, you’ll miss another deeply charming layer of the city’s food culture: Chinese bistros. For many travelers from outside China, this side of Shanghai dining barely exists on the radar.

Traveling a full hour by car into the mountains from central Kyoto to Hirasansou in Shiga Prefecture was all for one reason: the Moon Bear Hot Pot, available only in late autumn and winter.
This wasn’t my first time eating bear meat. I had previously encountered it at the French restaurant L’évo in Toyama. Its abundant gelatin and deep, savory aroma left a powerful impression on me (earned at the cost of a nearly two-hour drive). That experience made me more eager to try Hirasansou’s signature moon bear hot pot.

I spend four months of the year in Milan, five in Shanghai, and the rest traveling around different countries. It’s a lifestyle I feel very fortunate to have. My schedule in Europe is always hectic, but this vivid, unforgettable night in Milan had to be recorded.

No one quite knows when it started, but Asia has been swept up in a Panettone wave in recent years. Just like how the Japanese eat strawberry shortcake at Christmas and Germans enjoy Stollen, Panettone is something Italians can’t celebrate Christmas without.