Located on the top floor of the Palais de Chine hotel, near Taipei’s Main Station, Le Palais was Taiwan’s only only three-star Michelin restaurant for five consecutive years. Despite hoping the restaurant would live up to the hype given that it’s run by a Hongkonger (aka, my people), it only lived up to three-star standards in price, not in flavor or creativity.

Ever since I watched Clare Smyth judge on Netflix’s The Final Table, she has become one of my chef crushes, and I have wanted to visit her restaurant.

When M and I first started thinking about going to Italy, my first thought—before which cities we should visit, how many dishes of pasta we’d have to try, or what sundresses to bring—was that we’d have to try to get a reservation at Osteria Francescana.