Issues

Porvoo’s growing culinary scene

Just a short drive to the east of Helsinki, Porvoo is popular among day-trippers who come for its 18th-century Old Town, with its riverside warehouses and pastel-painted wooden architecture. Today the city of about 50,000 is often compared to San Sebastián, thanks to its diminutive size and the growing pull of its drinking-and-dining scene.

Monocle follows a winding country road through fields of rye and oats to Ylike Farm on the outskirts of Porvoo. Its history can be traced back to the 18th century but Emily and Thomas Simpson brought the land back into production in 2022. Originally from England, they now grow more than 50 varieties of vegetables, herbs and edible plants here, including chard, fennel, cabbages and (this being Finland) five types of potato.

“What I like about Porvoo is that it has a very distinct food identity that you can’t find anywhere else in Finland,” says Emily, uprooting a plump beetroot from a bed of soil. “There are almost no chain restaurants and much of what the independent bistros have on their menus comes from close by.”

The Simpsons sell their produce to both restaurants and individual customers. “We’re building an earth cellar for preserving vegetables over the winter,” says Thomas. “We would also like to get more involved in local cookery classes, bake our own bread and learn fermenting.”

Less than 5km north of Ylike is Bosgård, another organic farm that is one of the main suppliers of beef to Porvoo’s restaurants. When Monocle visits, more than 300 Charolais cattle are grazing in the fields surrounding a 19th-century manor in a setting far removed from industrial farming. There’s also an on-site farm-to-table restaurant. “The farmers here work together and there’s a strong sense of community,” says Aarne Schildt, Bosgård’s owner. “Restaurants and residents alike want to buy local produce, which keeps the food scene vibrant and gives it a unique feel.”

Finns love fish and you’ll find it on the menu in most restaurants in Porvoo. Borgå Fiskhus is a leading supplier and works with many of the region’s fishermen. Inside, the sweet aroma from an in-house smoker fills the air and a counter displays fresh fish such as salmon, zander, perch, white fish and pike. When Monocle visits, it’s crayfish season and most of the patrons exit the shop carrying bucketfuls of the freshwater crustaceans. The fishmonger’s biggest hit? “Restaurants love our warm-smoked salmon more than anything else,” Theo Skogberg, the shop’s service area manager, tells Monocle from behind the counter.

Porvoo’s Old Town, where you’ll find most of the city’s restaurants, cafés, bars and bakeries, is a compact maze of cobblestone streets that boasts dozens of culinary attractions. These range from Michelin-starred finery to cosier bistros and quaint little cafés that serve the local speciality cake: the runebergintorttu, a rum-and-almond torte named after Finland’s national poet, Johan Ludvig Runeberg, who lived in the city.

Monocle stops for lunch at Ravintola Salt, a restaurant inside a wooden villa that dates back to 1780, near Porvoo Cathedral. We feast on a simple but satisfying meal of smoked fish, potatoes, courgette, mustard seeds and beurre blanc, served with sweet malted bread. In the kitchen we meet the head chef, Erik Tornberg, a Porvoo-native who went to the city’s culinary school and worked his way up the local restaurant scene. “This is a city where a chef will never go unemployed,” he says, even though many culinary professionals have relocated from Helsinki to Porvoo in recent years, in search of a gentler pace of life and other benefits that small-city living offers. “Don’t get me wrong,” says Tornberg. “You can’t rest on your laurels here.”

The brightest star of Porvoo’s food scene is Vår, which earned its – and the city’s – first Michelin star in 2023. When Monocle visits, its menu includes crayfish, cold-smoked pike, a beetroot vorschmack and malt brioche, served with fennel and cucumber. “We are lucky to be surrounded by independent farms that cater to our needs,” Niko Lehto, the restaurant’s co-owner, tells Monocle as a voileipäkakku (a savoury sandwich cake) is served. “This allows us to source things such as garlic flowers, which are impossible to find even in Helsinki.”

Vår is an example of how Porvoo’s food scene and the wider city is evolving. Following international acclaim, it has started to attract more foreign visitors. “Almost a fifth of our patrons now come from abroad,” says Lehto. This is a challenge for the hospitality infrastructure of a city that is more used to catering to domestic day-trippers.

Thank goodness, then, for Runo, a 56-room hotel designed by Joanna Laajisto that opened in 2021. It’s managed by Erkka Hirvonen, while the bar – an asset long missing from Porvoo’s culinary scene – is overseen by other team members. “We live in one of Finland’s most beautiful cities and this has had an effect on the food scene too,” says Hirvonen of the talent that has been tempted here to set up new businesses. “Good food is about taste and how it is presented. But it’s also about where you enjoy it.”

Late-night tables: Seven after-hours dining hotspots

When the city quiets and the shutters come down, the best late night restaurants are just getting into their stride. Far from greasy spoons or after-hours diners, these are refined addresses where you can still find a crisp tablecloth, an elegant glass of wine and service that never rushes you out the door. Whether it’s a brasserie in Paris serving scallops at midnight, or a Manhattan dining room that hums into the small hours, these spots prove that dinner can – and sometimes should – begin long after dark.

1.
The cinematic stop-out
Le Grand Colbert
Paris

Don’t let its old façade fool you – Le Grand Colbert’s best days are ahead of it. This spot, just north of Palais Royal, is one of the most fêted brasseries in a city that’s brimming with great places to break bread. When Monocle pays a visit, there’s an appreciative hum during evening service and a fleet of smart waiters clip across the floor and between busy tables.

The building dates to 1828 and has had many lives, including becoming a restaurant – a bouillon – in 1900. The current owner, businessman Joel Fleury, took over in 1992. The architecture is a draw: soaring ceilings, mirrors, a mosaic floor and sculpted pilasters all in the pleasing curves of art nouveau. If it all looks a little familiar, it’s perhaps because the dining room has lent that grandeur to several films and TV series, including the 2003 Hollywood hit Something’s Gotta Give with Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Keanu Reeves (shot at table 29).

But film credits and finery only count for so much when tummies start to rumble. People still come to this hallowed dining hall for one reason: to eat. Service here runs from midday to midnight and in a relative rarity for such a traditional joint, it is – as the neon sign outside reads in pleasing Anglo-French – “non-stop” (as in not broken up into sittings).

Chef Fabrice Cornée uses seasonal produce to prepare classic French cuisine with a modern twist. But the result is anything but anodyne: just-so sole meunière, tender coquilles St Jacques (scallops) or blanquette de veau (veal stew) are all the tastier – and yes, perhaps a little cinematic – when consumed under the establishment’s golden lights and fluttering palm fronds. 
legrandcolbert.com

2.
The whimsical wonder
Bemelmans
New York

In the late 1940s, Ludwig Bemelmans, the US writer and illustrator of the beloved Madeline children’s book series, made a deal with a friend. In exchange for a protracted stay at the swanky Carlyle Hotel on the Upper East Side (of which his friend was fortuitously the manager), Bemelmans agreed to paint the walls of the hotel’s new bar. He opted for a fantastical depiction of nearby Central Park –giraffes with parasols, besuited bunnies and even an appearance by the famous Madeline character and her school chums. The murals remain vibrant to this day and add a touch of whimsy to the sumptuous, leather-and-wood snug that still bears Bemelmans’ name.

If you can snag a table (walk-ins are welcome, though there is sometimes a queue) then come hungry. The bar fare is no-nonsense and decadent: caviar, oysters, charcuterie and cheese, plus finger foods such as beef sliders, mini tuna tacos and andouille sausage pigs-in-a-blanket.

Bemelmans has accomplished a rare feat: staying perpetually popular while preserving the charm and atmosphere that made it so irresistible to late-night patrons when it first opened in 1947. The glamour is understated, the red-jacketed bartenders discreet and the martinis stiff. There is live music every day until closing – Emmy Award-winning pianist Earl Rose’s weekly performances are a treat – and on raucous nights guests have been known to crowd around the Steinway and join in.
35 E 76th Street, New York, NY 10021

3.
The trusty trattoria
Rosy e Gabriele 1
Milan

As bars and restaurants come and go in Milan’s Porta Venezia, Rosy e Gabriele 1 remains, well, number one for late-night dining. Established in 1967 (at one point there was a second, hence the name), the trattoria has been run by a Serbian-Montenegrin family for four decades. The restaurant, which opens for lunch and dinner, is marshalled by brothers Cedo and Cuca Mikic, with the all-male waitstaff entirely made up of family members.

The restaurant has a timeless and slightly kitschy air. There are paintings of Rome and Pisa on the walls, a world map above the fish fridge and a hanging wooden Montenegrin insignia, with a wolf in its centre, which was gifted to Cedo. There are brightish lights – the true mark of an old-school joint in these parts – and 1980s and 1990s Italian ballads on the stereo. The large dining room is busy on the Thursday night when Monocle visits, as patrons drink wine and plump for something from a menu of some 300 dishes, featuring everything from fish crudo to pizza. The piano at the far end of the bar is regularly tinkered on in the wee hours by a maestro from La Scala.

One thing that’s kept Rosy e Gabriele lively is the diverse crowd. When Monocle visits, a politician is here, as well as a group of footballers. An architect takes a pew at the same table that he’s been eating at for the past 40 years and by 22.30 several young fashionistas sit down. There’s an air of bravado about the crowd that’s echoed in the owners’ pride in the place. “All the most famous people have come here – actors, politicians, sports stars,” says Cedo. “Maradona was here.” Yet he seems a little saddened that people aren’t dining as late as they once did. “Before the pandemic, people would eat here at 02.30 like it was 20.30,” he says. Still, he adds, there’s no problem showing up at the restaurant at midnight. “Just give us a call.” 
26 Via Giuseppe Sirtori; 139 02 2952 5930

4.
Good for a yarn
Snob Bar
Lisbon

It’s a new era for Snob Bar but thankfully one marked by little obvious change to this legendary Lisbon restaurant. “My goal is to keep things as they’ve always been,” says Miguel Garcia, who took over the Lisbon address last year from its previous owners’ 50-year custody with a promise of safekeeping and continuity. “There are places that simply cannot disappear. They are part of a city’s history.”

Opened in 1964, Snob belongs to a special strain of establishments known for a discreet, closed-door policy, behind which lie dimly lit wood-panelled interiors and the possibility of late-night dining. Founded by an illustrator at the O Século newspaper (whose newsroom was nearby but shut in 1977), Snob continues to draw in a clientele of journalists, writers and politicians. “We want Snob to remain primarily a Portuguese house, with regulars who recommend it to the new generations through word of mouth,” says Garcia.

The intimate decor of red carpet, leather seats and books on shelves has remained the same but the place has been given a facelift. The tin on the table lamps and the wooden ceiling and walls have been polished and the sofas reupholstered in their original bottle green. The food is the same as always, with croquettes and “Snob steak” with fries as the calling cards. This said, the drink selection has been jazzed up with classic cocktails, a careful selection of spirits and a good line-up of whisky. What feels different is the absence of the previous owner, Albino Oliveira (who almost single-handedly served while managing Snob’s door policy). However, the hope is that a new staff of eight can offer on-point service while keeping some of the place’s time-tested allure. The aim? To become part of the furniture.
snobbar.pt

5.
Get the ball rolling
Kaniya Honten
Nagasaki

A quick stop for an after-dinner onigiri (rice ball) is common practice in Nagasaki these days but the origins of this ritual started with one restaurant. “My father opened Kaniya in 1965 when there were no conbini (convenience stores) and fewer restaurants,” says current proprietor Hideki Fujikawa. “This was the first onigiri speciality shop in Nagasaki and once it opened, it became part of the local culture to have an onigiri after a night of drinking. People started saying, ‘Nondara Kaniya’, which means ‘After you drink, it’s Kaniya.’”

On any night, Kaniya is rammed. The onigiri are made to order with A-grade Koshihikari rice from Niigata, seaweed from Ariake and Hakata salt from Ehime. “We’ve always prepared each onigiri at the counter in front of the customers,” says Fujikawa. “Regulars often say that the taste hasn’t changed but it has. Customers have a more sophisticated palate today so we always try to make subtle improvements and use the best ingredients.” A Kaniya onigiri is small enough to wolf down quickly, allowing diners to try more of the 33 variations on the menu.

Popular orders are iwanori (seasoned seaweed), takana (pickled mustard leaves) and the signature shio-saba (salt-grilled mackerel). “Unlike convenience-store versions, we carefully remove the bones by hand and grill each piece without any additives,” says Fujikawa. A bottle of Asahi Super Dry and the popular akadashi red miso soup complete the picture. The convivial hum is the sound of a room full of satisfied customers of all ages. “We are seeing a lot more younger people lately, alongside our loyal regulars,” says Fujikawa. The Kaniya tradition looks set to continue.

6.
The spot for a singalong
El Primo Sanchez
Sydney

In a 1940s pub on Oxford Street, Paddington, on Sydney’s eastern fringe, is a colourful Mexican haunt that’s a go-to for a late bite. Serving drinks until 02.00 with a resident DJ in the corner, the technicolour decor, old-school Mexican music and a private karaoke booth make it an ideal spot for a late-night margarita, mezcal or a plate of tacos and a singalong.

Bartender Eduardo Conde oversees the shaking and stirring, showcasing his talent with a menu of creative and curious cocktails. With a focus on tequila and mezcal, the extensive drinks list includes adapted classics, such as the negroni made with raicilla (a Mexican spirit distilled from the agave plant) and the viva la vida, a piquant take on the humble margarita that arrives with lashings of mango, mint, a kick of Ancho Reyes chilli liquor and native lemon myrtle.

Head chef Diego Sotelo’s menu includes tostadas with diced raw tuna served with edamame, while the pick of the tacos are the al Pastor (pork belly with pineapple) and the campechano (with smoky brisket, chorizo and salsa). Desserts run to piping-hot churros with dulce de leche for dipping and brown-butter madeleines dotted with white chocolate and Australian wattle seed.

For a more intimate experience, venture into La Prima, the private speakeasy within the bar. This cosy space, its walls adorned with colourful Mexican prints and lit by candlelight, also has a dedicated bartender service. Barkeep, another viva la vida, por favor!
elprimosanchez.com

7.
For the grown-ups
The Dover
London

After 15 years as COO at Soho House Group, Martin Kuczmarski amassed an enviable amount of experience and inspiration from the bar and restaurant world. The Dover, his instant classic in London’s Mayfair, is the distillation of all that he’s learned – a meticulous amalgam of Kuczmarski’s favourite late-night establishments and his design-led philosophy.

Once through the heavy velvet curtains, the softly lit, slender bar is a blur of bartenders kitted out in white double- breasted Savile Row jackets made from the same cloth as butchers’ aprons. The drinks list is long and classic but majors in martinis. The signature Dover martini sums up Kuczmarski’s pedigree: an American drink made with Italian vermouth and Konik’s Tail vodka from Poland and is accented with an orange twist and bitters. Trays of the things float out to the candlelit tables, while a barback selects records to suit the sultry, grown-up mood.

Beyond the bar, a stretch of conspiratorial booths leads to the oblong dining room, which is all sinuous swoops of walnut panelling rising to a glazed barrel ceiling. This club-like space, designed by Quincoces-Dragó, a Milanese architecture practice, takes cues from an age of steam-powered travel and art deco dining cars. Here you’ll find an international set tucking into Italian-American fare of courgette fritti, spaghetti meatballs, hamburgers and beef arrosto, all served on bone china plates and pleasingly bereft of the usually hefty Mayfair price tag for the pleasure. Kuczmarski’s next venture? A hotel in Parma.
thedoverrestaurant.com

The tech rivalry between the US, Russia and China will influence great-power relations

Artificial intelligence (AI), advanced computing, semi-conductors, microelectronics, connectivity infrastructure and sensors have become arenas in which states vie for dominance. Technological competition between the two principal blocs – the US and its allies on one side and China and Russia on the other – has escalated significantly. This intensification is partly driven by Russia’s war in Ukraine. But it is primarily rooted in China’s military modernisation and efforts to establish an independent technological ecosystem.

The US and its partners across the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific have responded to these threats by strengthening technological co-operation and limiting access to critical components. Yet China and Russia have circumvented Western restrictions through the use of underground networks and third-country intermediaries. Both states have also challenged export controls, while developing retaliatory measures against Washington and its allies.

Russia has shown an ability to exploit weaknesses in the global supply chain by leveraging a network of states across the Middle East, Central and Southeast Asia to acquire critical technology components for military weapons. US-made semiconductors, from appliances such as microwaves and fridges, have consistently been found in Russian weapon systems on the Ukrainian battlefield.

But the threat of China is more concerning. Beijing has heavily invested in the domestic development of industries affected by export controls, particularly microchips. It has also reduced the market share of Western firms by imposing restrictions on critical materials such as rare-earth minerals. China’s use of surveillance and AI to collect data on its citizens is of great alarm to Western strategists. So too is the country’s “military-civil fusion” strategy, which integrates resources in the civilian and defence sectors to advance military development. Beijing is implementing this policy not only through its own domestic measures but also through the acquisition of foreign technologies. This obscures end-use export controls, making it difficult to impose restrictions on items that are supplied to China.

Recent developments in AI have intensified the rivalry between the US and Beijing. In an attempt to weaken China’s ability to train large-scale AI models, the Biden administration introduced trade controls on semiconductors. Though the US has long maintained a technological edge in AI, recent developments suggest that Beijing is rapidly closing the gap. Over the coming years, AI will be one of the biggest factors in altering the balance of power between nation states. Automation could drive economic growth, while advanced AI systems capable of directing weapons could offer military advantages.

Some observers view the narrowing technological gap between the US and China as an opportunity to negotiate an agreement on the use of these systems. Given the current tensions between Washington and Beijing, however, the chances of a deal are slim. If such an agreement were to emerge, it would probably take the form of a bilateral pact rather than a multilateral arrangement. Interstate relations are becoming more transactional, with defence and technology posing complex challenges to co-operation.

Gorana Grgic is Monocle’s security correspondent.

The Monocle Concierge’s guide to Bangkok’s hidden treasures

Click here to enjoy Monocle’s complete city guide to Bangkok

The sharpest spring fashion collaborations

Hollywood Ranch Market X Wildside
Japan

Influential designer Yohji Yamamoto has unveiled a collaboration between his sub-label Wildside and fellow Japanese brand Hollywood Ranch Market. The six-piece collection is inspired by French workwear – think stretchy, long-sleeve tops, drawstring trousers and sharp chore jackets with French-style rounded collars. Bags are also on offer, including a mini twill satchel and a larger tote. Follow Yamamoto’s styling cues and add a pair of black leather Oxfords for a polished, monochrome look.
wildside-online.com; hrm-eshop.com

APC X Anastasia Barbieri
France

Paris-based apc continues to surprise with its ongoing series of collaborations – or “interactions”, as the brand’s founder, Jean Touitou, prefers to call the capsule collections co-designed with the likes of Jonathan Anderson, Jane Birkin and Katie Holmes. Joining this roster is stylist and former Vogue Hommes fashion director Anastasia Barbieri. “apc is a brand that I’ve known since my youth,” says Barbieri. “I’ve always appreciated its timeless pieces [and] nonchalant spirit,” she adds, pointing to the new classics in her own capsule, from tuxedo jackets designed to be worn from day to evening to gabardine coats and double-denim looks. Also worth adding to your shopping list: a new edition of the brand’s organic olive oil with a raw denim apron to match.
apc.fr

JW Anderson
UK

Loafers have been on the rise for a few years now, slowly but surely replacing the trainer. Irish-born designer Jonathan Anderson – known for his humorous, often surreal approach – decided to take the trend a step further with his new line of Loafer bags, a series of elegant top-handle totes featuring a front panel resembling the penny slot on the shoe. It’s a low-key, practical design but the nod to the footwear brings a touch of the irreverence that’s synonymous with Anderson’s label. The larger size, ideally in brown suede or navy leather, also doubles as a weekender bag.
jwanderson.com

Vacheron Constantin
Switzerland & UK

Vacheron Constantin’s Club 1755, in London’s Mayfair, is only open to the Swiss company’s top customers. “Before collecting timepieces, our clients might collect cigars, cars or art,” says UK brand director Charlotte Tanneur Teissier. So watches aren’t the only design objects on display. “Timepieces are part of a broader conversation and the club offers a space to host that discussion.” 
vacheron-constantin.com

Mover
Switzerland 

Swiss-based Mover has been delivering plastic-free collections since 2021. Its latest innovation is the Vintage Shell+ running jacket. Crafted from a waterproof high-density deadstock cotton with a merino lining, it is warm and breathable. We recommend this eye-catching mandarin shade. 
mover.eu

SR_A Engineered
Spain

Over the past year, Inditex-owned Zara has unveiled an evolving collaboration series with the likes of former Saint Laurent artistic director Stefano Pilati, musician Charlotte Gainsbourg and Budapest-based label Nanushka.

The A Coruña business is now aiming even higher by launching a new label with Samuel Ross, the architect turned fashion designer known for streetwear label A-Cold-Wall and partnerships with watchmaker Hublot. Named SR_A Engineered, this joint venture is a “multidisciplinary studio” rather than a traditional fashion label, spanning clothing as well as furniture, art and industrial design.

Ross’s first project, a menswear capsule focused on performance wear, made its debut during Paris Fashion Week this January and included voluminous parkas, kimono-inspired coats and slides featuring Japanese shiso stitching. “These are clothes for navigating cultural spaces and spaces of work and play,” says Ross. 
sr-a.com

Kestin
UK

“They say that if you’re brought up in Scotland, you’re either a golfer or a fly fisher,” says Kestin Hare at the Edinburgh shop of his menswear label Kestin. And life outdoors informs his Scottish-made knits and workwear-inspired garments, crafted using a mix of technical and natural fabrics, and produced at the brand’s studio in Annan.

Hare inherited this obsession with quality fabrics from his mother, an interior designer; while the technical wear he wore while fly fishing with his father fuelled a love for high-performance garments.

The ambitious designer is working with fabric makers in Japan, while eyeing new markets. “Our biggest growth area is in the US, where many people feel a true affinity to Scotland,” he says. “You can design the best product in the world but if it doesn’t have a story, it won’t work. We’re always developing new techniques in the studio to keep us all ready to venture outside.” 
kestin.co

The Milan bistros, Melbourne cocktails and cosy Dutch hotels to have on our radar

Melbourne Place
Melbourne

“There’s a sameness about many Australian hotels that we wanted to get away from,” says Patrick Kennedy, co-principal of architecture firm Kennedy Nolan. When the practice was commissioned to design a 16-storey hotel in Melbourne’s CBD, it took inspiration from “family-owned properties in Europe”. Melbourne Place has a brick and tinted-concrete exterior that reflects the spirit of the area’s older buildings. “Melbourne has been keen to preserve 19th- and 20th-century masonry buildings,” says Kennedy. “We engaged with those aspirations closely.” The hotel offers 191 guest rooms and suites. 
melbourneplace.com.au

Sandì
Milan

Hidden away on a residential street in Porta Venezia, bistro Sandì has swiftly become a neighbourhood favourite. The project is overseen by chef Laura Santosuosso, originally from Modena, and her partner, Denny Mollica (pictured, on left, with Santosuosso), who takes care of front of house and pulls together an unconventional, ever-evolving wine list.

Sandì – a portmanteau of Santosuosso’s surname and Mollica’s nickname – occupies a beautiful 1960s street-level space that was once a bakery. Original design details have been preserved, including a Palladian marble floor with flashes of pink. In-demand design studio Parasite 2.0 is behind the subtle refurbishment work and the striking metal-and-glass wall at the far end that opens like a kiosk.

Santosuosso has worked at some of Milan’s finest restaurants – from Erba Brusca and Remulass to Nebbia – and has also spent time in Paris. “The menu’s departure point is always Italian regional food,” says the chef. “But there are influences from all of our travels too.” Dishes such as roasted cauliflower in a green pepper sauce are bursting with umami flavour. Other standouts include slow-cooked leeks in red wine, blue cheese and dark chocolate, and cabbage stuffed with red prawns and pork shoulder, served with a flavoursome bisque.

The couple, who have a young son, currently only open Sandì for lunch, except on Fridays when the bistro also serves dinner. The aim, says Mollica, is to have “a place that is buzzing during the day” and to maintain a healthy work-life balance. The à la carte options are excellent but the set menu is undoubtedly Milan’s best meal deal: €25 for three inventive and scrumptious courses. “We want to have all of the comfort of dinner but at lunch,” says Santosuosso. We like their way of thinking. 
Via Francesco Hayez, 13

Hotel Rumour
Leiden

Studio Modijefsky – the Amsterdam-based firm behind the handsome Gitane restaurant and bar, as well as the revamp of the Blauwe Theehuis pavilion in the Vondelpark – is at it again. This time it has transformed a 17th-century carriage house in Rembrandt’s home city of Leiden into the cosy Hotel Rumour.

The hotel’s terrace is dotted with tan parasols. There’s a downstairs brasserie clad in brown terracotta tiles and a travertine bar beneath original wooden ceiling beams. You’ll find texture everywhere, from the smooth sage-hued upholstery of the bar seating to the marble tabletops and bobbly beige stuccoed walls that hint at the age of the building. A staircase leads to La Suite Petite, which is available to rent for private bashes. It has space for 12 people and a private dining option. There’s also the Salone Royale (with room for 100) amid the attic’s atmospheric wooden rafters.

Chef Thomas van der Slikke oversees a bistro with a menu of crowd-pleasers, which range from brunch staples to a dinner of sea bass or steak with a great wine list to choose from. It’s easy to stray into hyperbole when painting such a comely portrait of a new opening but let’s just say that the hotel’s success isn’t just a rumour. 
hotelrumour.nl

Recipe for success: Parma’s prestigious Alma culinary school

Commuting to a palace might be tough but somebody has to do it. Such are the tribulations of Alberto Figna, who admits that he works in “an extraordinary place”. Figna is president and CEO of Alma culinary school, which occupies four floors of the magnificent Colorno Palace, a 17th-century masterpiece just outside the city of Parma that’s known as the “Versailles of the Dukes of Parma”. The venue is befitting of the institution, which was established in 2004 and sees 1,000 students pass through its doors every year – about 20 per cent of whom are from outside Italy.

“Alma is by some distance the largest, most recognised and most important Italian cooking school,” says Figna. His role, which he calls “complicated but also very stimulating”, is to develop the school and increase its international profile. Alma works with a network of global schools, which send students to Italy (on the day Monocle visits, there’s a delegation from Taiwan). It also participates in a venture in Bangkok called The Food School. “Alma is growing a lot,” says Figna. “And we believe that it can also grow a lot in the future.”

Located in the heart of Emilia-Romagna’s ‘Food Valley’ – land of cured ham and Parmesan cheese – Alma has a strong crossover with industry (pasta giant Barilla and tomato-sauce king Mutti are based in Parma), helping to get students into placements and working with guest teachers. There is a core staff of 17 chefs and 26 academic professors who teach international courses in English, as well as Italian-language programmes that cover everything from F&B to baking and pastry.

Figna, who has been in his role since 2023, says that he couldn’t do without his staff, which includes everyone from a café assistant to a graphic designer. They all contribute to creating a place of educational excellence (and where lunch, as you might expect, goes above and beyond). “Alma is a school where there is a great sense of belonging and where the students are very united,” he says. “We believe that they can go on to be the best ambassadors of the Italian way of life around the world.”

Vatican diplomacy tested as US-Cuba deal unravels

Among the flurry of announcements made by Joe Biden at the end of his presidency was something that caught many by surprise: the decision to remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. In return, Havana agreed to release 550 prisoners, many of whom were jailed for taking part in anti-government demonstrations in 2021.

Cuba’s economy has been hit by US sanctions and increasingly inconsistent supplies of fuel, funds and food from its traditional allies in Russia, Venezuela and China. Biden’s move promised a glimmer of hope, particularly for Cuba’s fledgling private sector, which has been particularly hard hit by the economic downturn. And though Donald Trump reimposed US sanctions on Cuba during his first day in office, Cuba’s president Miguel Díaz-Canel (pictured, on right, with Pope Francis) appears to have maintained its side of the deal by pressing ahead with the prisoner release.

This is probably because of the standing of the third party that brokered the original deal: Vatican City. “What is interesting in a diplomatic sense is the Holy See’s perceived neutrality,” Michael Higgins, a professor of Catholic history at the University of Toronto, tells monocle. “It’s why countries that have no history of Catholicism still want ambassadors to the Holy See.”

The Vatican has diplomatic links with 182 countries. While its diplomats’ recent attempt to reset US-Cuba relations has been undone, their work has become more valuable as international relations have deteriorated. “In a world that constantly seems on the road to collision, you need stabilising powers,” says Higgins. As the world gears up for a year of potentially complex peace negotiations in Ukraine and the Middle East, the parties involved might benefit from seeking divine intervention.

Want more stories like these in your inbox?

Sign up to Monocle’s email newsletter, The Monocle Minute, to stay on top of news and opinion, plus the latest from the magazine, radio, film and shop.

Interview: ‘L’Express’ CEO Alain Weill on rebuilding France’s iconic news brand

“There is a fire at L’Express,” said French media mogul Alain Weill when he took the helm of the historic Paris-based news magazine in 2019. L’Express was in a deep financial crisis and one CEO after another had failed to turn around its fortunes. Before arriving at L’Express, Weill had played a key role in building up French radio giants nrj and rmc, and later founded BFMTV (France’s answer to CNN). Six years and several rounds of layoffs later, L’Express is back from the brink.

In 2024 it turned a profit for the first time in years and now has ambitious plans for a European edition aimed at audiences beyond France’s borders. Monocle catches up with the softly spoken, quietly self-assured ceo in the newsroom, noting that his blazer’s red-stitched buttonhole discreetly reveals his status as a knight of France’s prestigious Ordre de La Légion d’Honneur.

Is ‘L’Express’ out of the woods, financially?
It’s not over. I would say that we are halfway there. Today the company’s books are balanced but we must reinvent the future of the magazine. It’s not a mission that is specific to L’Express; it’s an obligation for all titles around the world. AI is coming and free information is both plentiful and high quality.

Tell us about your plans for a European edition.
We already have an audience of subscribers, which is made up of opinion leaders, leaders of the economic world, scientists, teachers, politicians and professionals. This readership throughout Europe is similar: a German business leader has the same concerns as a French business leader and the same desire for information. We want to develop across Europe with talented journalists writing European stories and using technology to publish our content in all 24 languages of the European Union. This will also be a way to attract a younger audience as young people often know Europe better than their parents. They’ve had the opportunity to travel and European values appeal to them.

What will this change look like in practice?
We will have 30 per cent original content but will also develop a relationship with L’Express France. Of the French edition’s content, 70 per cent can be used for the European project, with a Europeanised translation using AI. The content that will come from L’Express France will already be very European and not France-centric analysis or Europe as seen from France. It will come from journalists representing all nationalities of the European Union. And we want to look for the best experiences in Europe. Why does education work in Finland? Why is healthcare better in Germany when per capita spending is not higher? We are already well positioned when it comes to coverage of Europe, liberalism, democracy, science, technology and climate. This is where we want to excel.

How do you balance opinion and news?
When I took over [French FM radio station] RMC, we made it a 100 per cent opinion radio station but it wasn’t partisan. rmc is still a radio station that gives a voice to all French people and allows all kinds of opinions. I think that this is necessary. It does not support one side over the other. Today if you think of [French TV channel] CNews, it is an opinion channel but it supports one political camp. Regulation needs to change because soon TV will be broadcast on digital platforms where there is less oversight. A publication like L’Express is liberal and pro-European; it defends democracy but that doesn’t mean that we can’t give a voice to people who think differently. To make up our own minds, it’s important to subject them to other ideas and other points of view.

You were part of the earliest days of French FM radio. What did you learn from that time?
Jean-Paul Baudecroux, who was the founder of NRJ and a visionary, understood how the radio market was going to evolve. He went looking for models in the US and it worked. NRJ has been a success from the start. And the adventure I had at nrj was exceptional because the whole team felt like we were changing the sector. In the media, and the audiovisual sector in particular, the models are often American because competition there has been tougher for longer. Private radio in the US existed even before the Second World War but in Europe it appeared in the 1980s. So NRJ is inspired by American music radio. And BFMTV was inspired by CNN. I’ve always liked drawing inspiration from models that work.

Might Trump tempt California to secede in the aftermath of LA’s wildfires?

In 2017, as Donald Trump prepared to enter the White House, California’s leaders went on the offensive. They would, they said, use the power of the world’s fifth-largest economy to stand up to the president, serving as what then-California governor Jerry Brown described as a “beacon of hope to the rest of the world”. If Trump blocked the climate research that was key to the state’s environmental agenda, Brown threatened, “California will launch its own damn satellite.” There has been little of that swagger from Sacramento this time around. The wildfires that tore through Los Angeles less than two weeks before Trump’s second inauguration have blindsided California’s leaders. The Democrats who preside over the state now find themselves begging Republicans in Washington to deliver the type of basic aid that the federal government ordinarily doles out to those affected by natural disasters.

Such catastrophes usually elicit a sense of unity but the fires have revealed deep divisions. Many in Trump’s party responded to the suffering in Los Angeles with glee, making dubious claims about the city’s firefighting budget and the management of its reservoirs to feed a longstanding caricature of left-wing mismanagement. Even as the fires raged, prominent Republicans looked for ways to pin the destruction on the Democratic politicians who occupy all of California’s state offices and the mayoralties of most of its large cities. (It is one of 15 states where Democrats control both the governor’s office and legislative supermajorities.) LA was burning, Republicans said, because Democratic politicians spend more time protecting illegal immigrants, criminals and endangered species than their own citizens. “Everyone is unable to do anything about it,” Trump said in his inaugural address. “That’s going to change.”

Trump has spoken of Chicago, Detroit and even New York in similar terms but none has found itself as reliant on his goodwill as LA. The short-term fight will be over emergency aid and whether Congress attaches conditions that compel changes to the Californian environmental policies that Republicans blame for the fires. Trump will have difficulty fully abandoning LA, which is due to host the Olympics in the final year of his presidential term. He was in office when the Games were granted to the US and is certain to shuffle around the host city in 2028 with a smile on his face. A man who prides himself on a knack for construction will be eager to boast about his role in saving the Olympic city rather than blame local politicians for its ills.

But the next four years are likely to be painful for California as it struggles to rebuild while seeing its national government as an obstacle not a partner. Indeed, those who run the US now treat the state – which is home to one-eighth of its population and responsible for one-seventh of its GDP – as something of a distant, wayward colonial territory. A January announcement from Trump about how his White House would deal with the entertainment industry was telling: “It is my honour to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone to be special ambassadors to a great but very troubled place: Hollywood.” Californians might soon have an opportunity to express whether they share that sense of detachment. The so-called CalExit movement tried but failed to place a secession plebiscite before voters during Trump’s first term; now it is trying again. If it succeeds in qualifying, Californians would vote on the state’s secession from the US in November 2026 – almost exactly halfway between the wildfires and the Olympic moment, when Trump will want to brag about LA’s rise from the ashes.

LA-based Issenberg is Monocle’s US politics correspondent.