Around the world in 100 restaurants

From tales of Al Capone's food habits to the rise of Gordon Ramsay, Tina Nielsen explores the world's best restaurants and gets a decent foodie fix without leaving home or taking a bite

If you've never managed to get the right booking or reserve that must-have table, what goes on behind the closed doors of the world's most famous restaurants is probably still something of a mystery. In which case, this book is for you. A must-read for those who love to eat and travel, Everybody Eats There is an insider's tour around some of the world's most iconic restaurants. Sprinkled with a generous handful of anecdotes from the backrooms and the private rooms, this engaging book lifts the lid on the people behind the restaurants, the schmoozing and boozing, the scandals and, the food critics' bitching and the chefs' rivalries.

From the legendary Parisian haunt La Tour d'Argent, famous for its signature duck and known by Frank Sinatra as "the duck joint", to Casa Botín, Hemingway's local restaurant in Madrid and from the private tatami rooms at Tokyo's Ten-Ichi to New York's posh neighbourhood Italian Da Silvano, Everybody Eats There is the ultimate food trip.

London is afforded a chapter of its own, listing 11 top eateries, including the Ivy, Hakkasan, Nobu and San Lorenzo. This chapter also tells the story of the Roux Brothers' rise to a combined six Michelin stars and how the bad boys of cooking, Marco-Pierre White and Gordon Ramsay shot to fame.

Much more than a travel guide to the best restaurants in the world, the book constitutes a social commentary coupled with a sort of history of dining; a fascinating account of the celebrity chefs' rise to power and what they did to get there. An unmissable read for all lovers of the restaurants where legends are born, the book is meticulously researched and gives a real insight into a fascinating world that customers rarely get to see.

Everybody Eats There by William Stadiem and Mara Gibbs is published by Artisan.