The City Codes
What everyone at the table is assumed to know.
Not a guide and not a list. One dossier per city — how an insider arrives, the reservation made before anything else, what is worn, the hour the city is at its best, and the mistake visitors reliably make.
France
Paris
A city that rewards restraint and punishes hurry.
United Kingdom
London
Understatement is the local luxury; nobody announces anything.
United States
New York
Everything is available; the skill is in the timing.
Japan
Tokyo
The most exacting city in the world, and the gentlest about it.
Japan
Kyoto
A city best met before breakfast and after dark.
Italy
Rome
Grandeur at every turn, and a city that eats late and slowly.
Italy
Venice
A city that belongs to whoever is still there at night.
Italy
Positano
Vertical, sun-struck and quietly formal after dark.
Greece
Santorini
A caldera that rewards anyone willing to avoid its own crowds.
Spain
Barcelona
Modernista architecture, late dinners and a city built for walking.
Portugal
Lisbon
Seven hills, Atlantic light and a city that has stayed itself.
Netherlands
Amsterdam
Small, civil and far more refined than its reputation.
Denmark
Copenhagen
Design discipline applied to everything, including dinner.
Austria
Vienna
Imperial formality, still observed and still enjoyable.
Switzerland
Zermatt
Car-free, exacting and dressed for dinner by seven.
Türkiye
Istanbul
Two continents, one long lunch, and traffic that decides your day.
United Arab Emirates
Dubai
Scale as a discipline — and everything is bookable if you ask early.
Singapore
Singapore
Faultless logistics — use them rather than fighting them.
Thailand
Bangkok
A river city that moves best by boat and eats best at dusk.
South Korea
Seoul
Ancient palaces inside a city moving faster than any other.
Australia
Sydney
A harbour city that lives outdoors and books its best tables early.
New Zealand
Queenstown
An alpine lake town used as a base, not a destination.
Indonesia
Ubud
Jungle quiet, twenty minutes above the noise of the coast.
Morocco
Marrakech
A walled city best entered slowly and with a guide the first time.
South Africa
Cape Town
A mountain in the middle of a city, and the wind decides the plan.
South Africa
Stellenbosch
Cape Dutch gables, old oaks and the country's finest tables.
South Africa
Johannesburg
The continent's most energetic city, and its most misunderstood.
South Africa
Durban
Warm Indian Ocean, colonial verandahs and the best curry in the country.
Mexico
Mexico City
A capital of museums, markets and some of the world's best cooking.
Argentina
Buenos Aires
European bones, Latin hours, and dinner at ten.
Brazil
Rio de Janeiro
Mountain, forest and ocean inside one city boundary.
Iceland
Reykjavík
A small capital used as a doorway to everything outside it.