From Sydney to Shanghai we pick out the nine new global spots where modern business kicks back.

All the world's financial centres have their established go-tos for no-brainer, big-deal dining – The Polo Lounge in LA, Apicius in Paris – but everyone’s Rolodex needs a refresh, so we've put together a selection of 2014's most eagerly anticipated places to eat, drink and negotiate around the globe.

In London, where the City skyline is a work in progress, the views are the thing for thirsty bankers; in Paris, superb food and deft service remain de rigueur. Asian cities move faster, and restaurateurs in Shanghai and Hong Kong are staying abreast of gourmet trends, offering high-end versions of Korean barbecue and Paris bistronomie, respectively.

Seeing and being seen is all in a day's work in Los Angeles. And in Italy, financiers mix with families and playboys at clubby Ceresio 7.

Whatever the vibe – corporate, dressed-down or let-your-hair-down – and whatever the cuisine, impeccable service is the common factor among great destinations for business. And, of course, it doesn't hurt to be handed a thrilling wine list, as at the Bentley in Sydney and Bâtard in Tribeca. One thing's for sure: from London’s Square Mile to Sydney's Central Business District, starchy fine dining is out and sliders, seasonal small plates and bio wines are in. Read on to find out where modern business kicks back.

Entrepreneurial globetrotter Mr Jason Atherton was the ideal chef to partner with Tower 42 to create this dynamic 24th-storey restaurant and bar, with its central open kitchen, contemporary Art-Deco design and accessible, almost gastropubby menu. You might start with tuna tataki or smoked salmon with celeriac rémoulade, then go onto line-caught seabass, or rack of Romney lamb with braised shoulder shepherd's pie. The bar is a bankers' delight, with soaring City views starring the Gherkin and the Cheesegrater.

citysociallondon.com ** WHAT TO ORDER** An In-Cider Trading cocktail to share between four, containing Somerset cider brandy, Kamm & Sons British apéritif, Cocchi Rosa and St-Germain elderflower. WHO TO KNOW Mr Gareth Evans, bar manager across the Jason Atherton group, who came up with witty drinks for City Social including Dutty Wine, It's the British Whey and the Piscopalean, made with Um Bongo.

Head to the top floor of the glittering, newly restored The Peninsula Paris, passing Bar Kléber (where Mr Henry Kissinger signed off the end of the Vietnam War in 1973) and high-end Cantonese restaurant LiLi, to find L'Oiseau Blanc, the antithesis of the polite, old-school hotel dining room, yet still a swish destination. It's a graceful glassed-in box, with an elegant Eiffel-view terrace on one side and, on the other, a three-quarter-size replica of the Levasseur PL.8 biplane whose moniker gives the restaurant its name. The food is deceptively simple, light, flavourful and flawless.

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WHAT TO ORDER Guinea fowl à l'étouffée; turbot braised with bay leaves; the En Vol raspberry dessert, styled like an old-school aeroplane nose with chocolate propellers. WHO TO KNOW Suave restaurant manager Mr Benoit Legros.

Clubby, relaxed and francophile, Bâtard is presumably named for a Burgundy vineyard, like its predecessors on the same site, Corton and Montrachet. This is fine dining with the airs and graces extracted: Corton's carpets and tablecloths have gone, but you still get Riedel glasses and a fully loaded list of elite wines. Chef Mr Marcus Glocker, latterly on Mr Gordon Ramsay's team, sends out riffs on French bistrot classics, such as artichoke barigoule with Meyer lemon and kalamata olive, and a terrine of octopus and ham hock with Pommery mustard.

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WHAT TO ORDER Duck breast with Black Mission figs, mushroom crêpe and duck liver mousse; caramelised milk bread with brown butter ice cream. WHO TO KNOW Nobu founder and serially successful restaurateur Mr Drew Nieporent, aka King of Tribeca.

Declaring itself a "hybrid destination", combining our least favourite new trend, a seasonal small plates menu, with sceney late-night appeal, this vast drinking den replaces the tiny and often celeb-studded Hyde Lounge. The Sunset Strip location makes it a shoo-in for West Hollywood meetings, and masculine yet fresh-looking styling by designer Mr Waldo Fernandez gives the 300-seater venue an elegant, almost cosy warmth, with plush settees, olive trees, throws and found objects.

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WHAT TO ORDER Bone marrow with uni on spiced brioche; fried chicken sliders with mustard kimchi and honey aïoli. WHO TO KNOW Chef Mr Chris Crary, who appeared on Top Chef season 9 and dates Canadian film actress Ms Rachelle Lefevre.

Recently installed in the Radisson Blu hotel in Sydney's CBD (having migrated from Surry Hills), the Bentley is set to thrill city workers, gourmets and, especially, the oenophiles among them: the wines poured to accompany Mr Brent Savage's light and intriguing menus run from Corsican rosé to Jamsheed Shiraz. If you don't feel like an intricate assembly of calamari, carrots, squid ink and edible plants, you can also just get a steak. Ms Pascale Gomes-McNabb's theatrical design is far from stuffy, too.

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WHAT TO ORDER A sandwich stuffed with cheese, pickles and three varieties of house-cured charcuterie, on the bar menu. WHO TO KNOW Wine man Mr Nick Hildebrandt, who recently won Gourmet Traveller's Sommelier of the Year award.

Laid-back, minimal yet cheerful in design, and super-Parisian, from its whitewashed walls to its list of vins naturs, Serge et le Phoque (named after the owner's young son) is located in Wan Chai market, a short drive from Central. It arguably delivers the best of the new wave of casual French dining in Hong Kong: service is adept, and the bistronomic cooking is impeccable. Meat is imported from star French butcher Mr Hugo Desnoyer, and butter is from Brittany.

WHAT TO ORDER Raw beef with uni and chrysanthemum; scallop with cauliflower, anchovy and lemon; followed by the rum baba. WHO TO KNOW Mr Fred Peneau – formerly Mr Iñaki Aizpitarte's other half at Le Chateaubriand in Paris 11ème – and chef Mr Christopher Pelé, previously at La Bigarrade in Paris.

A new outpost in chef Mr Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s glossy resto empire, unveiled this spring in Three on the Bund, Chi-Q (kimchi/ barbecue) is an upmarket take on the Korean food craze. The gourmet menu doesn't offer the kick-a*** authenticity beloved of kimchi addicts, but wings and seafood pancakes are all present and correct, and the blue-chip clientele seem happy to get foie gras with their bibimbap. The clean, yet warm design features long tables with barbecue pits, giant clay pots here and there, and excellent extraction.

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WHAT TO ORDER Charred beef tenderloin with gochujang butter; crab and snowpea salad with avocado. WHO TO KNOW Ms Marja Vongerichten, the celebrity chef's DC-raised wife, hereby exploring her South Korean roots.

A fine-dining restaurant at BMW Welt, the marque's architecturally curvaceous exhibition and event centre in Munich's Olympic village, EssZimmer showcases the French classical cooking of much-garlanded Munich-born chef Mr Bobby Bräuer, who won a Michelin star within months of opening. Expect corporate comfort, well-spaced tables and hi-tech refinement all round. A lift back to your hotel in the latest BMW model goes without saying.

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WHAT TO ORDER The wine list features dozens of excellent dry Rieslings. Try the 2011 Wachau Smaragd from Austrian producers FX Pichler. WHO TO KNOW GM and sommelier Mr Frank Glüer.

A glamorous members' club vibe prevails at this rooftop playground, replete with double swimming pool and terrace, two all-day bar lounges and a dining room whose floor-to-ceiling windows overlook the skyline of Milan's new financial district. The building is HQ for DSQUARED2, and design duo Messrs Dean and Dan Caten partnered with Storage and Dimore Studio to create the interiors, where luxy marble meets the brass and concrete of midcentury modern.

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WHAT TO ORDER Cacio e pepe spaghetti with lime and bottarga; crudo di mare; veal chops with Vermentino gravy and foie gras. WHO TO KNOW Sleek-suited trio Messrs Edoardo Grassi, Luca Pardini and Marco Civitella, who bonded entrepreneurially working front-of-house at Bulgari Hotel, where they also met sixth owner, chef Mr Elio Sironi.