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As you walk through Stellenbosch’s town center, you’ll probably smell the bread baking at Boschendal at Oude Bank before you even arrive at the café’s main entrance. Owned by Boschendal Farm Estate since early 2017, the local favorite is a bakery, bistro, and farm shop in one, serving seasonal dishes made from locally sourced, farm-fresh ingredients. The warm interior features cozy dining nooks, but you should really sit outside, where you can sip your matcha latte while people-watching on Bird Street. Go for breakfast and order the brioche French toast, or stop by for lunch and pair the trout salad with a glass of chenin blanc from the farm.

Almost any time of day, the Sea Point Promenade is filled with walkers and joggers, many of them residents from the apartments nearby. Though named after Sea Point, the best known of the areas the walkway fronts, the three-mile promenade begins in Granger Bay, closer to the city, then goes past the red-and-white-striped lighthouse of Mouille Point and continues to Sea Point itself (don’t miss the Art Deco Pavilion, site of many international fashion shoots), before curving around to dramatic, Riviera-like Bantry Bay. A path high above the cliffside apartments of Clifton extends for several more miles to Camps Bay. All along the promenade’s way (except along the fairly long Clifton stretch), there are restaurants and coffee shops.

Hot Summers in Johannesburg are held at bay by cool, late afternoon thunder showers. The build up of clouds throughout the afternoon, catch amazing colours as the sun goes down and eventually culminate in a lightshow of epic proportions as lightning flickers through the heavens. The afternoon that I captured the photo, I’d headed out to Suikerbosrand which is about 40 minutes from the old Johannesburg CBD. It’s a great place away from all the traffic and big buildings of the city. Once we arrived it was only a short while before the clouds lit up and we were met fortunate to witness a scene reminiscent of a beautiful artwork

The Zone is located in the leafy suburb of Rosebank, with a Gautrain station located just across the road. It has a great collection of stores, restaurants, fast food joints, drinking spots, a cinema and even an arcade with an awesome bowling alley! On one particular occasion, I met up with some friends for a Big Lebowski themed night at the bowling alley. After we’d knocked over some pins and smashed some strikes, we made our way to the froyo store a few steps away to end off the night with a bit of a sweet treat.

It’s a weekend ritual for my cousin and his friends to pop into either The Loading Bay or Origins Roast right next door for breakfast. With a gorgeous view of the mountain, both cafés have coffee to die for and stellar food. This particular beauty of a breakfast was from The Loading Bay; banana topped with walnuts accompanied with creme fraiche, served on top of toasted rye and drizzled with honey. Both venues are open for breakfast and lunch; the Loading Bay is also open for burger night, on Thursdays, served with their famous fries (sprinkled with truffles).

One of Dubai’s oldest and busiest traditional souks, Naif Souk is a great spot for buying souvenirs and trinkets that will tell the world “I just came back from Dubai!” Offering fabrics, cosmetics, street food, and much more, Naif Souk is frequented by a variety of the city’s residents, from South Asian laborers to Arab women. Everyone is trying to score good deals and outsmart the merchants, so practice your bargaining skills. Characteristic of souks of olden times, Naif Souk exudes a lively ambience. If you love a good deal—and who doesn’t?—Naif Souk deserves a spot on your itinerary.

You can’t party in Dubai without finishing the night at one of the city’s open-late cafeterias. Workers sit together for snacks, friends share deep conversations, and cars with obnoxious music stop for chai here. This space is deeply entrenched in many Dubaians’ routines and childhoods, and it is not often frequented by tourists. However, a visit to cafeterias like Oyoun Al Reem can give you an inside look into the communities that make up Dubai, beyond the skyscrapers and fancy cars. Ask for the Oman chips cheese paratha, a South Asian flatbread with spicy crisps and cheese; it’s like biting into heaven.

Dubai’s Western and South Asian expats are only part of the city’s immigrant mix—Arab expats, many fleeing war-torn countries, thrive here too, and thriving restaurants like Samad Al Iraqi are the proof. Try to visit the location on Al Muraqqabat Road, which is one of the city’s most charming streets, where you’ll dine alongside Iraqis of all classes and backgrounds. This spot is worth a visit just for its grilled masgouf fish, a famous Iraqi dish dating all the way back to the Babylonian era. Craving meat? The kebabs and mixed dolmas (veggies stuffed with lamb and rice) are first-rate.

After achieving tremendous success in Paris, London, New York, and Ibiza with the Experimental Cocktail Club and a handful of other nightlife hangouts, the three bons vivants behind the Experimental Group have expanded the concept into hospitality. Their first hotel is located in Paris’s most coveted neighborhood, South Pigalle, overlooking the Villa Frochot (Toulouse-Lautrec’s former abode). Unsurprisingly, these pioneers of the Paris cocktail movement have integrated their savoir-faire in top-shelf drinks. In fact, they go so far as to bill it a “bed and beverage” boutique hotel, which translates to custom cocktails offered in the ground-floor lounge, delivered straight to rooms, and available in guestroom minibars. To further drive their vision, the trio enlisted the talents of Dorothée Meilichzon, the city’s most in-demand interior designer, who has already directed the look and feel of each of the group’s establishments. Here, she applies her flair for mixing unique patterns and design styles to the cocktail lounge and rooms, kitted out with sumptuous velour sofas, black leather armchairs, and brass light fixtures. The result is a style that feels like understated Hollywood regency meets 1920s Parisian glam. While rooms afford less quiet and privacy than most design hotels, the (tolerable) din feels like a necessary component to the stay-up-late Pigalle experience.

This unassuming adobe house in Santa Fe is home to one of the world’s ‘top ten places’ to drink chocolate. (Seriously. It ranks up there with anything in Europe or South America.) Walk the few blocks from the city’s central Plaza, open the door and inhale the pre-columbian fragrance of the eight or nine ‘drinking elixirs’ that will be swirling and ready to serve. Free samples will tempt and educate you... My wife lingered over the “Spanish” blend, sipping on a blend of chocolate, floral essence, coconut sugar and spices, while I had their version of “atole,” a traditional hearty breakfast drink made with blue corn masa, chocolate, honey, Mexican vanilla, and local chimayó chile pepper. But there’s more to cacao here than just drinking; the handmade truffles, caramels and mendiants are arrestingly good! The house-made agave caramels dusted with chile powder (again, from the beloved chimayó peppers from their namesake valley just north of the city) or topped with nuts from the pinyon pines so common in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo mountains--these are treats with a definite taste-of-place. Sip. Savor. Linger. Marvel.

On our recent trip to France we had the best ice cream we’ve had. Ever. Anywhere. We chanced on Fenocchio while we were driving along the French Riviera. On probing a couple of locals, we found out that it is something of an institution in Nice. We couldn’t shy away from trying it out could we? We found the gelateria easily in Nice’s Old Town. Beware - there are lots of ice cream parlours with similar names in the area. But there is a queue only outside one shop - Fenoccio’s gelateria. We bought a couple of scoops of ice-cream and went back for seconds. Our gluttony did not stop there. For the next four days, we went to Fenoccio’s gelateria every day till it was time to catch the flight back home. That’s how good it is. Fenocchio’s ice creams are creamy and intensely flavoured. They have a number of crazy flavours including cactus and dozens of traditional flavours including chocolate, hazelnut, and strawberry. Our favourite was the orange blossom ice cream, a flavour indigenous to the South of France. Make sure you pop in for a scoop (or ten) if you happen to be in the area.

Chile en nogada is a poblano chile pepper, stuffed with peccadillo (shredded meat, aromatic diced dried fruit and spices), topped with a walnut-cream sauce and pomegranate seeds. This dish from Puebla is not often found on menus of Mexican restaurants in the U.S. It’s not even that common south of the border, except during the August-September season surrounding Mexican Independence Day. If you’re in downtown Tucson, however, you can try it at Penca. In a repurposed space with exposed brick and hip cocktails, this restaurant is also a worthy destination for brunch or late afternoon tacos. Choose from carnitas, fish, lengua, cabeza, nopales, carne asada, and more. The corn-tortillas are handmade right after you place your order. (The tortillas alone are almost worth the trip.) Mexico City is the inspiration. The food is fresh, and the scene is full of optimism: downtown Tucson is reinventing itself with a new streetcar for a live-work-play vibe. Taste and see how this desert city continues to evolve. (Penca has recently been named one of the best bars in the country. Start your meal here with a creative cocktail!)

The Westin brand’s first foray into South America was, at least when it opened in 2011, the tallest building in all of Peru. That distinction has since been taken over by the Edificio Banco Continental (BBVA) nearby, but the glass-and-steel tower designed by Peruvian-born, Miami-based architect Bernardo Fort-Brescia stands over one of the busiest intersections in the city, and is still one of Lima’s most recognizable landmarks. While it was designed primarily to fit the needs of the growing number of high-end business travelers (the largest convention center in the city is attached to the hotel), the high-profile team, including interior designer Tony Chi, added on artfully modern touches. The striking interiors incorporate pre-Colombian motifs and gold, silver, and bronze finishes. The hotel is a hub of activity, with a full-service spa and high-end shopping, plus a lobby bar and lounges that serve as impromptu meeting spaces.

“Buongiorno, Signor Farley,” said Umberto, the head waiter at Hotel Missoni’s Cucina restaurant. By the beginning of the third day of my stay, the staff knew my name. And what I drank with breakfast. An espresso doppio was delivered to my table a minute later. “Prego,” the server said.

You’d think I was in Italy. In fact, I was 2,500 miles southeast of the country’s heel, in the capital of diminutive, oil-rich Kuwait. Opened in spring 2011, Hotel Missoni, owned by the eponymous fashion and home furnishings house, is one of many designer-conceived hotels that have popped up around the globe.

I have to confess: I have a complicated relationship with fashion. Maybe it’s related to my childhood. (Isn’t everything?) In the seventh grade, I wore a T-shirt to school that read, “My Son Is in the Navy.” My trend-conscious peers, who clearly had no sense of irony, laughed at me until the final bell rang. When I wore bowling shoes to high school, I was similarly mocked. How would I do in a hotel designed by a couturier?

I was picked up at the airport in Kuwait City in a Maserati (a complimentary perk for all Missoni guests). Not a bad start.

The property (like its sister hotel in Edinburgh, which opened in June 2009) is the brainchild of the Missoni family matriarch, Rosita. The hotel’s 169 rooms were designed to feel like her home. Compact Hans Wegner wishbone chairs and tuliplike Eero Saarinen–designed tables rest on hardwood floors, and everything—espresso cups, towels, even the swimming pool—displays the colorful striped patterns Missoni is known for. Generous helpings of turquoise, gold, and beige are splashed throughout the hotel to evoke the bayfront landscape outside, and every room looks out on the ever-expanding Kuwait City skyline. Like many things Italian, the hotel is simple and comfortable.

The Missoni team, which is fine-tuning its approach before opening hotels in larger markets, learns fast. There are no design hotel clichés here: no faucets with the function designed out of them, no overly formal staff. “Are those Camper shoes?” a waiter asked me one day at breakfast. I nodded. “Like bowling shoes,” he said. “Very cool.” Here, it seemed, fashion and I got along great.

965/2577-0000, from $414. This appeared in the September, 2012 issue.

Me Wah is considered one of the best Asian restaurants in Australia, and lucky for travelers there’s a location in Launceston as well as in Hobart. The cuisine is Cantonese-Australian fusion—think prawn chow mein, lamb pancakes, ginger scallops served in the shell, trevalla dumplings, and fried ice cream. Diners can also find specialties that are quintessentially Tasmanian such as deep-fried Bruny Island oysters. Banquet options and modern desserts add to the exquisite setting (that’s what me wah means in Chinese). The ambience is old-school with impeccable service to match. Savor the smiles; you’ll never see this many at an Australian restaurant again.