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John Besh, the acclaimed chef and New Orleans restaurateur, has opened his first Nashville outpost on the ground floor of the Thompson Hotel in the Gulch neighborhood. He brings with him a love of fresh seafood and the distinctive taste of New Orleans—including his mother’s gumbo recipe—through dishes like red snapper court bouillon. The menu includes options from land, too, such as duck confit dirty rice, a Tennessee pork chop with collards and grits, and Mississippi rabbit over hand-cut pappardelle with wild mushrooms. The restaurant, accented with deep blue and touches of Nashville-casual denim, has a relaxed bistro vibe and a menu for every meal of the day. Don’t miss pastry chef Lisa White’s biscuits at breakfast or her after-dinner desserts like Cruze buttermilk cheesecake.

After a couple of days in Mexico City, once you’re well-rested and adjusted to the altitude, why not try a little street eating? After all, some locals do it every day, and the techniques vendors use have been in place for centuries, if not millennia. A good jumping-off point is the sometimes-grilled sandwich known as a torta. The ingredient combinations are endless, ranging from egg, shredded chicken, and pork loin to the Mexican piece of breaded beef known as a milanesa—and the list goes on. String cheese and chipotles or pickled jalapeños add a lot of flavor, but do it your way. A lot of customers at a stall is good sign both in terms of taste and cleanliness. With a torta under your belt, start thinking about tacos. Or that spot with the caldo de pollo chicken soup, perfect for all kinds of add-ins. Soon enough you’re a seasoned streeter.

The Market of Piazza Carlo Alberto, also called Fera ‘O Luni (Monday Fair), is one of the oldest outdoor markets in the city. Held in Piazza Carlo Alberto since the 1830s, it’s a great spot to search for that special find, with everything from cheese and fruit to purses and jewelry.

Chef Brian Knox slings delicious, juicy pattie burgers on lightly toasted, buttered buns served on year-round outdoor picnic tables. Order one of those much-revered double-pattied famed green chili cheeseburgers served with thinly sliced hand-cut fries and for good measure, add a chocolate shake. It’s guaranteed, you won’t leave hungry.

With a name like The Butcher & The Baker, this locally owned favorite reads like a Disney movie storefront—and it should. Everything inside is pure magic, especially for the food-obsessed. Stop by to dine on local cheddar cheese curds and carrot cake with a buttermilk glaze, or pick up some picnic accoutrements, like house-roasted meats and handmade sausages. The almond croissants are so blissful, they rarely make it out the door.

From the luxury Oetker Collection, Le Bristol is one of the first hotels in France to obtain Palace distinction. Occupying nearly an entire block on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré near the Élysée presidential palace, this soulful property has been a gathering place for Parisians since 1925. The 190 guest rooms, which feel like private apartments, are decorated with precious fabrics, paintings, and 18th-century antiques. The on-site attractions include a spa by Le Prairie, a teak-lined pool resembling a yacht, and a courtyard garden fragrant with jasmine. For more than a decade, chef Eric Frechon has held three Michelin stars at Epicure, where menu fixtures include the macaroni stuffed with black truffle and foie gras. Frechon’s culinary dominions are a portal into French gastronomy itself: The hotel has its own chocolate factory, cheese cellar, flour mill, and boulangerie.

Set on what was once the original campus of the University of Washington, this downtown landmark was opened in 1924, and now sits on the National Register of Historic Places. Its stately spaces have played host to generations of weddings, proms, banquets, and other opulent events, as well as a number of notable guests; John F. Kennedy stayed in the Presidential Suite during his visit to Seattle, for example.

Following a renovation in 2016, the Fairmont Olympic Hotel now features 450 rooms and suites with sophisticated décor, comfortable furnishings, and Le Labo products. Among the dining options are the elegant Georgian, a much-lauded favorite for breakfast, lunch, and the famous Afternoon Tea; The Terrace Lounge, for great drinks and live music; and Shuckers, one of the city’s oldest (and best) oyster bars. The latter pairs fresh seafood with local microbrews, including the hotel’s signature honey ale, made using honey from the building’s rooftop hives. Other amenities include a day spa and salon, and a health club with Jacuzzi, sauna, and indoor pool.

The small town of Créon is located a little over 12 miles (20km) from Bordeaux. It is one of Aquitaine’s original Bastide towns, centered around a market square, which comes alive on Wednesdays.

Although the market is mainly a food market, you can find some stalls that sell household goods, clothing, etc. as well. As with all markets in France, it’s the town’s weekly ‘social'; people catch up, either with each other, or on the towns news, while shopping for the coming week. People watching is of course great, but its also a chance to engage with the locals, and make use of the French words you may have picked up by now.

We tasted freshly baked breads, delicious cheeses, fruits, and ham, you simply wouldn’t get back in the US. Because of Bordeaux’ proximity to Spain, hispanic influences are strong. Fiestas are put on throughout the summer, and Basque influences make their way into the incredible cuisine here.

This restaurant-bakery combo was the first of its kind in the city and it definitely raised the bar for the dining scene. The menu, including breakfast, lunch and dinner, is inspired by neo-Nordic cuisine with a Czech twist, and the farm-fresh ingredients are brought in daily. The lunch menu made up of dishes such as spelt, red pepper, and cottage cheese, while on dinner menu you’ll find potatoes in ash, smoked fish, dried egg yolk, and kefir, or dry-aged beef tenderloin with onions and marrow. If you’d like to stay a while, opt for the chef’s selection of five dishes selected just for you, or the eight-course tasting menu. Set on two floors in one of the converted factories in Prague’s once industrial Karlin district, Eska’s has an industrial vibe with high ceilings, massive windows, and exposed pipes.

Some of Palermo’s most beloved snacks are hearty street foods, and none is more iconic than pani cà meusa, a sandwich layered with thin slices of fried cow spleen and topped with lemon and grated Caciocavallo cheese. The hole-in-the-wall Pani Cà Meusa Porta Carbone, overlooking the port on Via Cala, specializes in this Sicilian comfort food.

Cruising down the Garonne river onboard the AmaDolce, the first port we called on was Cadillac, located about 19 miles from the city of Bordeaux. Cadillac, founded in 1280, is a small fortified town, and I bet their charming Sunday market is probably just as old. The market occupies a number of streets in the town center–you won’t miss it. It’s a great place to try all sorts of local specialties (seafood, breads, cheese, sausages), and of course to people watch. The locals not only do their weekly grocery shopping here, markets are also a real social event in France. Friends catch up, stories are exchanged, laughter rings through the streets. Stock up on your picnic needs, as you’ll have no challenge finding a picturesque spot to sit down and snack along the Garonne.

No worries about the little goose pictured here, it already had a name by the time the buyer walked away from the stand. Definitely pet, not food.

Adjacent to the restaurant is a cheery boutique filled with gourmet products from all over Tuscany. Thanks to the restaurant’s long-standing relationships with many of the region’s top purveyors, you’ll find high-quality olive oil (tastings can also be arranged), cheeses, cured meat, preserves, breads, and more. Not all of it will make it through customs, but you can savor any perishables on a picnic to the Tuscan countryside.

Argentina is too vast a country to see on just one trip. But there’s a taste of real gaucho (i.e., Argentine cowboy) culture at the Mataderos Fair on the edge of town. For many, the main attraction is the various food stalls that hawk yummy, traditional comfort food. Try different versions of the ubiquitous empanada alongside delicacies from the provinces you won’t see on many in-town menus, like locro, a hearty stew with beans, corn, squash, and meat; or humita, a kind of Argentine corn-and-cheese tamale steamed in a corn husk; or the more familiar tamal, with meat instead of cheese. The fair runs on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. most of the year, or on Saturday nights starting at 6 p.m. in hot, sunny January and February.

Sitting on the edge of the Bering Sea, the village of Unalakleet is, of course, stunning in its stark beauty. But the off-the-road-system village also offers plenty of surprises, including damn good pizza. Even full-on pizza snobs won’t thumb their nose at the thin-crust pies coming out of the ovens. The price of the pizzas is kind of a killer (it costs bundles to get foodstuffs shipped out there, so any restaurants have to charge a bundle to make a buck), but the payoff is dandy. Crust that has the right amount of crunch and tenderness. Proper cheese bubbles! And a light, bright tomato sauce. Chow down and then go explore this marvel of a town.

Don’t blast past this easy-to-drive-by restaurant on the Seward Highway. Open since June 2017, Froth & Forage looks like an unassuming sandwich joint. And it does serve some sandwiches. But you’re not going to get, say, a ham and cheese. Nope. You’re going to get an open-faced shrimp scampi sandwich served with house-cut fries that are topped with truffle oil, garlic, and Parmesan. Oh, and the view out of the window is of Turnagain Arm and the mountains. It’s crazy beautiful. So now you see why you shouldn’t blast past? You’ll want to eat there again—and you can do that on your drive back to Anchorage.