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An aspiring bluegrass fiddler from London discovers much more than music on a trip to North Carolina.

Cocktails are not a huge part of the Italian culture, especially not those involving tequila. But at Bar Les Rouges, the three brothers who own the bar mix up one amazing margarita (They even come to your table asking you to sample which salt you want on the rim. Go for the smoked one, it’s perfection!). Housed in a dimly lit and slightly crumbling 16th-century palace, this is one of the most romantic spots in town—a perfect date night out.

Ethiopian wine? An unlikely pairing of words, for sure, and an unlikely beverage that you may regret having ordered while traveling around this fascinating country. I was at Castelli’s, a famous Italian restaurant in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. The restaurant is a relic from Italy’s failed attempt to colonize the African country. The food may be forgettable at Castelli’s, but this wine is even more so. Some day, perhaps, “Ethiopia” and “wine” may have a more congruent appeal. Just not any time soon.

Siem Reap is home to Cambodia’s finest restaurants, including the outstanding Cuisine Wat Damnak, named Cambodia’s Best Restaurant when it crept onto the San Pellegrino Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list at #50 in March 2015. The town’s Khmer restaurants should be your priority, including Sugar Palm and Chanrey Tree for outstanding traditional food, served in beautiful spaces. However, Siem Reap also boasts an abundance of restaurants offering international cuisines, from Italian to Indian.

Madrid’s multi-level Mercado San Anton is a sight to be seen. Rows of gorgeous produce, local specialties, Italian deli favorites, briny seafood and locally-farmed meats line the perimeter of each floor, each stall more enticing than the one before it. Even better, its high tables and counters make it well-suited for a quick bite and glass of wine. For a relaxed sit-down meal, head up to the restaurant on the rooftop terrace and finish off the evening with a drink in the lounge.

Stop by Soli DOC cafe for an evening Spritz in the courtyard of the Doge’s Palace. Serving a full menu of wine (including the delicious Italian sparkling wine, Prosecco), the cafe also has quite an extensive beer and cocktails list. With delicious snacks brought table-side, sit outside to watch the sunset cast its golden hue over the ancient city.

Although a chain (we now have a few Grom’s in New York City as well), Grom makes an incredible gelato, and is committed to creating a locally sourced, sustainable, high-quality product. The nut varieties are exceptionally good—especially the pistachio and hazelnut ones. They also serve a tasty ‘affogato’ (meaning ‘drowned’ in italian)—a shot of dark espresso poured over the gelato of your choice!

This brick-vaulted restaurant and bar is a great venue for jazz fans and the line-up of live acts on Thursday and Fridays nights includes well-known Italian musicians. You can eat a full meal here (try the Risotto Caruso with clams, shrimp and prosecco) or just order a snack and there’s a decent selection of wines.

A pleasant way to spend an evening in Milan is to stroll along the Naviglio Grande, a 12th century canal in the south of town. The warehouses along the towpath are now home to lively restaurants and bars. I recommend El Brellin. The second floor restaurant offers refined modern Italian fare with ambiance to match and the bar below gets busy on the weekends.

Almost unchanged since 1912, the Théâtre Corona (Corona Theatre) in Little Burgundy was built to host showings of silent films accompanied by live music and comedy shows by local troupes. You can still find an orchestra pit and the original dressing rooms under the stage, but since the late 1990s—after coming close to demolition—it has served mainly to host live music, by acts like Buck65, La Roux, and Arcade Fire. The heritage décor, with painted ceiling, gilded columns and heavy jacquard brocade curtains, and the relatively small capacity for 700 spectators, make this a singularly intimate place to see a show. The best sightlines are from the balcony, but there’s nothing like the feel of a smooth wooden dance floor beneath your soles.

Hidden within a historic building in downtown Miami is Soya e Pomodoro, a traditional Italian restaurant placed within an old Beaux Arts office building.

The bohemian atmosphere is unlike anything else in Miami. The asthetic is simple, but very cool.

There’s live music, and books. The kitchen is small but fast and you’ll be sitting half inside, half outside. There is no air conditioning and it’s a very small space, only seating about 11 tables. You really feel like you are in Italy.

The staff is made up of mostly Italians and the food speaks true to the traditional recipes.

Be sure to go when there is live entertainment. You’ll sip chanti and listen to scatting jazz music by moonlight. It’s truly magical.

Occupying most of a 38-floor Times Square building, the Reverie Saigon initially made waves for its over-the-top flourishes: the house cars are a limited-edition Rolls-Royce Phantom Dragon and a Maybach, both parked out front; the lobby features a $500,000 jade-and-gold Baldi clock; and the property feels like it used all the marble and Murano glass in Italy. What’s surprising, then, is how well it all works—and how quickly you might feel at ease. A large part of that is thanks to the warm, attentive service (sniffle once, for example, and ginger tea will appear at your doorstep) and the 286 airy guest rooms themselves, which—though full of whimsical touches by international design houses like Visionnaire and Provasi—manage to call to mind serene sanctuaries floating high above the city bustle. The on-site dining options (including places for traditional Cantonese, fine-dining French, and modern Italian) draw local crowds, and the two-story spa features an ozone-infused outdoor pool equipped with underwater speakers—plus some of the best therapists in town.

When Chef Richard Reddington was tasked with concepting a new, casual restaurant in Yountville to compliment his Michelin-starred Redd, he brought in a wood-burning oven from Italy and Liza Shaw from A16 to work her magic with yeast and flour and fire. Success. Shaw has since moved on, but the eatery maintains its stellar reputation for Italian fare and a relaxed atmosphere. The best seats at Redd Wood are at the bar, where you can see into the open kitchen and the charcuterie cooler, enjoy a respectable Manhattan, and avoid the tourist hordes.

The newly opened Carlo e Camilla in Segheria is Michelin star chef Carlo Cracco adventure in family style chic cuisine. Everyone eats together on a long table in a former woodworking factory illuminated by Venetian chandeliers. The is a delicious interpretation of contemporary Italian cuisine including dishes such as spaghetti alici, cipollotto, lime e caffè (spaghetti with anchovies, green onions, lime and coffee).

There are now 35 locations of Eataly, the massive Italian food hall, around the world, with 18 of them in Italy itself. The New York City one at Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street, which opened in 2010, was the first in the United States (it’s been joined by others in Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles, as well as by a second outpost in Manhattan, near the World Trade Center site at 101 Liberty Street). For connoisseurs of all things Italian, this is a must-visit—or, more accurately, a must-shop and must-eat stop. Covering more than 50,000 square feet, Eataly NYC Flatiron includes five different restaurants (plus occasional pop-ups) offering opportunities to graze on antipasti, fish, pizza, and other dishes. A popular rooftop beer hall is open all year round (thanks to space heaters and a retractable roof). While you will want to eat your gelato on the spot, there are also a number of stores where you can buy gifts from biscotti to olive oils to take home a little bit of Italy via New York.