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A journey through one of the world’s last, best travel secrets.

Traditional Florentine restaurants offer visitors a chance to sample the earthy regional cuisine with dishes that include bruschetta topped with white beans; Tuscan ribollita; pappardelle pasta with hare sauce; roast pork with garlic and rosemary; and, of course, bistecca alla Fiorentina, or Florentine steak, a vast T-bone cooked the traditional way over olive wood and eaten almost raw. Here’s where to find the best authentic home cooking in Florence.

If eating huge plates of pork, deciphering local slang, and snowshoeing through the woods of Québec can’t bring two siblings together, what can?

There’s a lot more to the San Fermín festival than the running of the bulls. In Pamplona, a skeptic learns what it’s really like to attend the biggest summer fiesta in Basque country.

At Salt Water Farm, students return to the land—and the sea—to learn forage, fillet, and feast.

Trattoria i’Raddi, a classic Tuscan trattoria in the Santo Spirito neighborhood, is run by the Outran family. (A few family members are locally famous for playing calcio storico, a historic and brutal sport that seems like a mix of soccer and MMA fighting.) Come here to eat pappa al pomodoro (Tuscan bread-and-tomato stew), pici all’aglione (pasta with garlicky red sauce), and peposa. Peposa is a slow-cooked, peppery beef stew, almost a Tuscan version of chili; according to legend, it was invented by Brunelleschi. The food here is affordable and the prix fixe lunch specials are an even better value.

Pizzeria Antico’s Italian decor couldn’t be more bella, from the distressed chairs to the white marble bar to the vintage road bicycle perched above the open cucina. Flatbread aficionados will find familiar fare such as the Margherita, funghi, and quattro formaggi along with house-made pastas like gnocchi di Antico. The gnocchi, made with Pemberton potatoes grown nearby and dressed simply in a garlicky tomato sauce, are absolutely sublime.

The queue is long and you’ll have to eat standing up, but this spotless hole-in-the-wall does some of the best souvlaki in town. If you get antsy while you wait, be mindful of the multiple signs behind the counter saying: OXI AGXOS (NO STRESS). You won’t find frozen fries or garlicky tzatziki here. Just perfectly grilled pork skewers wrapped in a grease-free pita and garnished with sliced tomatoes, onions, parsley, a dollop of yogurt, and plenty of paprika. Don’t worry if you confuse it with the other Kostas souvlaki joint just off Agia Irini Square on Vassiliki Street, where the thing to order is pita bread stuffed with meatballs and spicy tomato sauce. Pull up a plastic chair and watch hipsters drink craft beer while you dribble tzatziki down your chin.

I hesitated to try it at Randy LeBlanc’s Pont Breaux Restaurant while all around me the locals dumped it on everything on their plates. It flirted with me next to the salt and pepper while others got up to dance to the lively Cajun music, but I resisted. In the morning sitting down to my eggs and sausage at the Sonnier’s Bayou Boudin Cabins in Breaux Bridge I wanted to give it a shot. With the color of Tabasco but thicker and with a subtler flavor, it tasted of tomato, paprika, garlic powder/juice and tamarind. Mommy like! By lunch at Poche’s, I went right for the garlic sauce to pour liberally over my fried alligator. On the way out I grabbed two bottles from the store shelf to take home. Now, nearly out of my supply way over in Oregon, I am starting to worry. I won’t even share with my loved ones. I tell you am in deep. This stuff starts out easy, and then you develop a fondness, and finally there are certain foods you can’t even enjoy without it. Now when I order etoufee, jambalaya or even a cheese omelet I lament the lack of garlic sauce on the table. The meal is not complete. Oh the sweet addiction! Some places make their own, some have their branding affixed to the label. Poche’s. www.poches.com has a store with all sorts of Louisiana Cajun goodies and will ship.( the answer to my prayers). Cajun Power Sauce is a manufacturer and you can check it out at www.cajunpowersauce.com

This tavern-based tapas bar in Madrid was founded in 1906 and fiercely carries out the tapas tradition. It has had many famous patrons, including Andy Warhol, and has a great wine selection as well as beers to go along with the famous garlic prawns and langoustines.

The spirit of Jacques Cousteau is very much alive at this Encinitas restaurant, which specializes in tacos filled with local fish, organic meat, and fresh vegetables. The Cousteau taco—featuring catch of the day (like California halibut) with cumin-lime crema, mango salsa, and cabbage slaw—should be in the running for San Diego’s best fish taco. Equally delicious are the Azul (grass-fed flank steak, caramelized onions, mushrooms, blue cheese, arugula, and cilantro) and the vegan Veronica Corningstone (red quinoa, sweet potatoes, garlic, Daiya vegan cheese, avocado, and cilantro). One look at the menu and it’s easy to tell the owner is a movie buff—many of the items are named after famous characters, from Ron Burgundy to Kelly Leak from The Bad News Bears.

Take a road trip up to the North Shore of Oahu and go hungry! A stop at Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck is a must if you are a garlic and butter lover...and really - who isn’t? Make sure you have plenty of napkins!

Sure, it’s a bit rustic and the pebbled beach is small, but this beach club has reached legendary status with Amalfi Coast travelers for its charm. And its food. Everything served is fresh and local, and made in a tiny kitchen built into the rocks at a precipitous height. One suggesion for a long and leisurely lunch: Start with grilled mozzarella served on lemon leaves before moving on to the zuppe de cozze, a giant bowl of mussels drenched in a garlicky, tomatoey stew. If friggitelli (sweet Italian chili peppers) are on the menu, by all means order them. A pitcher of cold white wine with peaches is also recommended. Call ahead to reserve a chair on the beach and a table for lunch, and at the ferry jetty in Positano, your ride to the beach club is the boat with the red fish on its mast.

If you’re in Oahu’s North Shore area, stop for lunch at Fumi’s Kahuku Shrimp truck — it’s the one with a mural of a gigantic, rearing shrimp. They’re not rock-bottom cheap, but you get a lot for your money; $13 gets you a plate piled high with fat, juicy shrimp dripping with garlic butter, two big scoops of rice, and a (skippable) salad. Seating is outdoor-only on plastic tables and chairs, but it’s probably the best option for these messy, delicious peel-and-eat shrimp. The pond where they farm their shrimp is right next to where the truck is parked, so you can’t get any fresher than that!

The Schiffbau, a renovated shipbuilding factory, is home to a popular theater, jazz club, bar and this glamorous restaurant, situated in a stunning glass cube. One of its signatures is a fillet of horse loaded with garlic, but for the less adventurous, the French- and Italian-leaning menu also includes classics like braised beef in red wine sauce.