Search results for

The Jefferson Hotel has been the gold standard for discerning visitors to Richmond (including 13 U.S. presidents) since 1895. Not content to rest on their laurels, the hotel completed a renovation in 2016, restoring its landmarked public areas and refreshing and expanding the guest rooms and suites. The new rooms feel more like posh apartments, with doorbells, foyers to the sitting and dressing areas, and luxury touches like soaking tubs, walk-in showers, and in-mirror televisions. The alligator drawer pulls are a nod to the creatures who used to live in the lobby fountains in the early 20th century. The Rotunda and Palm Court lobbies, with their Tiffany stained glass ceilings, have overlooked many power meetings and celebrations, and provide a magnificent backdrop for decadent afternoon tea or the popular champagne Sunday brunch. The four-star Lemaire restaurant serves a New American menu of Virginia ingredients in their distinctive dining rooms, while the more relaxed TJ’s bistro is open for hearty breakfasts and classic lunch fare. Guests of the Jefferson may work off all that locally sourced food at the 3,000-square-foot gym or in the indoor pool with skylights and an outdoor pool deck.

Like the Irish pubs of the motherland, the New Sydney Hotel is warm and welcoming to all. More than two dozen tap beers—one pumped by hand—and artisan ciders are complemented by mulled pinot noir (spiced with cardamom, cinnamon, star anise, cloves, and house-made syrup) as well as hot cider (Willie Smith’s organic cider plus ginger syrup and dark rum) in winter. Sip one alongside wallaby tartare or pork knuckle slow-cooked for 72 hours. Like any Irish pub worth its Guinness, the New Sydney Hotel also hosts nightly music, the most popular being the traditional Irish jam that’s been running on Saturdays for 25 years. Snag a cozy seat by the log fire, and soak up the ambience.

La Virgen de Guadalupe-Our Lady of Guadalupe–is revered by Mexicans, and her image is ubiquitous, found in every form imaginable, from traditional statues to bumper stickers. She also lends her name to any number of businesses and buildings, including the Basilica to which faithful flock–many on their knees or carrying crosses–each December 12. The arrival of the pilgrims is a sight to behold, but so is the basilica, an architectural marvel, which you can visit any time of the year. Completed in 1976, the present basilica is not the first one to have sat on this site; an older one, which needed to be replaced because it was sinking, remains on the grounds and is open to the public after renovation and rehabilitation. The principal architect, Pedro Ramiréz Vázquez, who died in 2013, is responsible for some of the most compelling modern buildings in Mexico City, including Estadio Azteca and the National Anthropology Museum, as well as a number of buildings throughout the country and abroad.

With a bakery on every other corner in even the tiniest villages in Belgium, what makes one stand out more than another? The answer is threefold: hand selected organic ingredients; skills built on tradition, passed from generation to generation and, most of all, the passion to create the perfect loaf of bread. All three of these are present at the Boulangerie Legrand in Namur. Baker, Dominique Legrand, has been baking bread since he was 18, but the history of the Legrand Bakery runs much deeper. Six generations ago, in 1831, Dominique’s ancestors founded Boulangerie Legrand and little has changed since those days. Dominique and his wife, Angela, had a mission when they took over the Boulangerie Legrand and moved it to its current location in Namur. Their goal was simply to create the finest breads from the best ingredients they could find. This is the reason people drive all the way from Brussels and even as far as Northern France, just to buy their breads. Some of the grains come from as far away as Egypt and their natural fermentations take anywhere from 18 to 24 hours. These are live breads and we could taste the difference, as the flavours danced on our tongues. From deceptively simple baguettes to sweet brioches to rich loaves made of chestnut spelt, it was impossible to choose a favourite. More Information: http://cheeseweb.eu/2013/08/boulangerie-legrand-namur-belgiums-bakery/

The melodious invitations of “irasshaimase” (“welcome”) from all the staff at Ippudo NY as I walked into the restaurant quickly transported me back to Japan although I must admit it seemed to me slightly dissonant, almost like a dubbed movie, when I heard the phrase perfectly uttered from some of the blonde-haired, blue-eyed waiters. But the welcome was a nice touch, an additional layer of the place’s verisimilitude. We waited for our table in the busy bar area where ramen bowls lined its red walls like trophies in a hunting lodge. The glowing reviews and reasonable prices make Ippudo NY a very popular choice even at six in the evening - presumably just a late lunch for New Yorkers. The restaurant does not take reservations so expect a little wait. We sat in a narrow wing filled with a concentrate of small tables: You are close enough to your neighbors to smell what they ordered and be influenced by their decisions. We started with the pork bun, a popular choice: It was smooth and creamy but not as sweet as the ones I had in Japan. My wife and I both ordered ramen, she the miso tonkotsu and I the traditional tonkotsu, and we delighted in its milky oil-dappled broth, the telltale soft boiled egg, and the freshly pulled ramen. We finished with the matcha (green tea) ice cream and soft tofu, a distinctively Japanese combination, and it completed our reintroduction to the dining experiences we so loved in Japan and we were left to reflexively whisper to ourselves “oishi.”

With only 48 hours to spend in Istanbul, you really don’t want to have a bad meal. Doing my research before we left, one place that kept turning up with names like “Best Meals of 2012,” My Last Meal on Earth Would Be,"—plus recommendations from trusted friends—was Çiya. After a leisurely morning wander around the seaside neighborhood of Ortaköy, we hopped on a ferry, grabbed a glass of hot tea, and headed to the Asian side of Istanbul. In Kadıköy we found young buskers playing traditional music on almost every corner, and vegetable and fish sellers shouting the praises of their wares. And all of the sidewalk cafes were full. Çiya is spread out over three locations. We had the difficult choice of choosing one of them. We picked Çiya kebap. We ordered a thin and spicy lahmacun—a kind of turkish pizza—to start and then moved on to our meaty mains: Ayvalý Taraklý, an intense dish of tiny lamb chops smothered in a pomegranate and fresh quince sauce; a classic kebap plate with hand-minced lamb with lots of fresh mint; Kağıt Kebap, a spicy hand-minced lamb and hot chili pepper kebab. We were seated on the second floor with a view of the original Çiya Sofrasi, and we watched as plates from the two restaurants were passed back and forth. After all that food, the sun broke through the clouds, and we headed back out to the streets—to the crowds of Sunday shoppers and the sounds of the muezzin call.

New York, Tokyo, and other major cities are home to startling numbers of authentic Neapolitan pizzerias, many with ovens handmade by Neapolitan craftsmen. In those places, pizza making is definitely considered an elevated craft. Perhaps Neapolitans do not think of their cooks as artists because so much of the city’s cuisine is rooted in cucina popolare, or people’s food. What strikes me most about the food of Naples is the uniformly high standards in even the humblest restaurants. That goes for pizzas as well, which makes it impossible to single out one pizzeria. Or so I thought until I visited La Notizia, located up in the hills on the edge of the gritty working-class borough of Fuorigrotta (too far from central Naples to be reached on foot). Owner-chef Enzo Coccia is as obsessed with the details of materials and technique as any Neapolitan tailor.

From my first bite, Coccia’s pizza struck me as something categorically different and decidedly better than anything I had tasted in Naples—or anywhere else in the world. It was feather light but still chewy, the way Neapolitan pizza should be. The thin middle crust didn’t dissolve into a soupy blend of cheese and tomato. When I asked Coccia about his technique, he formed two small test rounds of dough. He flattened one by hand; the other he rolled out with a can. He threw them both into the wood-burning oven and pulled them out 30 seconds later. The hand-formed dough was light and airy. The can-leveled dough was dense. “I prepare my dough at seven in the morning,” said Coccia. “It needs 14 to 16 hours to rise. I make only 300 pizzas’ worth of dough, and when that’s done, we close. Of course it takes the best and freshest ingredients—artisan mozzarella and local extra virgin olive oil—but it’s more than that. You need a passion for the traditional way. Then pizza can be as artisanal as a suit. 39/(0) 081-714-2155. This appeared in the September, 2012 issue.

Chef/owner Roberto Solís is widely considered one of Mexico’s best chefs—and Néctar deserves its reputation as one of the area’s top restaurants. The kitchen serves up traditional dishes from the area, all featuring local and seasonal ingredients so the menu changes depending on what’s being harvested around the Yucatán. But several local favorites are always available, including cochinita pibil(roast pork); relleno negro-stuffed turkey; and tikin xic (fish marinated in Achiote and sweet chile.

Why we love it: Tanzania’s first Design Hotel delivers eco-chic 20 miles off the coast

Highlights:
- A very haute take on African village architecture with 56 thatched bungalows, suites and villas
- The sight of dhows (traditional wooden sailboats) silhouetted at sunset
- Lush tropical landscaping with a spice garden flourishing over a quarter of the 32-acre grounds

The review: Set on the equator, Zanzibar glows with color from the pearl-hued beach to lush vegetation and the turquoise Indian Ocean. “Zuri” means “beautiful in Kiswahili, the island’s language, and the hotel delivers on this promise at every turn. Of especial note: the carved doorframes, contemporary African art and locally made furniture, often crafted from old dhows. Enjoy nice upcycled touches too like the rainbow of hanging lamps in the open-air Peponi bar, made from old bottles.

Tucked on a west-facing slope, most of the accommodations face the sapphire Indian Ocean, and all have large terraces with bold-colored hammocks and wicker furniture. They also boast outdoor showers, where concrete floors contrast with curtains of paper beads, handmade by artisans at the female-led social enterprise Chaka. Inside, the warm tones of Tanzanian teak and eucalyptus compliment the nyasi (grass) thatch from the mainland. Make sure to veil your bed with the mosquito net, which contains an energy-efficient cooling system!

Bungalows can sleep up to two adults and some have hot tubs. Suites step things up with larger terraces, living rooms and private outdoor Jacuzzis. Or really splash out with an exclusive oceanfront villa that can host up to six adults, complete with an infinity pool and private swathe of sand.

Guests can dine on the shore, at the pool or in one of the beachfront restaurants. Expect a fusion of African, Indian and Arabian cuisine, though European and Middle Eastern elements come into play as well. Zuri Zanzibar is especially strong on shisha (hookah) offerings and sugar-cane cocktails, along with dishes like beef samosas, coconut-milk ceviche, octopus-tentacle salad and pilau rice with kachumbari (a tomato-onion salad popular in the African Great Lakes region).

One of the first stops outside of Cusco was on the Anta plain at 12,375 ft. The 16th century ruin of Chinchero is rumored to be the birthplace of the rainbow. I would be hard pressed to argue those refractions of light could have a more beautiful beginning. A wonderful outdoor market overlooks the ruins and there are many weaving cooperatives to explore in the village. Locals work hard to preserve cultural customs speaking Quechua and wearing colorful traditional dress. By supporting the talented women and buying local you assist in making their lives more self sufficient through their craft. If you’re looking for colorful blankets, I thought this market had one of the best selections.

Félix Meana and Katie Button, veterans of elBulli in Spain, converted Asheville’s former downtown bus depot into a stylish tapas bar. Cúrate means to cure oneself, which diners can do with traditional Spanish dishes such as Catalan sausage bocadillos, codfish salad, and honey-drizzled fried eggplant. This appeared in the July/August 2012 issue. Read Emma John’s feature on the North Carolina bluegrass scene.

Talk about first impressions: Carved sandstone elephants welcome guests into a two-story chandeliered lobby at this palace-style hotel. Attentive service starts at check-in, with gifts of bindis and fresh jasmine necklaces. At 550-square-feet or larger, rooms are palatial themselves, and richly decorated with oriental carpets, jacquards, and hand-embroidered brocades. Those on higher floors offer panoramic city views, but many visitors choose spaces overlooking the internal courtyard or expansive garden (and away from a 16-lane highway) for a sense of calm. The hotel’s Edwardian-inspired bar draws locals and guests alike with its 25-page whiskey and scotch menu, as does a rooftop pool with stunning vistas over New Delhi’s urban landscape. Unique amenities include an on-call astrologer and, for women travelers, the option of an all-female service staff, including butler, gym instructors, and private city guides.

When most people think of Korean cuisine, the first food that comes to mind is usually kimchi. In addition to being the country’s national dish, the spicy, fermented vegetable condiment has been shown to contain many health benefits. Learn even more about it at Museum Kimchikan, located in Insadong. Fun for children and adults alike, the museum features interactive exhibits about the history and process of making kimchi, culminating in a little tasting room with several varieties to sample. The small entrance fee includes an audio guide and complimentary hanboks (traditional Korean clothes) to wear inside the facility. If you plan to visit on a Wednesday or Thursday, secure advance reservations for a kimchi-making class.

Handicrafts made from woven straw have been a staple of Bahamian life for generations. The technique was traditionally used to create functional items like fish traps and baskets for carrying food, but today such items are made primarily for souvenirs. A great place to find these and many other keepsakes is the Nassau Straw Market, where around 500 vendors sell a wide variety of goods, from baskets and handbags to wood carvings, drums, and T-shirts. The Nassau Straw Market is a short walk from the Bay Street shopping district. It’s open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The royal capital for more than 140 years during the 19th and 20th centuries, Hue is a not-to-be-missed stop on any itinerary in Vietnam. It was a political, religious, and cultural center for the Nguyen dynasty, the last to rule the country before Vietnam proclaimed itself a republic in 1945. The city, a UNESCO World Heritage site, features a dizzying array of tombs, pagodas, and monuments—but perhaps the most impressive, and certainly grandest, sight is its citadel. Surrounded by a moat and hefty stone walls, the citadel contains the Imperial City, with fortified ramparts, brightly painted pagodas and gateways, beautiful carved-stone dragons, and a palpable sense of the history that unfolded here.