Search results for

In the heart of D.C.'s Penn Quarter, Zaytinya serves up a variety of tapas inspired by traditional dishes from Greece, Lebanon, and Turkey. It also has a selection of wines from such Eastern Mediterranean countries and seasonally serves a hot tea with a blooming jasmine flower. Falafel, hummus, and roasted cauliflower are among my favorite menu items. Try the Turkish coffee at weekend brunch.

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.

A number of influences combined to make Belizean cuisine what it is today. Sample Creole chicken stew in Belize City, Mestizo tamales or escabeche on Ambergris Caye, Mayan fish in San Pedro, Garifuna hudut in Hopkins, or Mayan caldo in Punta Gorda. Here is a list of the best restaurants in Belize to sample it all in.

This Upper East Side legend opened its doors in 1930 and, since then, has offered big-city accommodations to a legion of luminaries, from John F. Kennedy and Ingrid Bergman to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The hotel’s famed restaurant Café Carlyle is where much of the action—and longstanding history—exists, having consistently hosted top talent like Woody Allen, Alan Cumming, and Rita Wilson since opening in 1955.

Colour, music and dancing are an integral part of life in Andalusia, Spain. For a taste of the region’s Flamenco, head to El Patio Sevillano in Seville (Sevilla). A variety of dancers, in colourful traditional costumes, will whirl and stomp across the stage, while a band plays authentic Flamenco music. Catch an early show and then hit the town for tapas and drinks at a nearby Taverna.

Just 90 minutes south of Guadalajara, the colonial town of Tapalpa is an alpine refuge nestled in the Sierra Madre Mountains. A designated pueblo mágico (magic town), it’s home to a picturesque plaza, where artists often congregate to sell handmade wool and pine needle crafts. Spend the day discovering the restaurants, churches, and historic buildings around the plaza, or explore the lakes, streams, and forests in the surrounding countryside.

Most people in the city know The Battery as an exclusive social club, but did you know it also houses a 14-suite, boutique hotel, open to members and non-members alike? Featuring a maximalist decor that channels the many sides of San Francisco—be it Chinatown inspired motifs on the curtains or beams from the old ships that used to dock in this location (this area was once water)—the hotel will remind you where you are at every twist and turn. Rooms are spacious, comfortable, and impeccably designed.

Casa Vicente is an institution in this desert city—Tucson’s outpost for tapas a la española. Just south of the downtown core, a couple of blocks from the neo-Baroque façade of the Cathedral of San Agustín, this restaurant also features live music on weeknights: classical guitar, flamenco, and even tango lessons. This particular evening, we tried chipirones rellenos, a trio of baby calamari skewered and stuffed with green tomatoes and spices. In a town more known for its tacos and burros (a.k.a. ‘burritos’ elsewhere), it’s appropriate, if somewhat uncommon, to find Iberian fare. Tucson was founded in 1775 as an outpost of the Spanish empire, decades before it became Mexican, and then in the mid-19th century, it finally became part of a U.S. territory. (And, by the way, the sangría here rocks.)

The Hong Kong-based Swire Hotels launches in the U.S. with their 352-room EAST, Miami, located in city’s bustling financial district. L.A.-based Studio Collective and New York’s Clodagh Design paired up to design the interiors, which mix intricate woodwork with sleek furnishings. Original artwork from notable names such as China-born Zha Songgang and Miami-based Alexander Mijares hangs throughout the hotel, along with photographs that highlight Miami’s colorful scenery and Modernist architecture. Quinto La Huella, an outpost of a famous seafood restaurant in José Ignacio, Uruguay, promises to draw locals and visitors alike, while the hotel’s rooftop space serves Asian-inspired tapas with views of the skyline. From $259

Formerly Las Alcobas, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Napa Valley.

Located just a short walk from the downtown area of the charming small town of St. Helena, Alila Napa Valley blends old and new in totally indulgent ways. The center of the 64-room property is a Victorian-style mansion that dates back to 1905. The house has been renovated and is now home to Violetto, an intimate, fine dining restaurant led by award-winning Executive Chef Thomas Lents. The nightly tasting menu, inspired by Northern Italy and Southern France, highlights local ingredients from Napa with items like homemade pastas, fresh salads, and duck confit. Guests can also join for a la carte snacks in the lounge and bar or on the beautiful, wrap-around veranda (don’t miss the chickpea panisse).

Behind the old mansion is the spa, whose building was designed to replicate an old barn with clapboard walls and high ceilings. The vibe is distinctive yet without pretense. Angled around these buildings are stand-alone, three-story structures that house the majority of the guest rooms. Featuring a warm, minimalist aesthetic that highlights, rather than distracts from, the beautiful vineyards it overlooks, each of the spacious guest rooms are decked out in natural materials such as oak, jute, and Carrara marble. Rooms come with cozy bathrobes, well-stocked mini-bars, and inviting balconies with fire pits that will make you want to lounge and linger.

All of this is centered around a large, open-air bar, event reception area, and swimming pool. Though compact, the pool is nestled in an exquisite setting with vineyard views. If you can manage to peel yourself away from the hotel, the property also has bicycles that guests can use to get around town or pedal around the newly built Napa Vine Trail. Or, simply walk a few hundred feet to the winery next door, Beringer, for a sampling of their world-renowned wines. Whatever you choose to do—be it lounge with a glass of wine at the new poolside bar, or retreat for a massage in the on-site spa—you can’t go wrong at this beautiful Napa wine country resort.

Crashing waves serve as the soundtrack to your stay at Elbow Beach, situated on 50 lush acres along Bermuda’s rose-hued southern coast. Decorated with exposed beams, tiled floors, and neutral color schemes, the spacious cottage-style rooms are the portrait of coastal elegance—think coral-emblazoned throw pillows, wicker benches at the foot of the beds, and ocean or garden views through French doors. Polished-pebble paths lead the way to the spa, which offers treatments inspired by local ingredients, from a ginger-and-coconut scrub to a hibiscus bath. Grab a rum swizzle in the lounge, relax by the curving perimeter of the pool, or snorkel, swim, and kayak at the hotel’s private beach. You might also prefer to hit the pavement: Elbow Beach is mere minutes from the capital of Hamilton, Gibb’s Hill Lighthouse, and four 18-hole championship golf courses.

Bypass the roadside watering holes and take a boat ride to Floyd’s Pelican Bar, instead. This thatched hut stands on stilts out in the water, making it a dreamy spot for an afternoon of swimming and shooting the breeze, solo or with friends. It’s 30 minutes from Treasure Beach (arrange a boat ride through your guesthouse or resort), and you can arrive for lunch and stay until after sundown for the just-caught fish, rum, and chilled Red Stripe on the menu. Inside the tiny shack, the flags of various countries hang and previous customers have left messages scrawled on planks and benches. Sit outside and watch the pelicans flying in formation across the horizon.

The centerpiece of the city’s emerging Vulkan neighborhood, Oslo’s very first food hall is a culinary utopia. Let your nose guide you to one (or five!) of 27 eateries peddling everything from cupcakes to tapas to bento boxes. Can’t decide? Stop at the Torget stall and order the Taste of Mathallen menu to sample mind-altering dishes from the hall’s best restaurants. The communal wooden benches in the center of the hall encourage sharing, so you and your friends can divide and conquer. Finish your visit with a craft beer in the basement pub Smelteverket, which features Norway’s longest bar.

Go Bar occupies an old colonial house on a leafy Mendoza street (formerly Winery & Company). Its old, worn wooden floors speckled with sunlight have just the right vintage feel for wine browsing. It’s several rooms are stacked with wrought iron shelves featuring the region’s numerous wine labels. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable and will give you the perfect packaging to carry wines in your suitcase back home. Chile 898 (corner of Montevideo)

Even now I’m craving their guilt-free collection of tapas-style breakfast miniatures. You can expect to find little croissants stuffed with jamon, light pastries topped with berries, and fresh squeezed orange juice. It’s simple, inexpensive, and quick—nothing fancy but perfect for a snack. I should note it’s a chain but it’s where the locals go, so don’t write it off and pop in when you see one. Tip: Grab a little tile to your right when you walk in, order at the counter and they’ll write on it. If you’re like me, you’ll go back for more so bring it up with you for round two. Then pay when you’ve finished.