Search results for

Cape Town’s Table Mountain National Park, which hugs the perimeter of the city, is so popular that the line for the cable car to the top can be longer than a queue for a Disneyland ride. But why stand in line when you can put your feet to use? There are several routes that lead to the top of the 3,562-foot, flat-topped mountain, including the two-mile Platteklip Gorge trail. Yes, it’s steep, but startling views of the city and the Atlantic await. Trek, get hungry, then picnic on local provisions—crackers, Dutch-style Gouda, and biltong, the thick-sliced South African jerky—before riding the cable car back down.

There are plenty of things to love about Uva, but one of my favourite things is its daily happy hour which lasts from 2-6pm, offering buck a shuck oysters, delicious bruschetta (my favourites are the ricotta, and the devilled egg), and excellent prices on well-crafted cocktails, beer and wine. Must-trys on the regular cocktail menu include the herbaceous Chartreuse Milkshake, and the superby smoky spirit-forward Peater Rabbit. Live music at the weekends and a buzzing late night scene make this idea for fun in the evenings, but it’s a fantastic place to chill with a book or your laptop during the day when it’s quieter.

Few things are gratis in Amsterdam, where you’ll probably pay for your own meal even on a romantic date. But Seasons restaurant gives new meaning to “going Dutch” with a two-for-one Early Bird Special. Set on a pretty side-street off the Herengracht, the cozy bistro is in the heart of the canal belt, near Amsterdam’s Jordaan. The menu features international cuisine, with fare like Indian Chicken Tikka Masala, Asian-inspired Miso Salmon, rack of lamb with mint pesto sauce, and an “inside-out” Beef Wellington. Even Holland is represented in the culinary tour, with a thick pea soup starter. The “buy one get one free” special is offered Monday–Thursday, 5–6pm and Friday–Sunday, 4–6pm. In addition to lowering your bill, it ensures you’ll be visiting when the restaurant is at its romantic best, before the dinner crowd arrives en masse around 8pm. Reservations are required for the Early Bird Special. Reserve online and arrive 15 minutes early to take advantage of it.

With only a couple of exceptions, you can’t soak in Yellowstone’s thermal features (this is for numerous reasons, not the least of which is that most are so scalding hot they’d burn the flesh off you). North of Gardiner, Montana, though, in the no-stoplight community of Pray, Chico Hot Springs has welcomed soakers to its spring-fed hot pools since 1900. Spend the night in one of the quirky rooms in the historic main lodge, originally built as a boardinghouse for miners, or in a refurbished caboose from the Northern Pacific Railroad. If at all possible, plan to be at Chico on a Sunday morning, when it serves the best brunch in Montana.

When the Art family bought the struggling Chico Hot Springs Resort in 1972, some of the earliest improvements they made were to its dining room. The idea was to create one of the best restaurants in the state; if guests came for the food, maybe they’d spend the night. The family succeeded. Today the Chico Dining Room is so beloved it spawned a cookbook, A Montana Table: Recipes from Chico Hot Springs Resort. While ingredients are as fresh as can be—with produce from on-site greenhouses, meat from local ranchers, seafood flown in overnight from the coast—the menu includes some dishes that have been around for more than 40 years. The classic Chico meal is beef Wellington (service for two) and, for dessert, a Flaming Orange, which is exactly what it sounds like.

Oaxaca has no shortage of gorgeous colonial-era buildings; in fact, that’s what draws many visitors to this stunningly beautiful Mexican city. But Casa de Siete Balcones, a seven-room boutique hotel, is particularly special, with unusually spacious rooms and, as its name suggests, seven balconies (yes, one for each room). The building itself dates to the 18^th century. The structure, along with the rooms’ heavy wood furniture and the cobbled street just outside the door, has the effect of transporting guests to another era. Other design details that will appeal to visitors with nostalgia for an earlier century include Spanish tile floors, and a courtyard filled with plants and flowers; the Spanish-style patio also features a bubbling fountain. Rooms are filled with natural light, and service is friendly and attentive.

One of the most popular atolls to visit, Arno is reachable by a 45-minute boat ride from Majuro. It offers white-sand beaches and waters with plenty of marine life—including sharks. There’s a simple cabin to rent for overnight stays and a tiny snack shop (it’s a good idea to bring your own food and water, as well as mosquito repellent). If you’re lucky (or ask nicely), the friendly locals may make you some coconut crab.

Walk, cycle or people-watch along the shores of Elliott Bay, a downtown stretch known for its circusy flair and spectacular vistas. You can ride the Great Wheel or visit the beloved Seattle Aquarium, home to wolf eels, sea otters, and the world’s largest octopuses. Refuel with chowder from local favorite Ivar’s Acres of Clams, then hit the market’s 200 owner-operated shops, ranging from a radical book collection to the Northwest’s oldest magic store. Just don’t turn your back on the famous salmon-slinging fishmongers: They’ve been known to wallop selfie-photographers with a plastic decoy for yucks!

To succeed, a restaurant that opens in Honolulu usually has to cater to locals or derive its patrons from the ever-widening pool of visitors in Waikiki. Morimoto Asia Waikiki does both with great style. On a recent visit just before sunset, we left our car with the valet at the new Alohilani Resort across from Waikiki Beach and walked up the entry stairs to the second floor restaurant. The interior was unmistakably Chef Masaharu Morimoto. Spare yet elegant, open and inviting Morimoto Asia Waikiki welcomes the early set who may be dressed casually, to the dinner date or bar set who might want to dressy-it-up. Our table was what they call “outside”. Settling in on the covered lanai with beach and ocean views, we lingered over the drink menu. Would it be a Morimoto Sparkling Sake from the well-curated sake menu? A glass of chardonnay? An Asian Whiskey? A Morimoto Black Obi brew? We opted for cocktails with the help of our server‘s descriptions. I love Mai Tais and Morimoto Asia Waikiki calls their version a P.O.G. Tai in a nod to the Passion Fruit Orange Guava juice mixture so famous in Hawaii. They make theirs with fresh juices and with white and dark rums and a splash of Cointreau. It had just the right balance. My dinner companion tried a North Shore Mule made with premium vodka, passion fruit juice, kabosu (a citrus) juice and ginger beer. It was so incredibly refreshing and a perfect libation to toast the surfers riding the waves as the sun turned the sky orange and slipped below the ocean. Looking around the room, the clientèle were a mix of visitors, business people entertaining guests and a few locals, but it was early. We took a look another look at the menu as our server walked up again to deftly explain the nuances of each dish. The menu is built to share which is great because there are so many things you’ll want to taste. Chef Morimoto’s concept for this restaurant is a combination of Pan-Asian foods. You’ll find Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Korean style dishes and flavors along some Western twists to ingredients. Like the steamed “pancake” served with the Morimoto Peking Duck is more of a tortilla. And yes, in addition to the eclectic menu you can have a N.Y. Strip steak if you’d like. We ordered a Beef Carpaccio starter flavored with yuzu soy and ginger. It was one of the most tender and delicious I have ever tasted because it is made with Japanese Washugyu beef. Arriving at the exact time we were ready for it, the creamy Buri Bop was mixed at our table by our waiter. After enjoying that simple rice dish, the Morimoto Asia Waikiki signature dish, the Morimoto Peking Duck arrived. Succulent and tender, it’s served with apricot sweet chili sauce and hoisin miso by our waiter who assembles our first bites enveloped in a steamed pancake, table-side. There so many options to suit your own style and preferences. Two local ladies next to us made a meal out of Tonkatsu Ramen and Chicken Pho accompanied by their bottle of wine. Too stuffed for dessert we would have had the Almond Pudding with kuromitsu (black sugar syrup), tropical fruit and oshiruko (sweet bean) or the little filled doughnuts with whipped cream,or the choice of strawberry yuzu, coconut, or passion orange guava sorbets. But alas, we just couldn’t do it. Making our way out of Morimoto Asia Waikiki we noticed the restaurant was full and the bar was packed. The pleasant hum of people enjoying their experience filled the bar. Looks like the locals love this place too. Dinner reservations a must, open for dinner only. Note on Chef Morimoto. He began at age 24 in his native Japan hometown of Hiroshima, with his own restaurant. After learning the art of his sushi he moved to America which presented him with possibilities to expand his repertoire. In 1999 he became Food Network’s Iron Chef, his name and skills familiar to millions of Americans. After a stint at Nobu as Executive Chef he opened in Philly. Following he opened Wasabi in Mumbai and New Delhi. Morimoto New York followed. There are a string of Morimoto restaurants from Bangkok to Tokyo including his Morimoto Ramen and Sake. Dubai has opened a Morimoto Dubai and the new concept Momosan by Morimoto restaurant is also opening at Alohilani Resort for casual dining to include ramen, gyoza, yakitori and the Oahu North Shore island classic garlic shrimp.

Spend the night nestled under the Golden Gate Bridge in the most dignified of accommodations: the former living quarters of high-ranking officers in the U.S. Army. Cavallo Point is the result of the luxurious reimagining of a cluster of military lodges located within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, just over the bridge in Marin County. Today, the 142-room hotel serves as a retreat for in-the-know travelers and locals looking for an easy, elevated escape from everyday city life. Original brick fireplaces and beamed ceilings mingle with modern finishes and furnishings, such as butter-soft leather sofas and whitewashed Adirondack chairs. The expansive grounds are meant to be explored on foot or bicycle. The Wellness Weekend package includes all meals, prepared with an emphasis on health at Murray Circle restaurant, morning yoga classes, guided hikes, a spa treatment, nightly wine receptions, and plenty of free moments to soak in the serene meditation pool—the very best kind of boot camp.

Why we love it: A historic hotel where Old Florida elegance meets contemporary style

The Highlights:
- Unique amenities like a tennis complex, golf course, and private marina
- A wide range of dining options to suit everyone’s tastes
- A prime location near Tropicana Field and The Dalí Museum

The Review:
A member of Historic Hotels of America, the Vinoy Park Hotel opened in 1923—a Mediterranean Revival property overlooking Tampa Bay, designed for America’s elite. It served as a training facility for the Army Air Corps for a brief time in the early 1940s, but reopened as a hotel in 1945 and continued operations until 1974, when it closed in disrepair. Following a $93 million restoration and expansion in 1992, the hotel reopened once again as the Vinoy Renaissance, complete with a new guest tower and an 18-hole golf course designed by Ron Garl.

Today, the Vinoy also features 360 guest rooms and suites, complete with well-lit workspaces, pillowtop mattresses, and Aveda bath products, as well as two swimming pools (one heated), a spacious tennis complex, a 5,000-square-foot fitness center with complimentary workout classes, and an elegant spa offering massages in poolside cabanas. Thanks to the hotel’s waterfront location and private marina, guests can even charter a boat for the day and explore the bay. Dining options range from sushi on the Veranda Patio to farm-to-table fare at Marchand’s Bar & Grill. The culinary standout, however, is Paul’s Landing, named for a Navy carpenter who once fished, farmed orchards, and cured meats and seafood along the St. Pete waterfront. Don’t miss the citrus-glazed shrimp and grits, or the crispy Brussels sprouts with key lime.

Adorned with more than 20,000 blue handcrafted İznik tiles, stained-glass windows, and the golden brushstrokes of a 17th-century calligrapher, the Blue Mosque is the legacy of Sultan Ahmet I (1590–1617). The young sultan audaciously wished to outdo the builders of Hagia Sophia, commissioning six minarets to match the number at Mecca’s Sacred Mosque (which now has seven minarets as a result). Today, this magnificent mosque is a place of worship for thousands who visit from around the world.

A three-day safari in Kruger National Park is a must for anyone visiting South Africa. Entering the gates is like Jurassic Park and you feel transported back in time to the creation of Earth where the wild animals, especially the elephants, are dinosaurs filled with ancient knowledge of the land’s beginning. Although you may not see anything like the infamous “Battle at Kruger” YouTube video, you will certainly witness some interesting animal behavior like hippos bathing, monkeys mating, giraffes snacking or even two elephants flirting in the brush.

Fushimi Inari Taisha on Inariyama mountain is dedicated to the Shinto gods of rice and sake, but Inari is also the god of merchants and that brings a lot of businesspeople to worship here. Everyone else stops by to see the thousands of vermilion torii, or gates (each of which is funded by a Japanese company). They lead to the main shrine, which was built in 1499. Walking underneath the gates is like passing through a fiery tangerine tunnel, and visitors leave behind tiny torii replicas as part of their prayer.

Though his reputation is now arguably overshadowed by that of his former wife, painter and muralist Diego Rivera—commissioned by Mexico’s postrevolutionary governments starting in the late 1920s to adorn several national monuments in complex, pageantry- and allegory-laden wall paintings—was among the first Mexican artists to gain worldwide acclaim. Many of his finest works are on display in the Centro Histórico. Perhaps most spectacular are Rivera’s portrayals of Mexico’s millennia-long history, as seen in the Palacio Nacional on the Zócalo (Mexico City’s main square; take a state-issued ID for admission to the palace); a more contemporary depiction of socialist workers’ struggles (and one which includes a Frida Kahlo cameo) decorates a courtyard at the Secretariat of Public Education. One of the artist’s earliest pieces can be seen inside the amphitheater at the San Ildefonso museum. Additionally, the dazzling Sueño de una Tarde Dominical en la Alameda Central, a surrealist who’s-who of Mexico’s turbulent fin de siècle, is the chief artwork on display at the nearby Museo Mural Diego Rivera.

While the call of the beach is powerful in Miami, sooner or later world-class art, architecture, and shopping lure most visitors to the Design District. Marc Quinn’s acrobatic Myth Fortuna sculpture of Kate Moss and Fernando Botero’s iconic Maternity are among the eye-catching installations on display in the neighborhood’s plazas and along its palm-lined streets. The new Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (ICA Miami) opened in December 2017, and other top galleries include Locust Projects and Maman Fine Art. When it comes to the art of fashion design, major brands are well represented: Versace, Bvlgari, Harry Winston, Miu Miu, Prada, and Max Mara, just to name a few. Refuel between stops with creative comfort food (and refreshing cocktails made with hand-squeezed juice) at Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink.