Search results for

Located in Munich‘s Altstadt, or old town city center, Schrannenhalle is a long, beautiful, wrought iron & glass market hall filled with gourmet food and wine. Originally dating to the 19th century, Schrannenhalle was recently rebuilt as an extension of the Viktualienmarkt. Sit down for a coffee, or a glass of champagne, after a long day of shopping, soak up the bustling atmosphere, and escape the cold in winter along with visitors and locals alike.

No trip to D.C. is complete without ordering the district’s signature dish, the half-smoke. And while many restaurants serve it, there’s only one worthy of your order: Ben’s Chili Bowl. The popular landmark diner has been feeding the community and cultural icons since the area’s “Black Broadway” days, when jazz greats such as Miles Davis enjoyed this comfort food classic. When riots broke out after Martin Luther King’s assassination in 1968, Ben’s remained open and served both police and protesters. While the U Street Corridor has undergone an urban makeover, Ben’s has remained the same, serving its quarter-pound of half-pork/half-beef smoked sausage on a bun with mustard and onions, all smothered in spicy homemade chili sauce. The prestigious James Beard Foundation even took notice, deeming it one of “America’s Classics.” Bring cash and come hungry.

The Ferry Building is open every day of the week, but Saturdays are the most fun to visit thanks to the expansive, weekly farmers’ market (a smaller version happens on Tuesdays and Thursdays). Come here for stalls full of fresh produce, locally made cheeses, meat, fish, and plenty of ready-made food. Roli Roti almost always has the the longest line—and for good reason. Its porchetta sandwiches are crispy, decadent perfection. But be sure to save room for all the delightful eateries inside the building too: Hog Island Oyster Company, Fort Point Beer, Dandelion Chocolate, Humphrey Slocombe ice cream, and Reem’s Arab bakery are several highlights.

This was on our list of The Best Things to Do in San Francisco.

Smokehouse Grill is a true novelty in the hospitality scene of Delhi. It’s an absolute treat for beef-starved tourists in India. It’s one of the very few places in Delhi that has started serving India’s holy animal on a plate. Aside from the tantalizing steak dishes, the vivacious ambience and live house music complete this lounge/bar. Prices are on the high end, but it’s well worth it when a night on the town is in order. The martinis and classic cocktails are made well, so do give those a try. There are two floors, but the top floor is generally reserved for VIP guests or private parties. Although there is no cover charge, do make reservations, or you might be waiting ages for a table! There is no set dance floor, but you’ll see plenty of youngsters groovin’ to the hottest house/lounge beats at the bar. It’s considered one of the swanky, upscale lounge bars of Delhi, so naturally you will find that the crowd consists of foreigners, expats, and a wealthy local crowd. It’s located right next to Kuki Bar in Greater Kailash II, in Masjid Moth.

Botanika is one of San Sebastián‘s best local spots to just BE. Especially if you consider yourself slightly hip, ride a fixed gear, are a NOLA-phile, or enjoy café food with a vegetarian bent. The private garden overlooks the river that runs through the city. It’s off the beaten path but a wonderful spot to meet interesting locals and enjoy a beer or coffee.

Mellow café by day, raucous party bar at weekends, Kaffibarinn is one of Reykjavík’s quintessential nightspots. Marked with a London Underground logo on the outside, it boasts celebrity associations including Blur’s Damon Albarn (who rumor has it once owned shares in the place) and filmmaker Baltasar Kormákur (director of 101 Reykjavík, among others). Open since the 1990s, Kaffibarinn certainly knows how to throw a party, especially when tables and chairs are pushed aside to create a makeshift dance floor and local DJs (and the occasional live show) make the crowds go wild.

Cafe L’Eclair is everything you expect when you think of the perfect French cafe: delicious cafe au lait, croissants and tartine and a bonus, this cafe turns into a cocktail bar after dark. Another benefit of this lovely cafe is its location on rue Cler. You can order a cafe to go and wander the pedestrian street market to your heart’s content!

Visitors with a particular interest in the grunge scene should make a trip to West Seattle’s Easy Street Records — Eddie Vedder lives in the neighborhood and has been known to shop here. But aside from that, Easy Street is just a great local independent music store, with a wide selection of CDs and records, and knowledeable staff. The attached cafe is a diner covered in music memorabilia that serves up good, basic breakfast and lunch. And an Easy Street T-shirt, with its distinctive red star logo, makes a great gift for your favorite music lover.

Tree-Guys Pizza Pub is a great place to stop in for a pie and a beer. With the usual array of pizza choices, there’s no shortage of great eats right at your fingertips. Connected to the pizzeria is Hi-Fi Lounge (the pub) where you can belly up to the bar on any given night and sample their daily drink specials. From draft beers, to Bloody Marys, to choice tequila, there’s no shortage of libations at this local watering hole. Come for some pizza, stay for some drinks—the Tree-Guys insist.

While Heath Ceramics is over 60 years old, having been founded in 1948 in Sausalito, their colorful bud vases, dinnerware and tiles have enjoyed a boom in recent years. Straddling the line between a rough, hand-crafted aesthetic and an elegant, understated quality, their pieces are hard to miss in the pages of design magazines as well as at the homes of some of your most tasteful friends. The new retail location on 18th Street includes a workshop alongside a café serving Blue Bottle coffee. There is also a smaller location in the Ferry Building.

As one of the most innovative players on the Marrakech restaurant scene, Kamal Laftimi spearheads projects that are nothing if not showstoppers. This buzzy, green-on-green–tiled riad, bristling with courtyard banana trees, is a case in point. It’s a hip hangout by day for locals and expats who meet for coffees throughout the morning and pop into celebrated kaftan designer Norya ayroN’s little boutique, which occupies a small space on the first floor. By night, it sparkles with the light of hundreds of glittering candles while large extended families and cooing couples gather over Moroccan classics such as pigeon pastilla, vegetarian couscous, and chicken tagine with olives and raisins, as well as a handful of crowd-pleasing classics such as steak frites and burgers (no alcohol served).

When visitors to Belgium ask me what to eat here (besides the inevitable chocolate, waffles and frites), my reply is always stoofvlees (unless they are vegetarians!). Stoofvlees, or carbonnade a la Flamande as it’s called in French, literally translates to ‘stew meat.’ Essentially, it is cubed beef, stewed in Belgian beer for so long it melts in your mouth. It’s typically served over mashed potatoes or Belgian fries and it is hearty, heavy and heavenly. In the city centre, not far from Grand Place, is a great place to try stoofvlees, called Cafe Novo. This colourfully quirky Belgian cafe always has an eclectic crowd. The menu is varied and caters well to vegetarians (the falafels are great!) as well as carnivores. Cafe Novo is open every day (a rarity in Brussels) and is great for a late Sunday brunch. They have a small but sunny back garden that books up quickly. Thursday evenings Novo hosts ‘cocktail concerts’ so you can enjoy a bit of live music as you dine.

Located in Tagaytay in Luzon, just an hour and a half by car from Manila, Taal Volcano has a complex and unique landscape and offers one of the most picturesque views in the Philippines. Taal Lake is a freshwater lake that partly fills the Taal Caldera, a large collapsed area formed during prehistoric eruptions. Within the lake is the nine-square-mile Volcano Island, which is the active part of the volcano and consists of at least 47 cones and craters, including the Binintiang Malaki cinder cone, which looks how you imagine a volcano should. In the center of Volcano Island is the crater lake, which hosts a small rocky island called Vulcan Point. So there is an island within a lake on an island (which is a volcano) within a lake on an island! (Vulcan Point is in the crater lake on Volcano Island, which is in Taal Lake, which is on the island of Luzon.) The volcano has not erupted since the seventies, though there are occasional signs of unrest. Visiting Taal’s crater lake is a great day-trip option: You hop on a boat across Taal Lake to Volcano Island, where you can hike or ride on horseback to the crater lake. Or you can simply take in the great vistas from Tagaytay, enjoying the cool weather and exploring the many places to eat.

If you go south along the shore, past Miraflores and Barranco, you will reach Chorrillos. While not part of many tourist itineraries, it’s a quaint, off-the-beaten-path seaside area offering marvelous ocean views and sandy strolls. It’s also great for real-deal ceviche, sold right on the beach at cute, family-owned stalls. You can’t taste fresher seafood, but since these kitchens are not the gleaming steel labs found in upscale eateries, be sure to patronize places where you see lots of locals lining up. Bird-watchers love Pantanos de Villa, a wildlife refuge in Chorrillos that’s home to more than 170 avian species.

To get from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, don’t take I-25 North--it’s busy and sterile. Drive east on I-40 to the backside of the Sandía Mountains, get off on exit 175, and head north on Highway 14, also known as “The Turquoise Trail.” You’ll wind through forest to plateau, through mining towns and old Spanish land grants. Halfway to Santa Fe you’ll come to Madrid. (Note--do NOT pronounce it the way you would the capital of Spain; here it’s “MAD-rid.”) In the early 20th-c., some four thousand people lived here; by WWII it had become a ghost town when the local coal demand dropped. By the 1970’s the town began to be reoccupied--artists moved in, galleries set up...it claims to have more artists per capita than any other town in the country. (The population is around 400.) And in 2006, the town served as the set for the John Travolta film “Wild Hogs.” Driving in from the south, you’ll note the brightly painted houses; just after the highway curves, find a place to park among the motorcycles and grab a coffee at Java Junction (they have a B&B upstairs)--their motto: “Bad Coffee sucks.” The morning I stopped here, the café had a welcome sign in German; some Mercedes businessmen were having a road-trip meeting...Madrid is alive and well.