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Benjamin Matthews, formerly known as “The Pizza Man” at various Darwin markets now runs an outdoor pop-up Italian restaurant called Cucina Sotto Le Stelle at the Nightcliff Foreshore. Follow the smell of wood-fired pizza mingling with tropical sea air to find in-the-know locals and travelers gathered at checkered communal tables eating squid-ink pasta and chewy pizzas topped with prawns and local veggies as well as salty muscles and other Northern Territory specialties. It’s the best thing that’s happened in this part of Darwin since the Mindil Beach Markets began. Cucina Sotto Le Stelle pops up every Wednesday and Friday at 5pm, but check the Facebook page for updates.

There’s no need to fly all the way to Italy to try the pie that earned first place at the 2007 World Pizza Cup. Just head to North Beach and Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, where chef-owner Tony Gemignani was the first American to win the title. Gemignani serves only 73 of the prize-winning Margherita pizzas a day, but the seven ovens in the kitchen make a broad selection of styles, including Sicilian, Roman, New York, St. Louis, and even a Detroit-style pie—a square pizza made with Wisconsin brick mozzarella cheese. To find Tony’s, either follow the scent of baking crust or look for the line of eager customers awaiting entry to the no-reservations corner eatery.

In spite of its reputation as a city of local, seasonal dining, these characteristics of Roman cuisine are actually under threat and in widespread decline. For this reason, the government has stepped in with the hopes of saving local farms and food producers. At Enoteca Provincia Romana near the Roman Forum, the county of Rome has teamed up with small farms to provide excellent and affordable food made exclusively from ingredients from in and around Rome. Even the water and beer is local. At lunch, stop by for a quick pasta and a glass of local wine, or dig into something more substantial at dinner. Locally sourced ingredients are also for sale near the entrance.

About 2 km outside of the town center of Sorrento, Italy is a natural pool set behind the bluffs that characterize the Amalfi coast. You can only reach it on foot (or Vespa) by turning right off of Via Capo at the sign on a red building that reads, “Ruderi della villa romana di Pollio.” At the very end of the cobblestone street, when you start to hear the rasp of waves on the rocks, you’ve gone far enough to see the pool and find the ruins above. Along the cliffs used to sit Pollio Felice’s villa, the abode of a Roman noble of centuries ago. The sea below feeds behinds the rocky shore through an arch and makes a circular pool with natural privacy. The water is a shocking cerulean blue, and calm—perfect for a dip. When I was there during a chilly weekend in April, there was no one to be found except two Italian women sitting on the cliffs, chatting in the sun and peeling oranges to eat. If you go when it’s warmer, you’ll encounter plenty of locals who come to swim. It’s a peaceful sojourn outside of Sorrento, and worth it to go swimming if the town’s thin beaches are too crowded or closed in the off season.

Seven miles from La Romana, this enchanting national park comprises a 2,600-foot-long cave system with stalactites and stalagmites, plus almost 500 pictographs and petroglyphs created by the Tainos who inhabited the island at the time the Spaniards first arrived. Good lighting, ramps, footpaths, and an elevator make these caves easily accessible.

All white everything is the theme for the upscale italian dining room at the Tcherassi Hotel, all the way down the to waitstaff’s shoes. Very modern and chic, being inside, with the adjacent aqua bar is a departure from the colonial feel of colonial downtown.

This leather atelier off a leafy boulevard in the Porta Romana district is the epitome of chic. The only way to buy its coveted handbags and accessories, regularly spotted on celebrities, is to visit this white-hued, mirrored store. Designer Roberta Giacobbe crafts understated, heirloom-quality pieces including totes, iPad cases, and men’s carryalls using the finest quality leather. Each one is handmade in her workshop above the boutique. One of the most popular items is the zippered pochette (an envelope-shaped handbag), which can be custom-made in any color.

The Museo Della Civiltà Romana (Museum of Roman Civilization) is a fascinating destination. Made up largely of replicas of Roman artwork and scale models of Roman buildings (including an impressive scale model of the city of Rome as it appeared during the reign of Constantine), the Museum of Roman Civilization (in some ways) allows for a greater appreciation of antiquity than the archaeological record alone can provide. For example: Plaster casts, taken from the continuous frieze decorating the Column of Trajan and arranged chronologically at eye level, allow the visitor a closer look at the relief sculpture (and a greater understanding of the narrative sequence) than can be appreciated from viewing the column itself. For anyone with an interest in ancient history and archaeology, this museum provides a unique experience, bringing the past to life on a grand scale.

On the Dominican Republic’s southeastern coast, high above the Chavón River gorge in La Romana, sits Altos de Chavón, a replica of a 16th-century Tuscan village handcrafted by local artisans. Completed in 1976, the site now boasts artists’ studios, galleries, and the Altos de Chavón School of Design, an affiliate of New York’s Parsons School of Art and Design. Other highlights include the Museo Arqueológico Regional, home to a fascinating collection of pre-Columbian artifacts; a 5,000-seat limestone amphitheater that regularly hosts world-renowned performers; and the small St. Stanislaus Church, blessed by Pope John Paul II.

There are many excellent restaurants in Florence, but this one was recommended to me by a local, and I’m so glad it was. Alessandro, the chef, recently returned after working in New York City for eight years. Located on a small street near the Duomo, La Cucina del Garga offers so much for a small restaurant: recipes inspired by the chef’s father (Garga), art covering the walls, friendly staff, great Tuscan wines, funky menu designs, and reasonable prices. A seemingly simple salad of greens, tomatoes, pine nuts and cheese was the best salad I’ve ever had. Other great dishes were the fresh twisted penne with pistachios and cherry tomatoes, and creamy pasta with scallops. If possible, make a reservation and ask for the “painted room.”

In 30-odd years of living in Florence, I’ve never learnt how to make pasta, so I jumped at the chance to join in a pasta-making class at Desinare, a wonderful new cooking school and kitchen shop in the Oltrarno. Under the guidance of our patient teacher, expert chef Arturo Dori, a group of 6 of us learnt to make three types of stuffed pasta in three hours: ‘plin’ (a meaty speciality from the Alpine region of the Val d’Aosta) with cheese fondue; potato-stuffed tortelli with meat ragù; long, cigar-shaped cannelloncini filled with broccoli and topped with baby squid. Plenty of wine along the way contributed to a fun, convivial atmosphere with lots of chat, and we ate the delicious results at the end of the session. Classes can be tailor-made to fit with individual requests, and you can also learn about food photography and table settings. The Desinare shop stocks fabulous kitchen equipment, bright ceramics and glassware: everything you need to recreate ‘una cucina Italiana’ back home.

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.

One of Cape Town’s most picturesque corners, this small fishing harbor sees boats sail in daily with their catches (often trailed by hungry seals waiting for tidbits). Recently, however, the area has also become known for its antique stores, restaurants, and shops—one of the best collections of African curios, materials, and artwork for sale can be found at Artvark, on the edge of town. Expect to see everyone from hipsters to surfers to an old couple who’s lived here for 50 years. A seaside promenade connects Kalk Bay to the colorful beach cottages of St. James and to Surfers Corner in Muizenberg, another gem of an old-world suburb that is becoming a second Kalk Bay. Don’t miss Cucina Labia, a restaurant housed in a mansion built by an Italian who wanted to create a little Venice here.

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.

“Buongiorno, Signor Farley,” said Umberto, the head waiter at Hotel Missoni’s Cucina restaurant. By the beginning of the third day of my stay, the staff knew my name. And what I drank with breakfast. An espresso doppio was delivered to my table a minute later. “Prego,” the server said.

You’d think I was in Italy. In fact, I was 2,500 miles southeast of the country’s heel, in the capital of diminutive, oil-rich Kuwait. Opened in spring 2011, Hotel Missoni, owned by the eponymous fashion and home furnishings house, is one of many designer-conceived hotels that have popped up around the globe.

I have to confess: I have a complicated relationship with fashion. Maybe it’s related to my childhood. (Isn’t everything?) In the seventh grade, I wore a T-shirt to school that read, “My Son Is in the Navy.” My trend-conscious peers, who clearly had no sense of irony, laughed at me until the final bell rang. When I wore bowling shoes to high school, I was similarly mocked. How would I do in a hotel designed by a couturier?

I was picked up at the airport in Kuwait City in a Maserati (a complimentary perk for all Missoni guests). Not a bad start.

The property (like its sister hotel in Edinburgh, which opened in June 2009) is the brainchild of the Missoni family matriarch, Rosita. The hotel’s 169 rooms were designed to feel like her home. Compact Hans Wegner wishbone chairs and tuliplike Eero Saarinen–designed tables rest on hardwood floors, and everything—espresso cups, towels, even the swimming pool—displays the colorful striped patterns Missoni is known for. Generous helpings of turquoise, gold, and beige are splashed throughout the hotel to evoke the bayfront landscape outside, and every room looks out on the ever-expanding Kuwait City skyline. Like many things Italian, the hotel is simple and comfortable.

The Missoni team, which is fine-tuning its approach before opening hotels in larger markets, learns fast. There are no design hotel clichés here: no faucets with the function designed out of them, no overly formal staff. “Are those Camper shoes?” a waiter asked me one day at breakfast. I nodded. “Like bowling shoes,” he said. “Very cool.” Here, it seemed, fashion and I got along great.

965/2577-0000, from $414. This appeared in the September, 2012 issue. See more fashion hotels around the world.