Search results for

Fresh as you can get and a great price. The baker was bringing in steaming loaves of oven-fresh bread from the bakery down the street while we were standing in line!! Prosciutto on focaccia with warm Parmesan spread and arugula was delicious. Drink your wine on the street with other locals and travelers.

With a massive apertivo buffet, stop by Storico for the cheapest dinner/drinks combo in town (and delicious, to boot!). For 7 euros, get a cocktail or a glass of wine, and fill your plate as many times as you like from the buffet of warm snacks—focaccia, pizza, pasta dishes, cold salads, and chips are always found on the “menu”! Make sure you sit outside, though, to get the best view of the people milling about in the beautiful Piazza de Ferrari.

A useful address for a snack after a visit to the Uffizi or Palazzo Vecchio, this gourmet sandwich bar and deli, hidden away down a narrow lane, serves delicious panini plus the odd salad. The sandwich selection (made with focaccia freshly-baked in a wood-fired oven) changes daily but ingredients are top-notch and sourced from all over Italy: gorgonzola cheese and salty anchovies is a favourite of mine. The price of your sandwich includes a glass of wine.

Glo Glo Bistro is a true hidden gem in Genoa - tucked way back into a slightly sketchy piazza off of the historic Vico Lavagna. Although it looks somewhat run-down from the outside, the inside is beautifully renovated, and they have an extensive wine list to choose from. You absolutely must come for apertivo, as they have one of the most delicious ‘snack’ plates in all of town - seriously, the platters brought to your table are heaped so full with delicious bites of focaccia and cheese and chips that you will not need to spend a penny on dinner.

“This is easily recognized as the best bakery in Venice. I’ve been coming here since I was a child. Nono Colussi is very old now, so the bakery is mostly run by his daughter, who is also of a certain age. They don’t make very many things but what they do make, they make perfectly. The focaccia Veneziana is fantastic, and they do this wonderful panettone at Christmastime. Whenever I go here with my son, they give him a dove-shaped meringue—just like they gave me when I was a child. It’s sweet.” —Skye McAlpine, cookbook author and Venice native.

Read about more of McAlpine’s Venice favorites here.

The first rule of the speakeasy is that it can’t be easy to find. The Violet Hour’s door is directly across the street from Big Star. Look for the handle on the wall and the light above it, because the door mural changes frequently and cleverly disguises the space. It doesn’t take reservations, so expect to wait in line as the number of people in the bar at any time is also tightly controlled. This is good, because it won’t ever be packed! The Violet Hour isn’t a get-up-and-mingle kind of joint, which makes it the perfect dark, sexy lounge for romantic dates and quiet conversations about world domination. The cocktail menu changes frequently, so even if you’ve been before, you should go again. (And try the Finocchio Focaccia.)

The Harris Farms retail center that began openings in 2013 has a few additions for 2014, the first being the highly-anticipated Da Orazio Pizza + Porchetta owned by Iceberg’s Maurice Terzini. Terzini hired a pizza chef from Naples, who cooks fluffy, stretchy, and perfectly charred pies in a wood-fired, brick oven. You can’t go wrong with the margherita-like Reginella, but if you’re feeling more adventurous, try the Prosciutto, the Diavoletta (topped with hot salami), or the vegetarian Caponatina (with zucchini, eggplant, and bell pepper). Since porchetta is also in the restaurant’s name, you have to order some pig; your options are a pork platter served with lemon wedges or the Focaccia Con Porchetta sandwich. Desserts are Italian classics plus a cleansing dish of watermelon. Judging by the noise and the crowds, the pizza here will be tough to beat.

While famous for its namesake and black diamond ski runs, Lake Louise Resort has plenty to keep visitors happy even when the snow has melted. The main lodge – a log cabin built entirely from local trees - greets visitors who come for the 14-minute gondola ride up Whitehorn Mountain. Riders have a choice between an enclosed gondola and an open chair lift. A good way to experience both is to ride the gondola on the way up and the chair lift on the way down, since the views as you face the valley are more panoramic. Keep an eye out on your ride for one of the resident grizzly bears. At the top of the lift, there are a number of well marked hiking trails, as well as the Lake Louise Interpretative Nature Center. Center staff lead a 45-minute interpretative walk which is a great way to get acquainted with the environment and learn about the area’s bears before setting off on your own. Also at the summit, the Whitehorn Lodge offers visitors a surprisingly delicious experience with five-star views. Both the building and the menu have been recently revamped and the results are well worth the price of the gondola ride. The seafood chowder, a meal in itself, is a highlight as is the beef tenderloin burger: a mound of beef tenderloin cooked to order and served open-faced on a giant piece of focaccia with a pile of yam fries. You’ll definitely be full for your ride back down the gondola. [Travel courtesy of Travel Alberta]

The fragrant, pleasingly cluttered Central Grocery is a holdover from an era when Italian-run groceries occupied storefronts throughout the city. This timeworn shop across from the French Market still boasts an old-world charm, filled with tall shelves crowded with imported goods and various whatnots, mostly Italian. But that’s not why you’ll see lines out the doors. The crowds are clamoring for muffulettas, classic New Orleans sandwiches that originated here about a century ago. (Slogan: “Imitated by many, but never duplicated.”) A muffuletta comes on a type of round, flattish loaf (not unlike a focaccia) that originated in Sicily. The details may vary, but it typically includes cured meats (capicola, salami) and cheese (provolone). What distinguishes it from a hubcap-shaped hoagie is the topping—a tangy marinated-olive salad. Know this: You don’t need to order a whole one; a quarter-sandwich is still plenty filling for one person.

Half the fun of going to Dry, a late-night bar and pizza joint in the buzzy neighborhood of Moscova, is the democratically cool crowd: young artists, gray-mustachioed men, and members of the fashion illuminati. The other half is the cocktail menu (good news for lovers of whiskey) and bubbly pizza pies from the two-Michelin-star chef. This appeared in the May 2015 issue.

The Piazza Della Repubblica was the place to be in Florence in the evenings. Tourists and locals alike dined at the restaurants lining the square, student groups gathered, families enjoyed the Carousel, and gypsies and other migrants tried to sell everything from silk scarves to toys..right up until the police arrived and they all magically disappeared.

Sunset Monalisa’s sister spot, Sunset Point, offers the same exceptional vistas as the landmark restaurant plus a menu that focuses on wine, tapas, and pizza. Enjoy 180-degree views of Cabo San Lucas Bay, Land’s End, and Los Cabos’ famous sunsets. There’s a three-course tasting menu, Italian tapas (try the meatballs stuffed with salami and mozzarella, or the handmade focaccia with Parmesan, mortadella, and truffle essence), and gourmet pies. The pizza menu is where you’ll find incredible creativity, with options ranging from tuna sashimi to kale and goat cheese. Save room for dessert—there are traditional sweets as well as cocktail desserts like a liquid tiramisu.

This family-run vegetable farm in the heart of Willemstad also has a restaurant that serves brunch and evening bites made from fresh ingredients harvested from the property. Some highlights of the menu: tasty lomito wraps and straight-out-of-the-oven scones with house-made marmalade, plus spinach dip with cucumber sticks and focaccia as well as stuffed peppers with chili con carne.

On weekdays, Devils Isle’ restaurant and bar is filled with a lively mix of bankers and other young professionals from around Bermuda. On the weekends, it’s the spot to go for family brunch. Here, you’ll find a menu of small and large plates with an emphasis on local ingredients. At Devils Isle, everything from the focaccia bread to the condiments is made from scratch. If you’re in a hurry, the cafe next door sells takeaway items like fresh baked muffins, sandwiches, and coffee. This restaurant is a must-visit for foodies visiting Bermuda.

Never has a restaurant name captured the emotions of its guests quite like Felix, which means “happy” in Latin. It also means “lucky,” which is what you’ll feel when you score a table. Enjoying an evening of impeccable Italian creations by chef Evan Funke—a former James Beard Rising Star Chef of the Year semifinalist—requires careful timing. Patrons wait outside before the door is unlocked at 5:30 p.m. in hopes of getting a walk-in spot or a bar stool, or else they try to snag an online booking exactly four weeks out at 12:01 a.m. To celebrate victory, start with a pick from the restaurant’s extensive champagne list, or the tequila, pisco, and limoncello Hey Nineteen cocktail. Ask for a seat in Nonna’s dining room; its vintage lighting and Fornasetti wall coverings set an atmosphere that’s elegant yet without pretense (ask for a round booth if you’re with a group). Funke’s comprehensive menu is organized by Italian regions, and the pasta is made daily in the glassed-off, temperature-controlled laboratorio at the restaurant’s center. Go hungry or bring friends, to sample as many of the pastas as possible. If you only pick one entrée, order the Tonnarelli Cacio e Pepe, but only after trying the cloud-like Sfincione focaccia, Fiori di Zucca, and a Margherita pizza.