Search results for

A taste of Spain can be had right here in New York City. Despaña Specialty Foods & Tapas Café in SoHo has everything you need to transport yourself to the land of flamenco and Gaudi. The store is part wine shop and part market, with a Cafe in the back. You can find all types of sweets and snacks from all different regions in Spain. The tapas were the best part of it all! The pulpo (octopus) shown above was my favorite, tasty and soft. I washed it all down with a nice and cold caña (beer). I’m already plotting my return. Despaña 408 Broome Street, NY, NY 10013

It’s become tradition for me to go get a pastry at the Balthazaar bakery in SoHo and then sit on one of the benches outside the store to people watch. I find no greater joy than to sit still on a very busy street, in my own little world, while I see all types of interesting looking people pass me by. The best part about the bakery is that they also have the best baguette in town. If I’m ever anywhere near the shop I pick up a baguette and if I ever need a birthday present I can count on their packaged mini marzipan cakes to make a good impression. Balthazar Bakery - 80 Spring Street, NYC

Behind a great and creative wall, a collaboration of street artists known in Buenos Aires, one can find one of the great (and secret) restaurants in Palermo Soho, Tegui. If you don’t know the exact location of the restaurant, you might miss it easily, as there is no sign or anything that can tell you about the restaurant, just a name on the door. It is known as one of the best restaurants in the city and better make a reservation.

Every Ramen shop in NYC has something different to offer. If they all offered the same Ramen it wouldn’t be interesting at all. Rai Rai Ken excels in the broth department. They have a particular seafood based broth that is very flavorful, and not too salty. There’s also some minor sentimental attachment, as this was the first Ramen shop I ever went to.

Some of the best tapas I had in Barcelona where at a place called La Flauta. This restaurant has been around for years and came highly recommended by a local guide. Not only did I love the food and plan a work lunch there, but I also went back on my own and just hung out. I love places that are all about the food. Love sitting at the bar too, or outside!

One of the best things you can do in Madrid is go on a guided tapas crawl. If you don’t know much about Spain and/or don’t speak Spanish it’s best to have someone that knows what’s going on with you. Here are a few high notes from the crawl. My advice is to be bold and try new things. Don’t be scared and always hop into a bar where you see local people. Thank you to my new friend Carlos! Anchoas (Anchovies) at Casa Toni. Calle de la Cruz, 14 28012 Madrid

The more I travel the pickier I get about what trinkets and souvenirs I bring back home. After 10 years of traveling I feel like I’m finally getting the hang of it. On this most recent trip to Lisbon I didn’t buy much. The best way to spend your money is on food and lodging. I also never have space to carry so much stuff, I like to travel very light. The only things I purchased were these cute little trinkets at a store called Artes & Etc. The handmade tram 28 is simply adorable. It’s such an iconic part of the city that I felt I should bring a piece of that charm back with me. While I was at the store (and at many other stores) I kept seeing statues of different saints. This one is of Saint Anthony, the patron saint of Lisbon. Usually people pray to him when they lose things or when they want to get married. The story goes that Saint Anthony came from a rich family in Lisbon and he would sometimes help the poor girls in town by giving them money for their dowry. I thought it was an interesting story and I do want to get married, so now he is sitting at my desk at work. I think people at the office secretly pray to him, but I wont ever know for sure.

To say that the street food scene in Mexico City was the highlight of my trip would be an understatement. The entire time I was planning my vacation people kept warning me about the food. Montezuma’s revenge was sure to get me! What I found was that if you follow the locals lead and mix that with a bit of courage and common sense you will experience some of the best street food in the world. Period. One of my favorite finds was Tacos Arandas near the Zocalo. It was one of the best tacos al pastor I had up until that point, but they also had other great things on the menu. As long as you are adventurous the city will open up to you and offer it’s gifts. I won’t name all the places I found because if I give you all the answers it wont be as fun. I don’t want to give anyone a “list”. I want you to enjoy Mexico City on your own terms. Find the things that appeal to you and experience them. All I know is that everything I’ve ever heard about that city was wrong and the only way to see it for real is by going there. It’s one of the biggest cities in the world, so there is definitely a lot to see. And a lot to eat! Tacos Arandas - Corner of Avenida 9 de Mayo and Isabel la Catolica.

On weekends this place is dim sum heaven. I’m not talking about the “trendy” dim sum places that look pretty, but drill a hole in your pocket. Golden Unicorn is a family establishment! Go there on any given weekend and what you will find are people that are not only Chinese, but go there regularly for a taste of home. Ladies in uniform drive by carts full of fresh food. As someone who does not speak the language you have 2 options. 1. Go with someone that speaks Chinese. Mandarin or Cantonese, no matter. They will have basic knowledge of the different dim sum options. 2. Set yourself free and just take things off the cart that look good to you. You can figure out most things on your own, and isn’t that more fun anyway? Don’t you dare pick up the menu they have for regular entrees. The best experience will be with the dim sum selections ONLY. I always get the very tender tripe, steamed shrimp dumplings, the fabulous ribs, and my newly found addiction…the green balls. These are like fried mochi that have black sesame inside. The burst of flavor in my mouth gave me a smile. I liked them so much that my friend Jason decided I should take a few for the road back to DC. In any case, the green balls have me thinking about when I can go back to NYC. It’s all about the green balls right now.

Opened in 1920, it was Chinatown’s first, and it is now its oldest, Dim Sum Parlor: Nom Wah. Situated on the curve of Doyers Street, aptly titled “The Bloody Angle” for its history of gang violence relating to the curve that gang members hid behind, it has witnessed many a decade change the face of its neighborhood, and the city as a whole. Posh bars and ‘dive’ Mexican joints selling cocktails for $15 each now compete for customers on the same stretch of Doyers as Nom Wah. Yet it remains a family affair. After a brief closing and a few slight changes (nothing too extreme to chase away the old regulars), the tea parlor is reopen and serving Dim Sum the way they always have, by lists you check off and give to your waiter. No one walks around with a cart here like in the football-field-sized parlors in other areas of Chinatown. Earl Grey may now be available on the tea menu but Nom Wah still serves the old, traditional, favorites as well. Seasons may change but what there is to love here, does not. You can even find @NomWah on twitter. It just means they recognize a good thing when they see it. You will too, when you enter Nom Wah Tea Parlor.

Despite multiple trips over countless years going to New York City, it wasn’t until a year ago today that I encountered this sandwich — the one that left me drooling until I could enjoy it again. Katz’s quickly went from a one-stop place for me to a traditional stop, regardless of my city plans. Katz’s Delicatessen is located in NYC’s Lower East Side and has been a proud resident since 1888. That fact alone should be enough to persuade you to pay it a visit. While there may be many options for food, the only thing I ever ordered is the pastrami on rye. It’s thick-cut, perfectly seasoned, stack of meat with mustard on rye. Did I mention I don’t even like mustard? This is the only sandwich where I will eat it. Served with a side of pickles, you really can’t go wrong. I convinced a visiting group from California to try it as I was enjoying mine when they claimed seats nearby — and they agreed with my impression of this NYC staple (4 of their 6 party members had ordered this sandwich) Be warned: I have yet to visit the deli when it isn’t packed full of people, so don’t plan on this being a quick stop. The lines may be out the door, and it may feel like chaos inside (think sardines in human form), but once you start eating you will forget any of the “trouble” had while waiting. The best way to order is to fall in line, don’t be shy, and talk to those behind the counters. They’ll share their stories and give a free taste while you wait. Don’t forget to tip them!

Don’t miss this Gothic Renaissance palace in the Zona Colonial, built between 1510 and 1514 for Christopher Columbus’s eldest son, Diego Colón (governor of the colony and viceroy of the Indies), and his wife, María de Toledo (niece of King Ferdinand of Spain). Unfortunately, Francis Drake and his band of pirates pillaged the place in 1586, setting fire to the third floor on their way out. What’s left today is a believable re-creation of the original palace—minus one floor—where visiting conquistadores Balboa, Cortés, Pizarro, and Velázquez planned expeditions in grand rooms and plotted to conquer other lands. Visitors can take a solid audio tour of 22 restored rooms, including the viceroy’s waiting room and a ballroom with a crystal chandelier.

Simply put, Ramiro is the best seafood restaurant Lisbon. It is a 100% local customer based and long established “Cervejaria” (literally translated to place where beer is dispensed), with an buzzing ambience and above all, very high quality cooked on the spot seafood. What I love more about this place is its unpretentiousness and the “no fuss” approach to seafood. Eating with your hand is more than recommended and don’t be scared to dunk the freshly bake buns in the fresh crab meat which comes in the shell or in the velvet buttery sauce of the “bulhão pato” clams. Green wine is the eternal companion of seafood in Portugal, and don’t forget to ask for Palacio da Brejoeira for a taste of crisp slightly bubbly 11º white wine. Desert as a special meaning in this place, and it comes in the shape of a charcoal grilled fillet steak in a bun. Yes, you are in Portugal and after a seafood meal you can further indulge your umami taste buds with some animal protein. Although it is open from 12h00 to 24h00, it becomes extremely busy at the end of the week evenings, and the over 1h wait for a seat can be a turnoff. I would always recommend my clients at the Palacio Belmonte, to either go before 19h00 or after 22h00 to avoid the queues. In the case there is a slight waiting period, you can always go for a very Portuguese “at the counter nibble” of some “black pork aged ham” and a cold draft beer, to pass the time. You cannot leave Lisbon without trying this place!

Modern, mind bending, and mentally interactive, the Guggenheim Museum is one of the must-do experiences of Spain. You could easily spend an hour getting lost in the beauty of the facade, with the monstrous tarantula, the skyscraper of a flowered dog, and the fact that the building looks like a series of cookie cutters someone has carefully stacked on top of itself. This should give you a great clue as to the many outstanding exhibitions that lie inside. Find the Guggenheim centrally located in Bilbao, one of the up-and-coming cities of Spain. Photo by Guillermo Viciano/Flickr.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art—or, commonly, the Met—is one of the world’s great museums, alongside the Louvre, the British Museum, and a handful of others. It would be easy to devote an entire week’s visit to the museum alone, and realistically you probably won’t get far beyond a few exhibitions and galleries at one shot. The Costume Institute’s temporary shows are always popular, while others will (like the museum itself) focus on a range of regions and periods—at any one time there may be temporary exhibitions on an Italian Renaissance painter, miniatures from Mughal India, and Polynesian carvings. The Temple of Dendur, a roughly 43' x 21' x 16' temple that dates to around 15 B.C.E. and was given by the government of Egypt to the United States in 1967, is one of the museum’s most photographed (and Instagrammed) works. The 34 period rooms, including a 12th-century cloister, English parlor and a Shaker “retiring” room, are among the museum’s other highlights. On summer evenings, site-specific installations make the rooftop terrace is a favorite place for drinks. The general admission of $25 for adults, $12 for students, and $17 for seniors is a suggested one for New York residents, as well as students from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Whatever you pay also includes same-day entry to The Met Cloisters.