Mangiare e Dormire

Categories: Accommodations · Europe · Florence · Food · Italy · RomeTags: · · · · · · · ·

“Eat and Sleep“ Good food and good wine are plentiful in Italy. Even a simple pasta dish with just olive oil tastes extraordinary. Here are a few restaurants I tried — mostly recommended by friends and locals.   Osteria Del Cinghiale Bianco (the White Boar) in Florence serves good reliable typical Tuscan cuisine.   Enoteca Pitti Gola e Cantina is a quaint wine bar located across Palazzo Pitti that also serves traditional and modern Italian cuisine. They specialize in small production, high end wines.   I was at Cibreo Trattoria when I last visited Florence 13 years ago and the experience was…

Another Gotham Weekend

Categories: Accommodations · Architecture · Food · New York · Travel · USATags: · · · · · · · ·

Another weekend of what felt like an unending gorging in New York! My first stop was the Gotham West Market. A retail and food destination that opened late last year in New York‘s Hell’s Kitchen neighbourhood and features eight food purveyors. It was a paella lunch at El Colmado – Seamus Mullen’s classic Spanish tapas bar. And an after-lunch cup of mocha at Blue Bottle Coffee.       Located in East Village is Van Leeuwen artisanal ice cream store. Again, I just came across this place while wandering around. Van Leeuwen started out with two ice cream trucks in 2008 and has…

New York Weekend

Categories: Food · New York · Travel · USATags:

A weekend in New York. Lucked out as the weather was quite comfortable for the season. Two good restaurants I tried out are Ignacio Mattos’ easy and fun place Estela and Wylie Dufresne’s neighbourhood spot Alder, which served excellent casual dishes and well-crafted cocktails. A friend of mine invited me to dinner at BLT Steak New York, the flagship location of this restaurant that operates in other cities, including one in Hong Kong. Billed as a modern American steakhouse, they also served a selection of seafood and blackboard specials. For coffee lovers, Birch Coffee is a must-try. They have several locations in the city. And for…

Good Eats

Categories: Food · New York · USATags: · · · · · · · ·

No visit to New York is complete without eating your way around the city. I was able to try new food places during my last visit, but also got to return to some of my favourites. The first one I checked out was Andy RIcker’s Pok Pok Phat Thai. After watching Andy Ricker play host to Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown in Northern Thailand, it got me more than curious. The Lower East Side Rivington Street location is a simple “hole in the wall” with only stools and counters that serves a limited menu of Phat Thai and Kuaytiaw dishes – worth a visit nonetheless.    …

La Jolla

Categories: California · Food · San Diego · Travel · USATags: · · · ·

With advance apologies to my friends back in the northern part of North America, I escaped the -20C windchill and snowstorm on the weekend and headed to Southern California, where it is a gorgeous +22C sunny day in La Jolla. My system seems to be in a state of confusion, but I am not complaining! La Jolla, or “The Jewel”, is a hilly seaside community in northern San Diego occupying 7 miles of coastline along the Pacific Ocean. For real estate watchers, this neighbourhood is one of the most expensive in the. U.S. Voted one of the best restaurants in San…

Carne des Res y Café

Categories: Bogota · Colombia · Food · TravelTags: · · · · ·

Friends back home and many of the locals I met strongly suggested I go to Andrés Carne des Res for a meal. Regarded as a Bogotá institution located 23 kms north in Chia (an outpost in town at Zona Rosa has opened), the food they serve is quite delectable and they are known for their steaks, as well as, their 62-page menu magazine! The place is indescribable — a massive complex of room after room with decor that appears to have been inspired by Tim Burton meets junk house kitsch and mixed in with flea market finds! The restaurant / bar can…

Negen Straatjes

Categories: Amsterdam · Architecture · Europe · Food · Netherlands · TravelTags: · · · 2 Comments

The well known “Nine Streets” represent a very dense concentration of retail shopping in the Canal Ring of Amsterdam. These small pretty streets, each only a block long, are very popular with the locals and tourists alike. Specialty boutiques and shops, cafes and art book stores provide countless shopping therapy. Located west of Amsterdam Central Station is one of the city’s smallest neighbourhoods, the Haarlemmerburt. Comprised of a long lively street bordered by quiet and charming lanes, the area has a mix of trendy stores, bakeries and cafes blending with the original shops. The neighbourhood focuses on “one building, one…