Italy’s food is a gateway to the soul of the nation: its passion, palate, and generosity. Tuscany is a destination for lovers of art, cuisine, and wine; because of this it is often highly populated with throngs of tourists. Begging the question, where to dine for the more adventurous traveler craving authenticity? It is for these travelers that I recommend Il Barco Reale. Perched into a gently sloping hill in the central piazza in Carmignano the restaurant steps out of a dreamscape and offers Italian locals and travelers alike authentic, elegant, and beautiful food. For the travelers who allow themselves the joy of exploring the hills and the regions of Chianti and neighboring Parmigiano, they’ll find the journey visually and gastronomically exquisite. Carmignano thrives on sharing its regional wine and food and Il Barco Reale provides an ideal venue in which to sample these.

The restaurant doors open on the Piazza Vittorio Emmanuelle, and the smells emanating from the kitchen alert even the most casual passerby to the trattoria. Named after a Medici estate, Il Barco Reale is owned and operated by a Florentine family, the Ragueis. The restaurant celebrates the traditional food of Tuscany with meals that are influenced by centuries of tradition. The pleasure the Ragueis take in preparing meals, and their desire to share their knowledge of this food is palpable. Should you be lucky enough to find yourself as the last guest of the evening you may have the pleasure of sharing a glass of Carmignano wine with them while they give you a social history lesson on each of your courses.

More on Il Barco Reale — Authenticity and Beauty in Tuscany

The Excellence Riviera Cancun is a tough act to follow. From its quaint hacienda infused authenticity to its lovely indigenous furnishings and architecture throughout, it sits like a proud and secure prima donna, daring any competitor to come along and try to show it up. This premier Excellence resort in its splendor and confidence, takes things one step further, and indiscriminately challenges its very own sister resort, The Excellence Playa Mujeres to enter the fray, itself the latest member of the Excellence family, just recently having opened it doors.

The passionate core group, who created the latest Excellence, was now charged with a daunting task; to replicate their first born Riviera Cancun destination by mimicking its most successful features, while at the same time establishing the Playa Mujeres Excellence with its own one-of-a-kind character and style, a magic trick at best.
Ultimately, one could see that The Excellence pulled the rabbit out of the hat.

While the Excellence Riviera Cancun wins guests over with warm Mexican charm, the Playa Mujeres site effortlessly grabs your attention with their contemporary flair, clean lines and minimalist elegance. Clearly, there are more than enough reasons to love them both.

More on Excellence Out Does Itself at the Playa Mujeres Resort and Spa

When pondering somewhere high-class and impressive to take one’s dining companion, perhaps a tiny independent public house in the center of London isn’t somewhere you would hit upon. Think again.

The Seven Stars is the personification of British quaint with wooden beams, dark corners and leafy plants hanging from beams above the sidewalk outside. According to a framed document on the wall this establishment was first licensed to sell alcohol in 1502. It is a previous recipient of Time Out’s Pub of the Year award and - with seating for only about fifty people - is about as cozy as it gets. Except, of course, if you make the mistake of visiting on a Thursday or Friday evening, in which case its standing room only, chaps. Dozens of lawyers file over from the Royal Courts of Justice across the road, and all the barristers chambers in the area.

The food and atmosphere are provided by owner Roxy Beaujolais (her co-owner husband is famed New York architect and writer, Nathan Silver). Ms. Beaujolais, larger than life and barely able to fit behind the tiny bar, is a London institution. She has authored a cookbook (Home from the Inn Contented), been front-of-house manager during the heyday of Ronnie Scott’s famous Soho club, and presented a BBC cookery program. She has even had a whiskey and a minor jazz standard named after her. She is also completely terrifying, frequently swearing at customers, more often than not with a drink in her hand - but this only adds to the atmosphere. As, in fact, do the barmaids - traditional wenches in every sense but dress, they pour pints and deliver dishes with wit, sarcasm and aplomb.

More on Since 1502, Luxury at London’s Seven Stars Pub

It’s no coincidence that I happily stumbled upon Aquitaine Bar à Vin Bistrot situated southwest of the city in Boston’s South End. Aquitaine also happens to be a region of Southwest France. The region, which encompasses the famous Bordeaux wine-producing area, is located between two major waterways from which the majority of the mussels in the country are harvested. The restaurant, commonly referred to simply as “Aquitaine” by its most frequent diners, boasts an extensive wine list and claims to be the South End’s “Best Neighborhood Bistro.”

I knew I came to a special place when diners walked passed me and said, “Oh look, we’re sitting at our favorite table.” Not only did this indicate frequent content diners, but it also suggested the staff remembered the little things.

And it was certainly the little things that made my Aquitaine experience. To start, our server presented the restaurant’s version of “Cheez-Its,” small puffs of sweet dough wrapped around a salty piece of gruyere cheese. I hadn’t even realized I finished my cheese puff when I caught myself staring at the restaurant’s décor. Dim lighting and minimal background music complemented the large white curtains draped across the restaurant’s wide windows and floor to ceiling mahogany panels. In the holiday spirit, white lights lined the curtains and doorway, offering extra illumination for me to read the large chalkboard menus leaning against the restaurant’s walls, dwarfing the people focused on their dishes sitting beneath them.

More on Antagonize Your Appetite at Aquitaine

London’s East End has long been the home of immigrant groups, from the French Huguenot Protestants in the seventeenth century, to the Irish in the eighteenth, to Ashkenazi Jews in the nineteenth. In the last century, Bangladeshi immigrants have flocked to the area, and a walk down the area’s famed Brick Lane, home to countless curry restaurants, could convince anyone that their greatest contribution has been the popularization of curry as the new national dish of Britain.

I had the good fortune to visit a Brick Lane curry house on a recent trip to London, and was thrilled to find a delicious and relatively inexpensive alternative to the sandwich shops and gastropubs that my limited budget allowed. The memory of the rich scent of curry pouring out of every restaurant I passed on Brick Lane still lingered in the back of my mind upon my return to the states; a popular curry had even been served on the flight home. So, when I happened upon the Brick Lane Curry House in the East Village, I couldn’t resist.

Brick Lane sits on a stretch of Sixth Street inundated with Indian cuisine, but manages to stand out with its distinctly Anglo-Indian menu that features more curries than tandoori dishes. The restaurant itself is simply yet stylishly decorated with framed photographs of famous spots throughout London, including a complete map of the Underground where expatriates can proudly point out “their” stops. I pointed at mine with nostalgia, and hoped the food would live up to my memories of London. Despite its location three thousand miles away from the original, this Brick Lane did not disappoint.

More on London’s Brick Lane in New York’s East Village

Arriving in Pismo Beach is like stumbling onto a piece of heaven where the ocean kisses the earth; with nearby enormous sand dunes beckoning beachcombers. Walking the pier, or the line of tourist-friendly sweets shops and bikini stores is what Surf City, USA must have been when The Beach Boys penned tunes devoted to the laid-back lifestyle of yesteryear. A little more than a stone’s throw off that tourist-beaten past lies Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort.

Sycamore Mineral Springs is a high-end hotel with an outstanding restaurant and wellness center, as well as a mineral hot springs facility. Many of the rooms have jacuzzis with mineral hot spring water taps so you can get your hot springs fix in your room, with full outdoor privacy. You can also enjoy some of the natural hot springs in wonderful outdoor tubs with
strategically placed screens and walls. Continuing with the theme of privacy, some of the rooms are built like townhomes with a garage underneath – it’s the ultimate getaway for the couple who doesn’t want to see anyone else for several days.

Like many wellness centers, there are massage therapists on staff ready to work on you by appointment or walk-in. There is also a full array of wellness services which can be reviewed on their website. In addition, they offer retreats for groups of all sizes, including corporate. They also have a gift shop filled with a wide variety of thoughtful and useful gifts for wellness aficionados as well as tourists of the area. One of the features of the resort is a bit of a rarity: a walking labyrinth.

More on Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort, a Hidden Gem Near San Luis Obispo

Super-size yachts, glitzy-resorts, expensive high-rises, and well-manicured lawns of exclusive private villas are a few of the things that come to mind when speaking of Marbella. As part of the beautiful Costa del Sol of Southern Spain in Andalusia, the coastal town of Marbella is often compared to St. Tropez. There is, however, a quieter, less glamorous and more charming part of this seaside town. Hidden within the maze of narrow alleyways with cobble-stone paths of Old Town is La Villa Marbella, a sophisticated four-star hotel.

A stroll through the tight streets takes you pass Andalusians dressed in shorts and tank tops chatting on street corners, young kids playing an impromptu game of soccer or an old man sitting on a wooden chair, watching life go by. The peacefulness and simplicity of Old Town is echoed in La Villa Marbella’s Asian-inspired interior design.

More on A Marriage of Old World Charm and Modern Design at La Villa Marbella, Spain

“It will be rare,” she said, waiting for the order to be retracted. Apparently many had already been shocked at how red and bloody the wood pigeon was. But we were resolute - we had never eaten a British pigeon, and besides, we heard its population is in need of some serious control - so there seemed no better time than now to be firm. We had however secretly hoped that if pigeons were truly toxic, Tom Pemberton - the former head chef of the famous St John Bread and Wine - could nullify it, or at least make eating it hurt as little as possible.To prepare for the coming of the cardinal bird, we cleansed ourselves with a salad of grilled Jerusalem artichoke, dandelion and boiled egg, and doused in the Vin de Pays des Bouches du Rhone, Chateau de Roquefort 2005. The salad, well-salted and slightly tangy, warmed up our senses, even though it was served with a cold custard-centered boiled egg. The balance of hot and cold was a strange if invigorating combination. We managed to numb our nerves enough with the heady swirl of berries and mildly malicious bite of the deep red wine. The sadists in us asked for another glass… or perhaps it was the hopefuls - optimists who thought that the fierceness of the wine would counter the feathery toxins where the chef should fail. And just to be on the safe side, an order of roasted plaice was also on its way - maybe the saltwater will neutralize the poisons.

So there it was, resting on a bed of sprout tops and lentils, accompanied by a slice of toast spread liberally with pâté. Except for a couple of visible fuchsia-colored edges, the pigeon looked every part the domestic fowl we adopted onto our dinner tables. Our guards lowered, we gently sliced the breast meat, making sure the roast plaice was already prepped with lemon and cut into bite-sized pieces lest the fowl was foul.

More on A Stroll Through London’s Hereford Road Restaurant

Sure, the city of brotherly love is known for its champion steak sandwiches, but visitors and locals alike should reevaluate the fine dining experience.

True, ducks, debris and derelict homeless all line Philly’s waterfront, but once you pass the clubs and the ice skating rink and ease your way through Penn’s Landing it gets better. Amid the identity crisis that plagues this part of the city you will find one of its best-kept secrets - Moshulu.

This restaurant on the water (literally in a boat on the water) serves up refined decadence on the sea. In only a moment you are transported from the curbs of Urban decay to Ultra Sophistication. Gourmet contemporary American cuisine has never been so delightful. Reminiscent of the Titanic the atmosphere is upscale yet cozy and familiar, posh but more inviting than intimidating. The windows are a contribution to an exquisite décor - a perfect distraction from such thoughts as “how can the polluted water of the Delaware sustain life?”

Easily a perfect choice for a first date, the Moshulu is fitting for any occasion. On my recent visit I noted it was equally as appropriate for a girls night out, and probably most popular after hours with executives and their clients. No matter what draws you, the cuisine, the service and majestic sunsets will have you happily handing over Your Visa.

More on Moshulu - Philadelphia’s Floating Restaurant and Ship

Is it possible to honor tradition and history while celebrating the 21st century at the same time? If you are talking about the Clontarf Castle Hotel in Dublin, the answer would be a vigorous yes.

As you make your way down gray stone-walled Castle Avenue in the tree-lined suburbs of Dublin, the ivy-covered hotel comes into view. It is elegant in its design and stately in its stature. A regal stone lion sitting in front of the lobby entrance glares with a haughty expression as though he is asking, “Are you worthy of this hotel?”

Entering the lobby through the Clontarf’s glass doors is less like walking into a hotel and more like stepping through the looking glass with Alice. Deep red Venetian glass chandeliers, a suit of armor, the wall of the original castle, sleek red pillars and recessed lighting successfully blend medieval and modern and create a delightful confusion of time and place.

There is a visual surprise around every corner. An ornate antique hutch stands next to wildly curved gilded chairs that look like they were recently removed from the festivities at the Mad Hatter’s tea party. A sleek black oriental style table snuggles inside a small fireplace alcove. Large modern crane sculptures stand guard to the side. You can linger in this corner in one of the massive red velvet banqueting chairs. It is all a crazy blend of classic, contemporary and kooky; and it works.

More on The Clontarf Castle Hotel, Back to the Future in Dublin