Ensemble Traveler's Table Fall 2022

Life’s most memorable meals are served around The Traveler’s Table

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EDITOR

Kimberly Buerkle

Nancy Hellmrich

Laura Torrisi

Torrisi Design Associates

An Ensemble Travel® Group Publication Ensemble Vacations® is a publication of Ensemble Travel® Group

© November 2022 Ensemble Travel, Inc. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reprinted or otherwise duplicated without written permission of the publisher.

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CONTRIBUTORS: Hans Ebenman, Elyse Glickman, Erika Harkins, Nancy Hellmrich, Kimberly Hughes, Lauren Keith, Ulrike Lemmin-Woolfrey, Mary Luz Mejia, Chris Ryall, Michael Shapiro, Mario Stojanac

Cover Photo: Amazonian Red-Bellied Pirañha, compliments of Bogotá’s Açaí Restaurante

Dear Traveler,

Every time I return home from a vacation during which I have indulged in exotic beverages and cuisine, I find myself more tuned-in to the ingredients of my life. All of a sudden, I am more instinctively mindful of my meals, experiencing their ingredients on more levels, and more deeply.

Aromas stir up emotions I never knew were there. Textures I’ve known all my life are newly mesmerizing. I’m aware of mouthfeel, crunch. The al dente of the pasta. The tang of the tomato. Even the simple things, like a favorite wine, come alive again.

Travel recalibrates our senses. It increases our appreciation for life’s contrasts. The sweet and tart. Quiet and boisterous. Fluid and crispy. In this issue, we’re covering the many ways the role of ingredients is evolving thanks to innovative chefs, bold restaurateurs, and curious diners around the globe.

Together, let’s ring in a New Year of culinary travel with Ingredients Gone Wild and celebrate how lucky we are to share the delicious joys of culinary discovery.

As always, when you’re hungry for your next culinary adventure, count on our savvy travel advisors to get you reservations at the finest traveler’s tables wherever you may roam.

Buon Appetito!

Kim Buerkle, Editor kimberly.buerkle@navigatr.com

As ardent fans of splurging on really nice meals during our travels, we’re always on the lookout for unique dining experiences, creative beverages, and edgy chefs. Proprietors seem to be responding with ever-moredazzling displays of food and beverage artistry. To be honest, things have gotten pretty wild.

Gone are the days of serene meals in reliably ordinary venues. We’re living in a new world of extremes now … and savoring every minute of it.

Who Rules the World Irreverent, mohawkwearing, enfant terrible Chef Dabiz Muñoz, of DiverXO in Madrid, captured the No. 1 position in The Best Chef Awards 2022 – for the second year in a row – proving that his “brutalist” punk rock cuisine wasn’t just a phase. He’s celebrating by accepting reservations for his Madrid restaurant through the end of 2022. And we’re thinking, hey, why not? YOLO

Chef Leonor Espinosa scored The World’s Best Female Chef 2022, with Nude Glass as the sponsor. Her Bogotá restaurant, LEO, also made The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Espinosa’s distinctive take on ancestral ingredients demonstrates her deep dedication to Colombia’s remote communities and remarkable biodiversity. We’re cheering for her success and eager to see more chefs follow her lead.

Up Close & Personal Sometimes, we want to be the chefs too. That’s where Silversea Cruises come in. Silversea’s S.A.L.T (Sea And Land Taste) program gives us the chance to explore food cultures ashore – e.g., tour a working organic farm – and then bring the knowledge and ingredients back to the S.A.L.T. Kitchen for hands-on cooking sessions. Windstar Cruises recently added market tours, perfect for those of us who like to tag along with chefs as they select ingredients for the evening meal.

On select Collette tours, travelers can accompany chef and truffle-hunting lead Jean-Marc Larrue as he tracks down this coveted natural food. “Truffles are like France’s black diamond. It takes effort to find truffles, they’re not like fruit in a tree. You must rise early in the morning and take your dog or pig (or borrow your neighbor’s) … you must watch, smell, and listen.”

DiverXO

A TASTE OF ADVENTURE WITH COLLETTE

Small group Explorations with

up a

of

ESSENCE OF

Savor the flavors of Provence during a tasting dinner in a local restaurant. Join a truffle hunt with a chef and his truffle-sniffing dogs, before the chef prepares a lunch of classic Provençal fare. Sample mild goat cheese on a farm. Taste the vintages in a wine cellar in a château.

JOURNEY THROUGH EGYPT AND JORDAN

ITALY’S TREASURES

Sip tea at a farm nestled along the banks of the Nile. Prepare a family-style meal featuring fresh ingredients from nearby markets at an authentic Arab cooking class. Sit down to a traditional lunch with the owner of a small bookstore and discuss literature and the local culture.

Incredible adventures are ahead. For

contact your Trusted

Sample a local family’s artisanal cheeses, paired with the region’s best wines in Stresa. Taste authentic Italian gelato from an award-winning Tuscan ice cream parlor. Bite into the culture of Bologna on a walking food tour, stopping at specialty food shops to sample local delicacies.

Drinks are on Us The World’s 50 Best Bars 2022, sponsored by Perrier, were recently unveiled at a live awards show in Barcelona. This was the 14th year of the list, which recognizes the bartenders, bar owners, and brands at the forefront of the international cocktail scene.

The 2022 list features bars from 26 cities with 14 new entries spread across Athens, Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Dubai, Florence, Hong Kong, Lisbon, London, Naples, and New York. Paradiso, of Barcelona, was ranked No.1. Their neon green Kryptonita is made with chocolate bitter, kaffir lime, and Electric Daisy liqueur, which adds a “popping-candy sensation.”

We also like No. 10 on the list, Alquímico, in Cartagena, Colombia, which serves cocktails inspired by 10 endangered animals. Stockholm’s Röda Huset was named Campari One To Watch. Mexico City’s Licorería Limantour claimed the Rémy Martin Legend of The List award and The Best Bar in North America. All offer mixology Masterclasses. #doit

After winning 15 Wine Spectator Awards, Celebrity Cruises are celebrating with World Wine Tours, Food & Wine Pairing Workshops, and Destination Wine Tours. On Silversea’s Muse, the discreet Connoisseur’s Corner offers wood paneling, leather seating, and snifters of fine cognac.

Pepperoni a la Dali, Please The Modernist Cuisine® team is a collective of passionate chefs, scientists, researchers, photographers, engineers, machinists, editors, and marketing experts who are all dedicated to making, capturing, and thinking about food in new ways. While they’ve published a series of awardwinning books, we’re booking tickets to experience founder Nathan Myhrvold’s innovative food photography at one of their Modernist Cuisine Galleries in Las Vegas, New Orleans, Seattle, and La Jolla.

French Women Do Eat Cake Gâteau: The Surprising Simplicity of French Cakes is a new book out by food-columnist Aleksandra Crapanzano who delved into the savoir-faire of Parisian home kitchens. “Aleksandra nails what’s so inimitable about the French and how they just casually throw together a showstopper.”

— Edible LA

Alquimico

Alquimico

Licorería Limantour

Röda Huset

Paradiso

Paradiso

THE RECIPE FOR UNMATCHED MEDITERRANEAN PLEASURE

Food is a voyage. It speaks to the soul of the traveler and is at the heart of every culture on Earth. Designed in collaboration with Adam Sachs and celebrated culinary experts and journalists, our S.A.L.T. voyages change how food and travel come together forever: from onboard workshops, cooking sessions or tastings of local specialties to curated, immersive experiences ashore. This is S.A.L.T., our travel and food experience that brings the flavors of your destination right to your table.

Ashore, S.A.L.T. experiences are bespoke events designed to offer immersion that goes far beyond excursion. As every trip is unique, so is every destination’s food culture – so no two S.A.L.T. adventures are the same.

Come get deliciously lost in the grandeur of cities and landmarks that have inspired travellers and artists alike for centuries. Surrender to the romance of France, the sultry rhythm of Spain, the sensory allure of Italy, sublime beauty of Greece – or a myriad of other Mediterranean realms steeped in history. Now, available on Silver Moon and Silver Dawn, S.A.L.T. will intensify your Mediterranean voyage, flavour your journey, balance your cruise, and preserve your holiday memories.

S.A.L.T. BAR

Wouldn’t it be great if you could enjoy a local cocktail in a comfortable, familiar setting, no matter where you are? Our S.A.L.T. Bar lets you share a Rum Punch in Barbados or a Pisco Sour in Lima with friends and family, wherever your cruise takes you. No two S.A.L.T. adventures are the same.

S.A.L.T. KITCHEN

Imagine a restaurant that changes recipes, flavors and experiences with every single destination you visit, surrounding you with exotic traditions and regional specialities.

S.A.L.T. LAB

In this unique and interactive space you’ll be able to connect deeply with the rich heritage of each destination sailed to, as you join our talented experts to learn how food is prepared and enjoyed in the region.

Scandinavia Wins Again Geranium in Copenhagen, led by Chef Rasmus Kofoed and Søren Ledet, took the No. 1 spot in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022, sponsored by S. Pellegrino & Acqua Panna. Here, locally-sourced, seasonally changing tasting menus pamper diners with a “universe” of 20 courses served across a three-hour time span. #allnightlong

Announced at a glitzy gala in London, the 2022 list includes restaurants from 24 territories on five continents. Joining Geranium were Central (No.2) in Lima, Peru; Disfrutar (No.3) in Barcelona, Spain; Madrid’s DiverXO (No. 4); and Pujol (No. 5) in Mexico City.

One of the greatest joys of culinary travel is discovering a notso-famous restaurant that only locals know and love. Insight Vacations makes it easy with beautiful meals in hidden gems like: Castello San Marco in Sicily, Alberobello’s Trattoria Terra Madre, and Heskyn Mill in Saltash, England, and a private home in Sarajevo, Bosnia.

Michelin Weighs In We’re still fans of this starstudded list, which continues to evolve and inspire our dining wanderlust in the process. New star revelations in the Dubai Guide included two stars for STAY by Yannick Alléno and a Bib Gourmand for Al Khayma’s simple rustic Emirati-style dishes of slow cooked meat, Arabic spices, and fresh bread.

Florida’s first Michelin guide launched this year with two stars for L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Miami. Toronto also celebrated its first year with a Michelin Guide. Sushi Masaki Saito was the two-star winner there. A guide for Vancouver is expected soon.

Feel-Good Green Stars In the Michelin Guide Netherlands, three new restaurants received a Green Star for their sustainable gastronomy. At Flore in Amsterdam, Chef Bas van Kranen works exclusively with Dutch seafood and regional produce. At Héron in Utrecht, the chef and his team use food products in their entirety, guided by the rhythms of nature. At Triptyque in Wateringen, an 80% plant-based philosophy highlights the treasures of Westland.

Geranium , Copenhagen

Disfrutar, Barcelona, Spain

when life tastes sweeter than ever.

Intimate, ultra-luxury, all inclusive ships with just 250-600 guests offering all oceanfront suites, luxurious amenities and exceptional culinary experiences, all while exploring idyllic harbors and destinations worldwide. Savor awardwinning cuisine that rivals the finest restaurants on land including The Grill by Thomas Keller, as well as Earth and Ocean where you can enjoy a relaxed meal under the stars.

Luxury Ocean Voyages & Expeditions

Cultured Cuisine AmaWaterways have paired their Colors of Provence itinerary with A Soulful Epicurean Experience on the River. Sounds soothing! On board Avalon Waterways, Austrian brother-chefs Karl & Leo Wrenkh offer up guilt-free Avalon FreshSM cuisine. Speaking of fresh, Holland America Line has an exciting selection of chef-hosted culinary cruises on the Mexican Riviera, Caribbean, Alaskan, and Atlantic coasts.

New Menus at Sea Regent Seven Seas is debuting a refined menu for the onboard restaurant Sette Mari at La Veranda, featuring exquisite dishes inspired by the lingering family meals of Italy’s Puglia region. In the spring of 2023, Explora Journeys will unveil 11 “Ocean State of Mind” culinary experiences across 18 distinct venues during the inaugural journey of Explora I

La Dolce Vita Cunard Line continues to melt our hearts with their afternoon teas. Especially the decadent Godiva Afternoon Tea, featuring white chocolate key lime scones, served with lime marmalade and clotted cream, Godiva pralines, and premium Tea Forté tea.

Speaking of dessert ... Princess Cruises’ authentic Gelato Experience at Sea has been officially certified by the Italian Chamber of Commerce. Now we can have our cruises and gelato too.

Savor Local Flavors on the Rivers

Indulge in delightful regional avors along breathtaking rivers in Europe and enjoy unforgettable cuisine enhanced by daily complimentary hand-selected wines. Explore the world through your taste buds during included excursions on shore and enjoy a multi-course tasting menu at The Chef’s Table specialty restaurant, the only venue of its kind on the rivers.

Save $2,000, plus, receive up to $300 onboard credit per stateroom on select sailings. For reservations, please contact your preferred Travel Advisor. www.AmaWaterways.com

Sailing through the Vineyards Loop in Moselle River Valley

➊ Just Panela I justpanela.com Colombia’s professional cyclists use this 100% unprocessed, natural cane sugar to win races. It’s packed with all the nutrients “normal sugar” loses in processing. An ideal gift for the active traveler in your life.

➋ Kyoto Linen Apron I shopcremedelacreme.com From a delightful little shop in Middleburg, Virginia, these 100% natural linen aprons are lightweight, absorbent, and quick to dry. Japanese styling makes them just the thing for your favorite minimalist.

➌ Tupelo Fluted Honey I savannahbee.com Gathered by beekeeper and honey connoisseur Ted Dennard, this mono-floral Savannah Bee Company honey has a full-bodied taste with buttery bubblegum undertones. For the busy bee in your life.

➍ Hieroglyphs Rolling Pin I pastrymade.com A unique gift for the Egyptophile in your life, this rolling pin with a twist produces cookies with mysterious messages. Made in Warsaw, Poland, from top quality beechwood with deep engravings for superb results.

➎ Ukrainian Pierogi I veselka.com Founded by Ukrainian refugees Wolodymyr and Olha Darmochwal, Veselka, which means “rainbow,” in 1954. Today, the beloved food store ships traditional Ukrainian delicacies straight to your recipient’s door.

❻ Ancient Roman Bread Sampler I goldbelly.com Pistrinum by Tavola Mediterranea mini loaves are inspired by ancient Roman recipes. Choose from Savory Rosettes, Ciriole Baguettes, Lomentum Ciambella Chickpea Rings, Buccellatum Rusks, and Mensae Fry Bread.

➐ Bones Coffee Company I bonescoffee.com This Rainforest Alliance™ Certified single-origin coffee is flown in fresh from Huila, Colombia. Each purchase helps save the rainforests and supports sustainable farming. Perfect for the coffee connoisseur in your life.

➑ Sea Salt Sampler Pack I alaskasaltco.com Need a gift for a fellow traveler who likes things “wildly unrefined?” This sampler includes one vial each of six unrefined sea salts—all harvested and hand-packed by a tiny team in Homer, Alaska

➒ Bars of the World Gift Box I barandcocoa.com Each World Chocolate gift box contains a selection of ethical chocolate bars—a delicious gift for travelers who can’t live without a fix. Choose from Dark & Vegan, Milk, or Anything Goes.

➓ Kiwifruit & Habanero Waha Wera Sauce I kiwiimporter.com Made by New Zealand’s Kaitaia Fire, this sauce combines lovely heat from habaneros – waha wera means “burning mouth” in Maori – with sweet kiwi and manuka honey. A gold medalist at the Fiery Foods Challenge in Albuquerque.

If David Bowie Were an Ice Cream Shop

by NANCY HELLMRICH

I was at a bloggers conference in Austin, Texas, when I first heard about abnormal ice cream from a gregarious, loping, Italian man with large-framed glasses who seemed at once an anomaly in the crowd of brand-obsessed influencers and also the most influential person there. His name was Giapo Grazioli. His elevator speech involved an ice cream shop he runs with his wife, Annarosa, in downtown Auckland, New Zealand. The more questions I asked, the more intrigued I became.

Why New Zealand?

I was living in Palermo, Sicily, and came to New Zealand on holiday. My wife joined me a few years later. We liked how everything was different, simpler, fun.

Where do you find inspiration?

Being Italians, we are inspired by the Renaissance, how they changed everything. But we love anyone who shows that change is possible. Dali, Picasso, Bowie.

Bowie? As in David?

If we had a theme song, it would be Space Oddity. My ultimate wish is to see people challenge the status quo. That’s why our tag line is “normal ice cream is boring.”

So, is it about new flavors?

It’s about experiencing the flavors in different contexts. For example, we did research on the effect of music on gelato perception and created pairings. Sour Cherry Compote with Bob Marley’s 3 Little Birds. Coconut Cookies & Cream with Patti Smith’s Because the Night. Double Cream Hokey Pokey with Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust

What’s the best part?

We like to see people’s faces when they first encounter our ice creams. We have had a few celebrities come in, like Cher. Who would have thought that one day we would share deep, long conversations about ice cream with Cher? We have an ice cream now called Cher’s Chocolate, which is paired with her song Strong Enough.

Where do you source ingredients?

Our ingredients are mostly local, and organic. There are two ingredients though that make what we do really special and different and these are ingenuity and imagination.

Do you get ice cream headaches?

Ahaha, no. It’s been a long time since I had that feeling.

To see Giapo’s latest creations, book a cruise or tour of New Zealand today.

Dunedin, New

New

Queen Elizabeth® in New Zealand

Rooftop Dining Around the World

Mix the very best of food with the very best of views in this global roundup of elevated dining.

by HANS EBENMAN aka @therooftopguide

➊ Aroma Restaurant I Rome Fine dining with amazing views over one of the world’s most iconic monuments: this is what the Michelin-starred Aroma Restaurant in Rome offers. Located on top of Hotel Palazzo Manfredi, here you can indulge in Chef Giuseppe Di Iorio’s unique and modern take on the tastes and traditions of classic Italian cuisine, with the majestic Colosseum towering right in front of you. Intimate and stylish, the 28-seat rooftop terrace is bound to leave you with a truly memorable experience, whether it is for a sunny lunch or a romantic dinner.

➋ Horizon Grill I Kuala Lumpur The impressive Banyan Tree Kuala Lumpur is home to a truly out of the ordinary rooftop experience. With a dual set of 360° rooftop bars on the 59th and 60th floor, the 58th floor is reserved for the premium seafood and steak restaurant Horizon Grill. On the lush and open-air outdoor terrace, panoramic views over the city skyline are complemented with close-ups of the Petronas Twin Towers, available to enjoy from sunrise breakfast, to executive lunches, to gourmet dinners.

➌ TOMO I Dubai The best way to get panoramic views over the ever-evolving Downtown Dubai skyline? Move a bit outside the city center, preferably to TOMO, set on the 17th floor of the luxurious Raffles Dubai. Apart from a mesmerizing display, including Burj Khalifa (the tallest structure in the world), TOMO also offers a wonderful selection of authentic Japanese dishes, created by a team of talented Japanese chefs.

➍ Rossio Gastrobar I Lisbon Perched above Rossio Square in the heart of Lisbon, the art deco-inspired Rossio Gastrobar is much more than a bar. Sure, the seasonal, handcrafted, and from-scratch signature cocktails are amazing. But there is also a wide and tasty selection of beautiful and shareable comfort dishes, created by Chef João Correia. With grand views over the square below, continuing to the Castle and out over Tagus River, Rossio Gastrobar is made for Lisbon days and nights to remember.

➎ Red Sky I Bangkok The urban rooftop restaurant and bar Red Sky, located in the Centara Grand at Centralworld, serves up a great mix of dining, drinks, and superb 360° Bangkok views. To sip cocktails, head to the 56th floor Red Sky Bar. To enjoy innovative cuisine created by Chef Christian Ham, including American Wagyu Beef and a famous Surf & Turf, reserve a table at the 55th floor Red Sky Restaurant. Air-conditioned interior seating is available, but it is at the dramatic outdoor terrace you really feel on top of Thailand’s city of angels.

➏ Maymanta I Ibiza With panoramic views that are highly Mediterranean, Maymanta Ibiza offers a gastronomic journey going in another direction. Here, Peruvian Chef Omar Malpartida takes diners on a journey to his native country – the Amazon, the Andes, and the Pacific – with a menu that is full of surprises and created to share. Situated beside the hotel Aguas de Ibiza rooftop infinity pool, a sunset dinner at the lush and natural Maymanta terrace is an experience everyone should try. Remember to visit the adjacent Pisco Bar for a pre-dinner alchemist pisco cocktail.

➐ CIRQ Bar & Lounge I Sydney Floating on top of the new luxurious landmark Crown Sydney in Barangaroo, CIRQ Bar & Lounge really raises the bar for the Sydney rooftop scene. With an elevated position 26 floors above the waterfront, this upscale destination blends elegant and multi-dimensional indoor and outdoor spaces with mesmerizing views of Sydney’s Circular Quay. The rooftop menu includes bespoke cocktails infused with native Australian botanicals and an extensive selection of wine, as well as plenty of innovative and elevated tapas style dishes—from the caviar platter and market seafood to lamb cutlets and Wagyu beef skirt.

Out of Our Comfort Zones & Into Málaga

by ELYSE GLICKMAN

“Don’t expect pinxtos ,” announces Chef Armando Ferman, as he leads our market tour through the streets of Málaga, Spain, during the maiden voyage of Celebrity Beyond. “Málaga gastronomy is large portions and big flavor.”

This alerts our group of 15 foodies that the tour will center on market shopping and cooking rather than tasting our way through different eateries as we did on a Bilbao tour earlier in the week. In Bilbao, I had been interested in seeing what changed since my first visit in 2004. I found the city more touristy but the pinxtos – Spain’s version of hors d’oeuvrestyle snacks – were as heavenly as I remembered. Now that I am in Málaga, I am ready to be surprised.

As Chef Ferman leads our group purposefully down Calle Larios, he talks about his journey from Veracruz, Mexico, to “terrestrial” restaurants in Italy, Cambodia, and Northern California, and now aboard Celebrity Cruises. Prior to becoming our chef and guide, he worked with Michelinstarred Chef Daniel Boulud devising a globetrotting menu for Celebrity’s Le Voyage. The hardcore home cooks among us ask what he learned. “You must be able to adapt,” he responds. “You can find a wonderful tomato in an Italian market that works perfectly with a given recipe but, in Caribbean markets, you may not be able to find the same tomato. You’ll need to make adjustments, and you can’t take anything for granted. You must develop your palate and even your eye to find the right ingredients.”

Whether he’s curating a one-off dinner, cooking for his family, or bringing Boulud’s vision to life, he says tackling

the unfamiliar forces him to push some of his own boundaries as a chef and an eater. “Let’s see what we find,” he says, shifting to tour guide mode, as we walk into the market. He’s on the hunt for the best sea bass fillets and garlic for pan frying, Pata Negra Iberico ham, pork loin for roasting, eggs for the dessert, olives and almonds for the appetizers, and produce at the peak of freshness.

The stroll is a master class in provisions shopping and the chef is in his element negotiating with vendors and explaining what to look for when inspecting almonds, vegetables, olives, and dried and fresh fruit. He encourages us to taste samples to understand why one type will work better in a recipe than another. Next, we head down a narrow street to the Juan de Dios Barba grocery to purchase the bacalo (salted cod) for our Ensalada Málagueña. Although there are other seafood vendors at Atarazanas, he tells us this is the best place for bacalo, noting that “one sometimes must go out of one’s way to get a recipe right.”

After lunch at Los Patios de Beatas, Chef Ferman makes his final purchases – white and red wine to pair with our dinner courses – which are every bit the family-style experience he described. The unfamiliar but pleasing platters of pork, seabass, and eggy custard remind us that we too should go beyond our comfort zones to truly appreciate the whole of Spanish gastronomy.

Call now to book a cruise with chef-led shore excursions today.

LE VOYAGE

BY DANIEL BOULUD

World

The

Let’s Meet for Breakfast in the KSA

In Middle Eastern culture, food is a focal point, a way of reinforcing the bonds between people. While lunch is considered the main meal of the day, nothing says I’ve arrived in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) like a traditional Saudi breakfast.

A classic, simple spread includes flatbread, cheese, and date jam. More adventurous types might like shakshuka, which is made with a savory and spicy tomato and onion sauce and topped with poached eggs. Shakshuka gets its name from the Arabic word shakka, which means “stick together,” referring to how well the eggs, tomatoes, and other ingredients do just that.

Up the Nile with Bread and Beer

by ULRIKE LEMMIN-WOOLFREY

Sailing on the SS Sudan , the last steamship still operational on the Nile, the one Agatha Christie herself cruised on, I not only managed to find the perfect means for connecting the ancient dots along this historic river, but also to do it in style. Along the way, there even awaited some surprises to delight a gastronome like me.

On day two of my six-day journey to Aswan from Luxor, I toured the temples of Abydos and Dendera, which are dedicated to Hathor, the Goddess of Celebration and Drunkenness. There, my guide, Saber Hamad, an Egyptologist accompanying the cruise, enthused about a carved image. “This is a picture of a vessel used for brewing beer,” he said, explaining that, just recently, the world’s oldest beer factory had been discovered in Abydos, dating back 5,000 years.

It seems that beer was once a staple food, payment for workers, and vital for sacrificial rites. The ancient brew was made by crumbling emmer wheat bread and yeast into earthenware vessels filled with water, then allowing the mixture to ferment. Saber assured me that the result would have been very palatable, and a sustainable way of getting both food and drink out of the locally grown wheat.

Instead of beer, Saber then presented me with bread purchased from a roadside baker who used a stone oven that would not have looked out of place in Pharaonic times. Baked with a recipe barely changed in thousands of years, the bread was simple and so good.

As the tour continued, references to beer and bread kept cropping up. In Valley of the Kings, there were symbols indicating grain harvesting on Tutankhamun’s tomb. Similar scenes were etched into the crypts of the artisans who had painted the royal tombs. All highlighted the importance of wheat, which sustained the Egyptian people then as it does tourists today.

Back aboard the steamship, my fellow passengers and I toasted the sunset with glasses of modern, local beer and set our sights on our final destination: the temple of Philae in Aswan, appropriately dedicated to Hathor who, as a fellow lover of food and drink, was much cherished aboard the SS Sudan

Make plans for a Nile River food cruise with your travel advisor today.

A Tale of Two Egyptian Food Tours

by LAUREN KEITH

Under the glow of colorful, bulbous, glass lamps, I joined my group at a quiet, back corner table in Felfela, a storied restaurant located in downtown Cairo. While we got settled, the chaos of Egypt’s capital city carried on outside. Every time the restaurant door opened, a cacophony of car horns and fragments of conversations poured in like a wave washing over the shore. Within seconds, a swarm of servers covered the entire table in dishes and bowls of every size, curls of steam rising like exclamation points. My dining companions and I stared at each other in disbelief, hoping that our stomachs were bigger than our eyes, instead of the other way around.

I had joined an evening outing with Bellies En-Route, a female-founded food tour company that’s the first of its kind in Cairo. The largest city in both the Middle East and the whole of

Africa, greater Cairo has a population of more than 20 million. While that means restaurants are plentiful, the ones most loved by Cairenes aren’t found in touristy areas and rarely have menus or signage in English, so a knowledgeable Arabic-speaking guide is essential.

Felfela was only the first of several food stops on our route and this feast could have fed a family. As we ate, dishes continued to arrive, the servers clearly masters of rearranging plates to make them all fit like a jigsaw puzzle on a table that now felt woefully undersized. Middle Eastern hospitality truly knows no bounds, and it seemed to be a cardinal sin to let us leave the restaurant with even one ounce of stomach space.

I recognized a few familiar dishes as they appeared – a huge bowl of creamy hummus cradling a generous pour of olive oil in its folds; hamburger-sized patties of falafel, perfectly crisped and dotted with sesame seeds; a nearlyready-to-topple Jenga tower of pita bread – but others were strangers to me. Amir, our gracious tour leader, made the introductions. Hamam mahshi is pigeon stuffed with spiced freekeh (cracked

green wheat that has an almost nutty flavor). Molokhia, is a love-it-or-hate-it green and garlicky stew made from jute’s mallow, which has a slimy, gelatinous texture similar to okra.

Across the Nile River just a few miles from the iconic pyramids, we were dining like pharaohs, not only lavishly, but also on the same ingredients they had once consumed. Amir told us the ancient Egyptians painted molokhia leaves onto their tomb walls. One of the planet’s cradles of civilization, Egypt has a foodie history that expands back not just mere centuries, but millennia.

The love of food in Egypt still runs so deep that, in the local dialect of Arabic, the word for bread (aish) is the same as the word for life. Even some dishes commonly found elsewhere in the Middle East get a uniquely Egyptian twist. Falafel here, properly called ta'ameya, is made with fava beans instead of chickpeas, which the Egyptians say makes them fry up even crispier, and is cooked in large flat discs instead of balls. Tahini, a sesame seed paste that’s a constituent component of hummus, appears on the table more often than hummus does for dipping pita bread.

Like many visitors to Egypt, I first arrived in Cairo and then made my way to Luxor, some 400 miles south, which has so many ancient temples, tombs, and monuments that it’s called the world’s largest open-air museum. Luxor’s uber-touristy status means that the food scene at first taste can seem lackluster but, as in the capital, a foodie guide can open doors and transform the experience.

Egyptologist Haytham Ramadan launched the first, and currently only,

food tour around Luxor. Clearly suffering from temporary amnesia after my tour in Cairo, I decided to give Luxor’s food a try. Following Haytham’s lead, I devoured a bowl of kushari, Egypt’s quirky national dish that’s an everything-but-the-kitchensink mix of rice, macaroni, lentils, fried onions, chickpeas, and spicy tomato sauce. Next, we sampled offal-filled pita sandwiches from a street vendor. The sweet finish was a selection of irresistible honey-drizzled desserts and bags of freshly made sugarcane juice.

After tours in two of the nation’s most touristed cities, I would describe Egypt’s restaurant dining scene as more exciting than glamorous but, with a local guide, it’s always authentic and deeply human. Taking a food tour in Egypt not only supports local entrepreneurs but it’s also a fulfilling – and just plain filling – way to get a different perspective on the country.

Contact your travel advisor to learn more about Egypt's food tour options.

EXPERIENCE THE UNRIVALED

Unique and familiar flavors move across your palate in a perfectly tuned dance of epicurean delight. The music that moves them is orchestrated by the creativity of your chef, the direction of the maître ’d, the guidance of your sommelier and the attentiveness of the wait staff. Every dining experience aboard Regent Seven Seas Cruises invites you into a symphonic exploration of culinary pleasure.

Discover unmatched culinary delights with the unrivaled space and exemplary, personalized service found only aboard The World’s Most Luxurious Fleet™.

Tasting El Dorado

by NANCY HELLMRICH

Juan Felipe Lozano Sanz is an internationally certified barista. That means he pays himself to drink coffee. “It’s a tough life, do not cry for me,” he says with a smirk. The owner of Caffa Colombia, a coffee café located just seven miles north of Bogotá’s Museo de Oro, Juan Felipe grew up with privilege but opted out of safer career paths in favor of military service, daring travel to remote regions, and a business he believes will help bring justice to underserved Colombians.

When I meet him in his brightly lit café, he is brimming with exuberance. Or caffeine. Or perhaps both. “You’re in luck,” he says, resting his hands on the marble counter top, “because today we’re going to try what is called an author’s beverage. That is a creation based

on coffee, but with other ingredients. We got second place nationwide with this recipe.” An ardent follower of coffee culture, I had seen the El Dorado drink and the Coffee Master 2022 competition on social media. With a business conference scheduled in Bogotá the following week, flying in early for a tasting seemed almost preordained, so I caught an evening flight. The next morning, the hotel concierge had been puzzled when I asked for a taxi. “We have coffee right here,” he had protested, an open palm showing the way to what seemed like a lovely restaurant. I fibbed and said I had a business meeting and a ride was quickly procured.

After taking me through preliminaries in which I smelled the burnt fragrance of dry,

“What I want to share with you is not only coffee knowledge but our passion and the story of the people behind the coffee.”

commercial grounds, learned about the thermodynamics of coffee, and slurped a cup of gently roasted Pueblo Nuevo (grown by a man named Gabriel Gallardo), Juan Felipe asks if I am ready. Si, I respond, seizing the opportunity to practice Spanish.

Cocktail-style glasses are brought out as Juan Felipe recounts the legend of El Dorado, in which Colombia’s indigenous Muisca people hide the nation’s gold from invading Spaniards by throwing it to the bottom of a deep lake. At the bottom of the glasses, Juan Felipe places a tablespoon of cocoa powder. Next, he rolls balls of vanilla ice cream in panela, which looks like brown sugar but is produced more naturally and therefore retains more nutrients.

As he adds the ice cream to the glasses, he sidebars. “A lot of baristas will say you have to drink coffee this way or that way.” Juan Felipe believes in trying things, like brewing coffee with hot cranberry juice. “It tastes really cool. But don’t ever try it with pineapple juice. Actually do. It’s awful.”

Having introduced the idea of experimentation, he explains how he and his brother, a craft brewer, created Jack’s Coffee by resting the beans in Jack Daniels® barrels, allowing them to absorb the whiskey’s smoked caramel essence. Shots of hot, Jack’s Coffee espresso are then poured over the cocoa, panela, and ice cream. To this, he adds cold brew and a swirl of foamy almond milk. “Now are you ready to find El

Dorado? Are you ready to see magical realism?” Juan Felipe emotes, referring to the writing style of Colombia’s literary hero Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

It’s important to know at this point that, in the El Dorado legend, the Muisca king covers himself in gold dust and dives into the deep lake. I say that because Juan Felipe, now in the throes of barista bliss, holds a shaker high and generously sprinkles each beverage with actual gold dust, then places a golden garnish at the center of each glass. “Colombian gold. This is not fake.”

When it comes to drinking the beverage, I’m told there are no rules. “You are the explorer here. You are the one finding the gold. Just go for it. As in the lakes of the Muisca, in the bottom of this lake, you will find a treasure.” And sure enough, in the bottom of the glass, the gooey cocoa makes for a sweet finale.

“Have you ever had a coffee bathed in gold like this?” he beams, his hands positively glimmering beneath the café lights. At this, we laugh. “At the beginning, when I was experimenting with all this,” he says, “I arrived home and my fiancée was like, ‘Why do you have shiny stuff on your body?’ And I’m like, ‘Babe, trust me, it’s gold.’”

Call today to book a tour of Colombia’s six different growing regions and an ever-growing list of specialty cafés.

TASTE YOUR WAY THROUGH THE WORLD

Tuck into a perfectly cooked steak at Pinnacle Grill. Enjoy a poolside burger and fries at the Dive-In. Savor breakfast in bed or a late-night snack with our included 24-hour room service. From casual meals to fine dining, you’re sure to find the perfect palate-pleaser on board Holland America Line.

Ancestral Colombian Cuisine Makes its Comeback

The resilient South American nation is rebuilding, this time around cuisine

by NANCY HELLMRICH

“Have you seen James Cameron’s Avatar, the blue guys? The Amazon … it’s just crazy, I mean it’s magical. Like really magical. There are animals so crazy that your mind cannot even grasp them. There is this bird, pitch black. But you kind of turn your head a little bit and the sun hits it in the right way and it turns bright blue and you’re like, WHAT? You move a little. Black. Bright blue. Black. And when it flies, it kind of shifts black blue black blue.” — Juan Felipe Lozano Sanz, Owner Caffa Colombia

Everywhere I went in Colombia, I found exuberance, a sense of liberation and renewal. My first stop was a Bogotá coffee café where the owner, Juan Felipe, effused about the nation’s biodiversity and insisted I visit a place called Açaí Gastronomía Amazónica—but not before asking me if I was bold.

I assured him I was. I’ve traveled to other destinations that raised eyebrows among my friends. This was my first time in Colombia. While some cautioned me against the trip, others offered a simple “stay safe,” knowing there was little they could say to change my mind. Colombia is embarking on a peaceful new era, direct flights are plentiful, the

dollar is strong against the peso, and the culinary scene is garnering international attention. How could I resist?

AÇAÍ Gastronomía Amazónica

After being seated at a table in view of the open kitchen, I was introduced to Sebastian, a confident young man in a chef’s apron with expensive-looking leather accents. Sebastian is the sous chef of Açaí, and was pleased to be my lunch guide.

“The dishes here are about transformation,” he began, with more genuine personal enthusiasm than the usual dining room pomp. “So when you try them, immediately you will have one

Courtesy of Açaí Gastronomía

strong flavor and then it’s going to slowly develop the rest of the flavors.” So far so good. The atmosphere was welcoming and, at first glance, the menu seemed harmless. Then Sebastian called my bluff. “So are you open to trying the mojojoy? ” Right out of the gate. Just like that. Had Juan Felipe called ahead?

“It’s a worm from the Amazon. Basically, when the palm tree has died, bumblebees put their eggs inside. It’s how the tribes get most of their protein. Here, we have an adaptation of that. We treat the skin with smoke, we cure it, we fill it with fish and the fat of the worm. Then we fry it and we serve it with a ferment called tucupi. Would you like to try it?” Tucupi is extracted from wild manioc root. Raw, the root’s juice contains

hydrocyanic acid. When cooked properly, it is safe, nutritious, and the acidic nature of the ferment brings out the flavors of a dish. “Sure. Let’s do it,” I said. In for a penny, in for a pound. Next, he asked about drinks.

I had ducked out of work to try this restaurant in Bogotá’s Los Martires (The Martyrs) neighborhood, where butcher shops abound and the “herb” market in Plaza Samper Mendoza attracts growers and sellers from remote regions. Recently inventoried by the Instituto Para la Economía Social (IPES), the market is a gold mine for chefs in search of esoteric ingredients, many purported to have magical properties. After lunch, I had important meetings scheduled but one drink wasn’t going to ruin me.

Courtesy of Açaí Gastronomía

“ The penultimate course was a spoonful of honey, produced by stingless bees that pollinate Amazonian kapok trees. It’s one of their most treasured ingredients.”

Explora Journeys is CREATING a collection of journeys that offer the perfect BLEND of celebrated destinations and less-travelled spots, both seen from a new and ORIGINAL point of view that will inspire and EXCITE in equal measure.

Debuting in May 2023, all journeys include high speed unlimited Wi-Fi, access to sophisticated culinary experiences, unlimited beverages, fine wines, premium spirits, a welcome bottle of champagne, on board gratuities and more.*

EXPLORA I will take each guest on a unique culinary and beverage journey of discovery. Offering a curated choice of 18 restaurants, bars, and lounges, each of which blend vibrancy with privacy, in an effortless atmosphere. Whether in the elegant interiors, by a pool or on a suite’s private terrace, every venue will be distinct and created for memorable experiences.

A celebration of global culinary talents, cultures, and passions, EXPLORA I will showcase six vibrant restaurants, plus in-suite dining, as well as 12 bars and lounges (eight indoor and four outdoor) and a chef’s kitchen where guests can discover and enjoy diverse flavours from around the world, inspired by the Ocean State of Mind.

Sebastian returned with two gourd bowls. In the first, a basil extraction had been topped with chia seeds to give it mouth feel, or “bite.” The verdant concoction combined herbs from the Amazon with viche, an Afro-Colombian distillation legalized in late 2021 and now part of the nation’s cultural and ancestral heritage. The second was made with the “blood” of açaí berries and chuchuguaza, an Amazonian spirit. At first, I didn’t notice the lemon ants, which have, according to Sebastian, a “very nice aroma” that comes from citronellal pheromones. In Colombia, ants aren’t a party trick for tourists. “Insect caviar” is part of the nation’s culinary heritage and often cited as the reason for long lives.

“So this is a red-bellied pirañha,” Sebastian was back. “We serve it with the head and the tail because it is very common to cook and eat on the side of the Amazon River.” The cevichestyle fish had been cured in a spicy marinade and plated with mounds of soft cheese, sweet-potato-like manioc puree, hormigas cabezonas (prized big-headed ants), avocado powder, and açaí-smoked salt.

As I feasted, locals began to stream in, filling the place with laughter and conversation. At the table next to mine, a couple was joined by a man who looked like a jiu-jitsu master in a chef’s jacket. This was Andrews Arrieta, the restaurant’s chef and

owner. “He’s not from the Amazon but he went there to study the culture,” Juan Felipe had said with the same blue-black-bird enthusiasm. Sebastian beamed when I asked him about working with Arrieta. “I go to the Amazon with Chef at least twice per year. When I was a kid, I traveled with my dad down the river many times.”

Next, Sebastian brought me his favorite dish, my favorite as well if I had to choose, curadito de pirarucu “Basically what we do is we hang a full piece of the pirarucu . We smoke it, we cure it with salt and a bit of sugar, and then we hang it like a ham. Through this process it develops flavors.” After a time, they slice the dried fish thinly, roll it in dates and queso paipa – the only cheese granted origin status by the Colombian government –and serve it with smoked plantain. Absolutely delicious.

Pirarucu are native to the Amazon River basin and can grow to 15 feet in length. In Colombia, they were once endangered and have recovered nicely thanks to successful management. In nearby Bolivia, the carnivorous paiche are considered invasive, which has given rise to invasivorism wherein humans try to re-balance the ecosystem by eating intruders. As an omnivore, I was happy to help.

For the main course, I had pirarucu fillet on a pureed cauliflower base with

powdered coca leaf residue, another of Colombia’s ancestral ingredients. On the side was salvaje, Spanish for wild, because “it’s an aggressive type of plate” with the bright flavors of tiny, juicy tomatoes, plantain, and balls of smoked fish and manioc.

The penultimate course was a spoonful of honey, produced by stingless bees that pollinate Amazonian kapok trees. “Compared to other types of honey, this one is super runny. It’s super acidic, super floral.” And super rare. “It’s one of my most treasured ingredients.”

“Now I’m going to bring you one of my special desserts. It’s called Victoria Regia, in honor of a plant.” That plant, also known as Victoria Amazónica, is the second largest water lily in the world, a marvel I beheld at the Jardin Botanico de Bogotá the following day. Sebastian’s was made with delicate white chocolate petals and so elegantly assembled I was torn between insulting the chef and destroying its beauty.

Restaurante LEO Andrews and Sebastian aren’t the only chefs bringing ancestral Colombian cuisine to the world’s attention. The undisputed queen is awardwinning Chef-Restaurateur Leonor Espinosa who operates Restaurante LEO, in Bogotá’s mod Chapinero Alto neighborhood. Leo’s daughter,

At LEO, even the dishes are supplied by producers in remote communities

Courtesy of Restaurante Leo

Sommelier Laura Hernández-Espinosa, runs her own kitchen and beverage salon in the same location. While the menu at Açaí Restaurante informs diners about the gastronomy of the Amazon, Leonor and Laura’s ciclo-biome menu brings attention to all six of Colombia’s natural regions – Caribbean, Pacific, Orinoco, Amazon, Andean, Insular.

In Sala de Leo, I took part in the eight-course tasting menu, which is a divine dining experience with expertly choreographed table service, synchronized plate drops, and edifying explanations for each dish. “We do not work with mass quantities,” says Leonor through a translator. By serving a multitude of dishes in perfectly small portions, she manages to satiate her guests while providing a livelihood for a breathtaking range of producers. LEO is not only a restaurant, it’s also an engine of social and economic development.

A culinary artist-slash-anthropologist, Leonor says, “I do not use a single ingredient without having lived in its territory, because I would not know

then about its greatest potential. The potential I give to the ingredient arises from the experience.” Bringing a new ingredient on board can take up to a year. Before that, standards are put in place and tests are done to understand how the ingredient grows, whether it’s possible to use without exhausting the species, etc. Only after this research and experimentation does Leonor begin to consider its uses in the kitchen.

For sommelier Laura, the challenge is twofold. Finding beverage pairings that are true to the philosophy of supporting Afro and indigenous communities and biodiversity. And ensuring those drinks have “a dialog” with Leonor’s distinctive dishes. Laura’s solution is the in-house distillation of plants and herbs she and her mother encounter on their expeditions, which results in a range of distinctive tinctures and spirits not found anywhere else in the world.

Ask your travel advisor about pairing dinner in Bogotá with an excursion to one of Colombia’s growing regions.

"By serving a multitude of dishes in perfectly small portions, she manages to satiate her guests while providing a livelihood for a breathtaking range of producers."

Photos Courtesy of Restaurante Leo

There’s so much to love about Alaska

See it all on a 7-day Voyage of the Glaciers cruise plus a 4-night land tour including exclusive Direct-to-theWilderness® rail service, 2 nights at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge®, a Natural History Tour into Denali National Park, 1 night at the Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge® and 1 night in Anchorage. Enjoy $100 Cruisetour CASH per person to use towards our Alaska cruise excursions that take you out to sea. Hear thrilling tales from members of the award-winning TV series Deadliest Catch. Or learn to fly fish from an expert guide. And as a part of our unique culinary experience, Cook My Catch brings your freshly caught fish on board for our chefs to prepare for your dinner.

1General Princess Plus/Princess Premier Terms (applicable to all portions of Princess Plus/Princess Premier, unless otherwise indicated): Princess Plus and Princess Premier are separate packages (“Package(s)”); guest may only book one Package for each cruise. Each Package has additional terms, available at www.princess.com/ princessplusterms. One guest’s participation in a Package may be dependent on the participation of other guests in their stateroom. As applicable to the corresponding Package, Drinks, Wi-Fi, Crew Appreciation, Specialty Dining, Photo Package, and Princess Prizes are not applicable to land portion of cruisetours and expire at the end of booked cruise. Certain restrictions apply, refer to your travel advisor for complete terms, conditions and definitions that apply to Princess Plus and Princess Premiere.

2Certain restrictions apply, please refer to your travel advisor for full terms, conditions and definitions that apply to Cruisetour CA$H, Onboard Spending Money, Optional Meal Plan, Military Benefits and Princess Plus. Inclusions are subject to change. Server gratuity (15%) and taxes are included in the package price. Alcoholic beverages are not included in meal packages.

©2022, Princess Cruise Lines, Ltd. Princess®, MedallionClass®, and the

registry.

logo are trademarks of

Lines, Ltd. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Ships of

A Taste of Curaçao’s Jewish Food Legacy

“Being an effective tour guide is like being a good singer,” says Curaçao-born tour guide Emlyn Pietersz. “You can sing anywhere in the world if you have a good song people can relate to.” He was raised Catholic but emphatically embraces his Jewish ancestry to the point where he’s become the go-to guy for Jewish heritage tours. I could spend hours listening to his colorful stories about how he traced his mother’s family line back to 1651, when the Dutch granted sanctuary to Sephardic Jewish merchant families on the Caribbean island after they were expelled from Portugal and Spain during the Inquisition.

Papiamento, Curaçao’s mother tongue, is Emlyn’s starting point for interpreting almost 500 years of Jewish impact on local culture. He details how it began as a trade language between Africans and Europeans and later evolved into a melting pot of different African and European languages. Through generations, Dutch, French, Spanish, and Hebrew influences and words entered the language. Without missing a beat, he draws my attention to how spices, herbs, and produce grown on Curaçao and brought

by ELYSE GLICKMAN

in by European Jews made their way into one-pot stews, flavorful grilled chicken and fish, and sides at every restaurant and market we visit.

We’re walking through capital city Willemstad’s Plasa Bieu, where family-operated stalls serve up foods that sustained their ancestors and continue to delight locals and visitors.

“We think of it as the Caribbean’s first food court,” Emlyn tells me with a wry smile. “Jewish families helped build Curaçao’s economy and created jobs in agriculture, trade, construction, and boat building. Their house staff learned the Portuguese-Jewish techniques of stewing meats and vegetables, and served it to their families. Although some things changed with the invention of the electric and gas stoves, there are still restaurants serving chicken, fish, goat, and vegetarian dishes based on recipes passed down through the generations.”

During my week-long stay, I find that many of those dishes can be found everywhere from street food kiosks to white tablecloth restaurants. Examples include pasteche, an

empanada made for the Purim holiday; arrepa de pumpkin (pumpkin pancakes); stoba de cabrito (goat stew); morros (rice and beans); and tostones (banana fritters). Keshi yená, a skillet-baked stuffed gouda cheese and chicken casserole, is regarded as one of Curacao’s national dishes.

One rainy afternoon during a visit to Landhuis Rooi Catootje, an 18th Century heritage house, Emlyn tells the story behind “Black Cake,” also known as “Eternal Cake,” a rich, earthy sweet that began as Curaçao’s answer to matzo. “It was inspired by the biblical Exodus and formulated as something that could last in the desert for 40 days,” he says. He then connects it to his family history. “Often filled with dried and fermented fruits, it takes six months to make and is an integral part of many special occasions among Jews and Catholics in Curaçao. My mom still has a small piece of it dating to her wedding in 1955.”

Emlyn’s meaningful associations between Curaçao’s Jewish legacy and the dishes that have emerged promise that interest in the cuisine will be just as enduring.

Contact your travel advisor to find out more about edifying tours on the island of Curaçao.

Keshi Yená

Serves 4 • Prep time: 10 minutes • Cook time: 25 minutes

3 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 medium chopped onion

2 Tbsp raisins

½ cups pimiento-stuffed green olives, chopped

3 cups shredded or ground cooked chicken

3 Tbsp chopped dill pickle

2 tsp tomato paste

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp coarsely ground black peppercorns

16 slices thinly sliced deli-style Gouda or Edam cheese (about 10 oz)

Heat oil in a large skillet, add peppers and onions, and sauté for five minutes.

Add raisins, olives, chicken, pickles, tomato paste, and salt, cook five minutes, then set aside to cool.

Grease four 8-oz ramekins and line them with 12 slices of cheese.

Fill the lined ramekins with the chicken mixture.

Top with remaining slices of cheese, and tuck in anything that is hanging over the edge.

Place ramekins in a large pan and add hot water until it is halfway up the sides.

Cover the pan tightly with foil or a lid and place over medium-high heat.

Bake 15 minutes and serve immediately.

Thailand’s Symphony of Flavors

by CHRIS RYALL

Photos Courtesy of Tourism Authority of Thailand

otherwise marked

Red Hot Chili Peppers, both the band and the spice, inspired my initiation into alternative streams of music as well as my taste sensations. My palate awakened when I started traveling internationally and tried Indian, Cajun, Vietnamese, Italian, Japanese, and other global cuisines. Visits to Thailand, however, struck the right chord with a full orchestra of flavor. It was as if my taste buds were playing Beethoven’s 5th Symphony.

Thailand’s food scene can be as diverse as its landscapes, with distinct regional cooking differences from the north to the spicier south. My Thai food experiences have spanned the gamut, from street food vendors and Michelin-starred restaurants to eating brunch as elephants frolic in a nearby creek, testing my culinary chops in a cooking class, and buying noodles in floating markets.

You don’t have to like it hot to enjoy Thai food. Creating the perfect harmony is essential – a balance of sweet, sour, hot, and salty – combining fresh herbs like lemongrass and galangal, salty fish sauces cooled with sugars and acidic elements, like lemon, lime, and mango. Throw in cilantro, coconut milk, and coriander for good measure and peanut sauce for sweet and savory.

Thai cuisine evolved with influences from China and India. Portugal also brought my beloved chili peppers to Thailand in the 16th century. Thailand is considered the street food capital of the world. I’ve had culinary pleasures by the Victory Monument (Anusawari Chai Samoraphum) and in the Bang Khun Non area where I tasted its pink noodles soup ( yen ta fo). One of my favorite pastimes is sitting

and observing locals and tourists go about their daily lives. I order my favorite dish—a simple but flavorful green curry chicken with rice and a chilled Chang or Singha beer. It’s love at first bite with the combination of galangal, kaffir leaves, coconut milk, lemongrass, chicken, and fish sauce.

Thai cuisine earned respect from the esteemed Michelin Guide when its first Thailand edition was produced in 2017. For the 2022 edition, Thailand restaurants were awarded six two-star entries and 26 one-star entries, including one to Jay Fai, a street food vendor known for his crab omelettes and curry dishes.

I feel nervous entering Saawaan, Bangkok’s Michelin one-star restaurant. Its intimate sleek, dark interior features a nine-course seasonal dégustation (tasting) menu that raises a diner’s foodie knowledge bar. I like looking at food, but

A lover of spice finds his happy place among the destination’s cooking schools, street food stalls, and Michelin-starred restaurants.

Credit: Chris Ryall

more importantly, I like eating it. That’s the sum of my foodie expertise.

Thankfully, my waiter, perhaps sensing a food neophyte in his presence, describes everything in a clear, simple manner: the raw (amaebi, cucumber, and coconut); boiled (blue swimmer crab, squid, coconut); curried (Iberico pork, banana blossom, southern and northern curry); and other courses, including dessert (water chestnut, gelatinous coconut, smoked ice cream). The meal covers all the traditional Thai cooking methods –fermented, boiled, stir-fried, and curried – while showcasing dishes from northern, central and southern regions. Each course is paired with wines or tea.

To explore my passion for Thai cuisine further, I decide to take a hands-on approach. It leads me to Amita Thai Cooking Class, owned by Tam Jantrupon. The class is my introduction to how all the ingredients come together. The lesson begins with an adventurous long-tail boat ride to Jantrupon’s riverside location through Bangkok’s inland waterways.

When I arrive, I say I would love to add peppercorns to any dish we make. Moments later, we are grabbing fresh peppercorns from her garden. Jantrupon

proceeds to guide me with gentle, easyto-follow instructions, on how to make four different Thai dishes, including my favorite, a green curry chicken in coconut milk. We also cook a batch of tom yum goong (hot and sour soup with prawns), papaya salad, and mango sticky rice for dessert. She even provides me with recipe cards to take home. Sweet.

I follow Jantrupon’s class with a Spice Spoons cooking class, in which students first accompany the chef to the local market to select fruits, vegetables, and proteins for the dishes to be cooked later. Though the chef is impressed with my spatula skills, no such praise is forthcoming for my chopping technique.

I love the fact that Thailand’s culinary experiences are not just about eating food but also about giving it away. I had the choice of giving alms of either premade packages of food bought in markets or dishes I made myself. Arriving at the temple before sunrise, I made a solemn gesture of handing them to the Buddhist monks. The act filled my heart with goodness.

Contact your travel advisor to learn more about Thailand's abundance of culinary travel experiences.

Credit: Chris Ryall

FINE DINING

ALWAYS BEEN ONE OF THE PILLARS OF THE WINDSTAR EXPERIENCE

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Maldives Sustainable Fishing

by KATKA LAPELOSOV Á

In the Maldives, Dining is Strictly Ocean to Table

“Have you ever eaten octopus before?” freediving expert Hasan Sunil asks as he bobs up and down in the water a short distance from our dinghy.

“Yes, it’s fantastic,” I reply with excited honesty. I’ve had baked octopus in Portugal – the kind that melts in your mouth alongside buttery potatoes – and grilled octopus in Greece, so perfectly charred I dream about it sometimes. It’s one of my favorite things to eat, especially abroad. “Yes, but have you ever eaten fresh octopus?” Sunil repeats. I don’t have time to answer before he disappears into the water; I take a deep breath and follow.

Snorkeling is the focus of my first trip to the Maldives, where I’ve left the island resorts and overwater bungalows to the honeymooners and families, opting instead for the versatility of a week-long GAdventures cruise. Our vessel, The Sea Farer, is no less luxurious than the resorts with spacious cabins, modern furnishings, a full bar, and plenty of open deck space for sunbathing. An onboard chef serves three meals a day, everything from pasta and baked chicken, to fish curries, and even local

dishes like mas huni, which is made from shredded tuna, coconut, chilis, and onion, and served for breakfast with roshi flat bread.

Twice a day we swim amongst clown fish, sea turtles, lobsters, and even sharks. Raised in the Maldives, Sunil has been freediving since he was a child. He claims he can hold his breath for almost two full minutes, which enables him to make a living diving and pointing out sea life for snorkelers like me. Today, he excitedly points to an octopus hiding in her cave before he begins his pursuit.

I feel slightly weird about “hunting” our dinner, but Sunil has assured me that this is just one part of the fishing protocol to which Maldivians have adhered for centuries. When he emerges, he holds the body of an octopus in his right hand, tentacles wrapping around his upper arm as he swims back to the dingy.

He can’t contain his excitement. “This is a big one … it will feed the whole crew tonight,” he smiles broadly, as Aram, the dingy driver, grabs a bucket to contain the invertebrate. “She was hard

to catch,” Sunil adds. “They are so quick and they camouflage themselves well.”

Food sustainability experts have long cited the Maldives as one of the best examples of sustainable fishing in the world. The small population size, fewer than 600,000, certainly reduces the chance of overfishing. The small size of the islands also contributes to the lack of large fisheries and aquaculture. Out of 1,200 islands, only 200 are inhabited. Many of those are home to solitary resorts that generate far more for the economy than farmed fish would.

A third factor is the sustainable fishing methods that are passed down from generation to generation. Most locals still use “pole and line” techniques. Free divers, like Sunil, are skilled at catching sea creatures with their bare hands.

With the octopus now aboard, Aram maneuvers our dinghy to a sand bar that is less than a quarter of a mile long and rimmed with coral and seashells that have washed up on the waves. Sunil takes the octopus out of the bucket and cleans it, tossing the inedible parts in the ocean. “It’s food for seagulls and sharks,”

he explains. “Nothing goes to waste here, not any piece.”

Back on the ship, I inquire about the typical Maldivian diet. “All fish we eat is fresh caught,” Sunil says as we wait for the chef to prepare the octopus. “But we really don’t eat a lot of fish like you would think.” He goes on to explain that demand for seafood runs high in the Maldives, even at local markets.

Certain types of tuna are plentiful and yield a lot of meat, so the price remains low enough for the locals to eat. Octopus are much harder to catch, and thus, more expensive. “In the local market, an octopus this size might be as much as $100,” he says. “Maybe even more like $125, or $150.”

So we’re in for a treat as the chef places our dinner on the dining table. The octopus has been prepared with peppers, onions, and a satisfying sweet and sour sauce. Sunil, of course, is grinning again as he samples the result of his chase. “You are so lucky,” he repeats over and over between mouthfuls. “You’ll never have fresh octopus like this again.”

Coastal cruise or chic resort? Your favorite travel advisor will show you the way.

Sweet & Savory Slovakia

by ERIKA HARKINS

Jake is a meat and potatoes guy. When he heard that Marcelka and Laco, my beloved aunt and uncle, were making kotlikovy gulášová for dinner, he asked if we could have her traditional dumplings, called knedlíky, too.

This is not typical.

Kotlikovy is a thick, meaty goulash that’s spiced with red pepper, paprika, caraway, and marjoram and usually served with simple slices of bread. The stew itself is a family ritual reserved for special occasions because it takes most of the day to cook in a big pot over a fire. So the dumplings were a big ask, but we persisted. It had been four years since we last visited my hometown of Mlynica in northern Slovakia. While life in the U.S. has changed me in many ways, my aunt’s cooking has a way of rekindling my Slovak roots.

Newly pregnant and knowing I wouldn’t be traveling for a while, I had been excited to return to my homeland to hug my extended family, hike, and give our growing baby his or her first taste of real Slovakian cuisine. For two months leading up to the trip, I dreamed of buchty na pare —sweet, steamed fruit dumplings smothered in butter and topped with cinnamon, cacao, poppyseed, or sweet bread crumbs.

Of course, another aunt, Hanička, knows me and had them waiting when we arrived.

Later, during an afternoon hike with Jake and my cousins in the High Tatra Mountains, we came upon a hut that was serving them too. Who could resist a second round?

Not us! We savored every bite of their gooey goodness. In addition to the sweet dumplings, gnocchi with similar toppings, fruit-filled balls, and homemade crêpes are my favorite Slovak foods.

While I craved sweets, Jake was yearning for beef tenderloin doused in cream sauce, a dish known as sviečkova. And, of course, Marcelka’s goulash. In the end, she relented and served the knedliky with our kotlikovy goulash. When my little cousins tasted the combination they said, “Babi (grandma), we should have it this way always!” Marcelka laughed, joking that her monthly workload had just increased. But she didn’t really mind. Making homemade dumplings is a labor of love. One worth traveling all the way to Slovakia to experience firsthand.

Contact us to plan a tour and savor the heartwarming flavors of Slovakia.

IT’S YOUR HEART THAT TAKES YOU PLACES

Liquid Cuisine

Opening the door to Nokishita711 feels like entering a portal to a different era. Located on a backstreet off a tree-fringed canal in Japan’s ancient capital city of Kyoto, the bar is dressed in dim candlelight, antique fixtures, and sprigs of fragrant eucalyptus, simulating the feeling of being inside a forest. The idea, explains proprietor Tomoiki Sekine, is to recreate the style of a centuries-old teahouse. The tea, however, comes later. First is the main event: Sekine’s own concept, “liquid cuisine,” wherein he creates cocktails from seasonal, locally-sourced meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, plants, and even bugs.

Referring to himself as an “extractologist” rather than a mixologist, Sekine refined his bartending knowledge from his previous experience of years working as a chef. “I saw the limits of the cocktail world, and I wanted to do something innovative,” he explains. His unique cocktails are each served with a snack, which he creates using the ingredients left over from his liquid meals. This is in line with his zero-waste philosophy, as well as his belief in the importance of respecting the lives of the animals being consumed.

Guests at Sekine’s reservations-only bar can enjoy five cocktails (or mocktails) that they choose from his extensive list of 20-something offerings. Alternatively, they may entrust the selection to Sekine himself, as I did. The lineup – which rivaled a gourmet meal – began with an umami-laden cocktail of eggplant with red wine

and fig-infused gin, which had been fermented overnight with black koji (yeast) and was served alongside a tiny blue corn masa taco with grilled eggplant, salsa mole, and kelp. The flavors and wafting fragrance were a delightful combination of sour and smoky.

The next four cocktails were no less elaborate: chicken liver in pheasant broth, whose rich flavor was offset by barley shochu-soaked blueberries, brandy, and cold brew coffee kvass, served with a miniscule spring roll resembling a tiny package. A lamb bone soup with apple, red wine, gin, and oolong tea-flavored kombucha, served with a spiced lamb meat pie atop a bed of edible salted dry tea leaves. Smooth chilled corn potage with soba berry, 21-year-aged saké, rum, and huitlacoche (corn smut), served with a tiny miso-accented corn rib. And finally, tepache (fermented pineapple skin) with chica morada (Peruvian purple corn) and mackerel, infused with celery vinegar and eucalyptus – an expertly-balanced flavor profile of salty, sour, fruity and herby – served with a whole wheat biscuit flecked with dry-aged natto (fermented soybeans), and sandwiching a layer of nougat glacé.

Sekine’s journey to expand the limits of cocktail culture has involved making his own vinegars and experimenting with the use of dashi (broth). “I wanted to create flavors not through sugar, but fermentation; and not through

An avant-garde Kyoto bartender mixes east, west, and south to perfection

high alcohol content or ice, but through the process of extraction,” he explains. “And this is in fact the most challenging aspect. It was only through trial and error, for example, that I finally achieved the desired flavor from eggplant: first by grilling it, and then by finding the right temperature and timing for the sous vide infusion.”

Many of Sekine’s ingredients are sourced from his friends, who are hunters, herbalists, and farmers. He also regularly frequents Kyoto’s antique markets to indulge another passion: finding select pieces for his bar, both decorative and utilitarian. The walls are lined with pages from old books—a creative departure from the tea houses, which traditionally use washi (Japanese-style fibrous paper). He also uses serving vessels crafted from materials such as mudstone slate, 18th century British roof tiles, and centuries-old block stamps. When I visited, the most striking installation was an ukiyo-e print, under which sat an oversized manuscript and a bowl with lamb and inoshishi (wild boar) bones peeking out.

“I don’t want to just serve cocktails,” notes Sekine, who sports a tattoo of a snake – “the god of water in Japan”–against the backdrop of his hip-hop music playlist. “For me, it’s about getting in touch with the deeper culture of food and drink.”

Pouring a pot of Chinese-style looseleaf tea, an elaborate and yet simple ceremonial practice that he studies under a Kyoto-based tea master, Sekine adds that he is also eager to transcend borders by welcoming overseas visitors to his bar, as well as traveling the world to engage in his trade.

In years prior, Sekine hosted popup events in Taipei. Earlier this summer, he collaborated with a Japanese restaurant in New York City to create cocktails based on a fusion of Japanese and U.S. ingredients. Similar plans are in the works for Portland and he eventually hopes to make it to Latin America. “There is so much happening there in terms of food culture,” he notes.

It is his website, however, that perhaps describes his philosophy best: “From Kyoto to the world, Tomoike Sekine is going to make his insane cocktails everywhere.”

Contact your travel advisor to experience Japan’s innovative cuisine scene.

An Unexpected Culinary Oasis

by MICHAEL SHAPIRO

Generous farm-to-table cuisine perfect after days spent in national parks

Located in the red-rock splendor of south-central Utah, Hell’s Backbone Grill and Farm is the most remote finedining restaurant in the continental United States. Founded by two women who honed their cooking skills on whitewater rafting trips through the Grand Canyon, Hell’s Backbone is a culinary oasis in the high desert.

I’d heard about Hell’s Backbone from a savvy travel advisor who said that when we visit Utah, we should stop there. When I wondered if it was on our way, she said authoritatively: “Make it on the way; you’ll be glad you did.”

From Green River, where we stayed while embarking on day trips to Arches and Canyonlands national parks, Google Maps said it’d take 2 hours and 37 minutes to drive to Hell’s Backbone, but that didn’t account for stopping to let free-roaming cattle pass.

We drove through Capitol Reef National Park, then climbed a steep hill with views for miles and miles before descending toward our destination. There’s not much in Boulder: no bank or traffic light or supermarket, just a couple of lodges and one of the most unlikely restaurants in the western U.S. Arriving just before dusk, we found

Hell’s Backbone illuminated by strings of outdoor lights and garnished with colorful prayer flags. We were seated on the patio right away.

We were happy to dine outdoors, though at 6,700 feet above sea level, it can get chilly after sunset. After a week of river rafting and long hikes through the stunning canyonlands of the Southwest, my wife and I were ready for some satisfying food.

Blake Spalding and Jennifer Castle had never attended culinary school, were liberals in a deeply conservative ranching community, and followed the teachings of Buddhism in a heavily Mormon region.

“We wanted to do clean food, beautifully served, with love and care,” co-founder and chef Blake Spalding told me. The restaurant opened in 2000, in the heart of Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, which had been designated by President Clinton just four years earlier.

“We remain one of the only womenowned, woman-cheffed restaurants that has its own farm,” Spalding said. Both ladies wanted to create a restaurant that they would want to work and eat in. Their goal has been

to host a nightly dinner party where you can get wholesome, flavorful, local food that’s gorgeously prepared and doesn’t cost a fortune.

In the foreword to Castle and Spalding’s 2004 cookbook, With a Measure of Grace, author Terry Tempest Williams said the two chefs came to Boulder with “baskets of instinct and secrets about the power of food and its potential for glory.”

After dining at Hell’s Backbone she wrote: “What lingers after a slow, thoughtful dinner is love. We are reminded through the creative hands of these believing women that daily renewal is possible through the loving gesture of a meal dreamed and shared.”

Hell’s Backbone Grill, named for a nearby bridge that spans a 1,500-footdeep canyon, was a semi-finalist in the 2022 James Beard Foundation Awards for Outstanding Restaurant and has received rave reviews from Zagat.

The restaurant, which seats about 75 people, is casual and unpretentious. The food is divine: salad ingredients picked from Hell’s Backbone’s nearby farm, Boulder Beef Braise with meat from local ranchers, smoked trout pappardelle.

Hell’s Backbone is all about place, a destination restaurant in the truest sense. The salad dressing was so bright that the flavors sparkled. The beef was hearty and energizing, the trout in the pasta was so fresh it tasted like it was caught mere hours before the fish hit the pan.

The exceptional food was enhanced by the breathtaking Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument — the yellow, orange and ochre hues of the surrounding hills glowing deeply in the setting sun.

“It’s a landscape so beautiful, it will forever change your perception of what the American West really looks like,” Spalding said.

After 23 seasons — Hell’s Backbone is open from April through November — Spalding says she and Castle now feel a sense of “rootedness” in their adopted home.

“Jen and I just understood the power of an extraordinary landscape and a lovingly prepared meal,” Spalding said. “You’re in this amazing place, it really affects people and opens their hearts.”

Still, creating a restaurant that met their lofty standards has been “incredibly challenging and complicated.”

They’d thought: “How hard could it be? There’s running water, electricity and a roof.” Later, Spalding said, they realized their “hilarious naiveté.”

Part of the challenge is their commitment to the place they call home. They feature local food of the Southwest; in creating the menu, they ask: “Does this food make

sense here? Is it food that has a relationship to this place?”

When you go to a restaurant in Italy, Spalding said, they’ll serve “Italian jam, Italian ham, Italian lamb.’ They’re proud of what they produce in that region. And there wasn’t a thing like that in Utah.”

Castle grew up in New Mexico and created one of Hell’s Backbone’s most popular items, the Jenchilada, an enchilada filled with green-chili beef or calabacitas (small squashes, the veggie option) in a habanero cream sauce, served with cilantro rice.

Other regional favorites include Three Sisters Posole with black beans and butternut squash and Green Chile Beef Stew with pinto beans and farm carrots.

The menu depends on what’s growing at that time and varies greatly from spring to fall. Some produce, such as grapes used in the Champagne Grape Chicken, are “here and gone,” Spalding said, so you’ll only get them when they’re harvested.

What makes it worthwhile? Spalding said they have a “secret mission.” Every season they ask: “How can we make the world a little bit better with what we have to offer?”

After concluding our meal with the vanilla-glazed Sour Cherry and Rhubarb Slab Pie, my wife and I wholeheartedly agree. Our next Southwest trip might look like a visit to national parks, but our ultimate pursuit will be to revisit Hell’s Backbone.

Book a delicious tour of the U.S. West today.

Minted Lamb Meatballs

This appetizer is so bliss-inducing, sometimes guests order a second round for their main course. In the restaurant the meatballs are glazed with jalapeno jelly, chopped fresh mint, and a smear of the Lemony Mashed Potatoes.

Serves 6-8 as an appetizer

1 pound ground lamb

2 tablespoons onion, chopped

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 egg

1 ½ teaspoons Chimayo chile powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon ground garlic

8-10 mint leaves

Pinch black pepper

3-4 tablespoons Jalapeno Jelly

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a food processor, process the onions, lemon juice, egg, chile powder, salt, onion powder, garlic, mint, and pepper until finely chopped and well mixed.

Add the ground lamb and mix by hand until all ingredients are combined well. You want a uniform mixture with no lumps of spice.

Shape lamb mixture into balls about the size of walnuts. Place them in an ovenproof dish or on a lined sheet pan and cook for 12 minutes. They will not be cooked all the way through at this point. Drain off accumulated fat.

Spoon approximately half a teaspoon of jalapeno jelly over each lamb ball. Bake for 4-8 minutes more, until jelly is caramelized and the lamb is cooked to medium doneness. Serve warm.

EXPERIENCE EXTRAORDINARY.

FOUR DISTINCT ROUTES WITH IMPECCABLE SERVICE.

A journey in Rocky Mountaineer’s

is just as much about the

adventure as it is about the stunning scenery and award‑winning service by its Hosts onboard. Available on Canadian Routes only, guests enjoy panoramic views from the upper level, and experience an elegant three course dining experience on the lower level. Rocky Mountaineer

Chefs have created a menu inspired by the bounty of the passing regions, highlighting ingredients such as Pacific salmon and prime Alberta beef. The culinary experience onboard is complete with prized BC wines from the Okanagan Valley.

Yes, Virginia Has a Wine Country

by NANCY HELLMRICH

When I arrive at the Chrysalis Vineyards manor house, I find Jenni McCloud reviewing plot maps in what should be her living room but has given way to the businesses at hand—an expansive vineyard, greenhouse, creamery, bakehouse, and tasting center. “This property is 412 acres; it came in two separate land acquisitions,” she says as she smooths out the map. “The first one, which we call Locksley, is right here. And then Caeli, down here, was added in 2008.”

I have traveled to Middleburg, Virginia, to interview the plucky vintner about a wine grape called Norton, which sounds decidedly un-French—and for good reason. Jenni started Chrysalis Vineyards in the mid-1990s after a series of character-building entrepreneurial efforts that culminated in the lucrative sale of a software business. “I’d heard those stories that you retire and then you die,” she recalls. Instead of retiring, she attended a viticulture conference and hired expert winemaker Alan Kinne. “Alan’s like: ‘What do you like?’ I say: I really like the fruit forwardness of Spanish reds. So he says: ‘Well, okay, let’s go to Spain.’ I’m like: All right. Let’s go to Spain.”

As Jenni powers her Jeep up a hill between blocks, she gives me the lay of the land. The varietals she and Alan planted, Albariño (ahl-bah-ree-nyoh)

and Viognier (vee-aa-nyay), have already been harvested. But the Nortons are still on the vines. “So this is Norton,” Jenni says with her arm out the window, fingers outstretched as though she is tickling the wide, green leaves. “This is Virginia’s native grape, named after Daniel Norborne Norton.” Norton is a joy for Jenni to grow because, unlike imported European varietals, it is native to Virginia’s terrior.

Cultivated at a time when the newly minted United States were trying to break free of their dependence on the Old World, Norton (vitis aestivalis) is America’s contribution to the world’s fine red wines, hardy enough to withstand Virginia winters and remarkably disease resistant. Jenni experimented with the vines at first. But when the first wines came in, she quadrupled down, putting in 40 acres—the largest planting of Norton in the world.

“Hold on. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. This row right here?” She stops the Jeep and we get out. “I was doing a tour, coming up through the vines, this row was dead to the ground. I’m like, ‘What the--?!’ Row eight’s fine, ten’s fine? Lightning had struck this row and gone down the cambium of every single vine.” I scrutinize the lush, healthy, heavily fruited vines, looking for flaws. “The reason I’m pointing

good one, with over 300 wineries and an historically renowned native grape

it out is: we did nothing. That row was dead in 2002; one or two years later, it all came back. Norton grows on its own roots.” With thick clusters of juicy, near-black grapes supported by strong vines, “Norton is incredibly versatile,” she says. “I can make all sorts of wines—from semi-sweet, juicy, fruity, to slightly spritzy rosé, all the way up to our flagship 25-year ageable Locksley Reserve Norton.” And she does.

Inside her tasting center, the mood is brighter and more optimistic than in the contemplative tasting rooms of Europe or the U.S. west coast. Outside, kids are doing cartwheels in the grass while adults share flights of wine, pizzas, and house-made cheeses. Jenni and I sit at a table overlooking her 412 acres of blood, sweat, and tears—productive acres that exist because a fearless entrepreneur had the sheer audacity to cultivate a sizeable vineyard specific to Virginia’s terrior.

On the table in front of us are the bottled fruits of her labors. Albariño and Viognier, yes. But also Norton. Norton wines that taste of the independence, resilience, and persistence that is the core of the American spirit. They are good, not like a California Cabernet or a French Merlot. They’re good like the United States. Earthy, true to their own character, adaptable, and enduring.

“Have you heard of malinchismo, the belief that things are better outside your own culture?” she asks. “That’s kind of how these wines are treated. But you know what? If it tastes good to you, it’s good wine. That’s all that matters. Remember, it’s a beverage.”

It does taste good to me. The Albariño Verde has an exciting effervescence and beachy citrus notes. The Viognier offers a creamier sensation with ripe peaches and cantaloupe. And the Nortons surprise the heck out of me. The Barrel Select delivers a bit of oomph and notes of mocha, cherry, and cloves. Sarah’s Patio Red is a refreshing strawberry and cherry semi-sweet rosé, light and playful.

As we sip, Jenni points to a spot in the distance and identifies the Bull Run Mountains, “as in the first major battle of the Civil War.” Closer to us, is a section of grassy acres where she plans to plant more vines. “Do you know what you’ll put in?” I ask. “Every once in a while,” she muses, “Nortons produce white fruit. So I’ve been after a white Norton with that acidity, you know, the fruitiness, it would be a great white wine.”

Ask your travel advisor to put together a wine tasting tour in Loudoun County, Virginia.

Irresistible Italy

by MARY LUZ MEJIA AND MARIO STOJANAC

Searching for Northern Italy’s best chocolate, wine, cheese, and bread

For most, Milan conjures images of high fashion, high finance, and the white, sculpted spires of the city’s duomo. Nearby Turin is known for Fiats, the shroud, and the fevered frenzy of rivaling soccer teams. But for me, a certified chocolate connoisseur, and Mario, a sommelier in training, these cities and their surrounding countryside offer much more than designer clothes and cars. They offer a taste of terroir in the form of the world’s best chocolate, exquisite Italian bubbly (spoiler alert, it’s not Prosecco), historic cheeses, and the working man’s bread.

Chocolate Fit for Nobility

In the 17th century, European nobility developed a sweet tooth for chocolate. In Northern Italy, drops of the stuff were melted into water and enjoyed as a drink. In Piedmont, cacao became such an expensive commodity during the Napoleonic wars, that local hazelnuts were combined with chocolate to cut costs. By melding the two, gianduia was born. And, while the spread has been made internationally famous by Nutella®, it was a former pastry chef outside of Torino who elevated the combination to near cult-following status.

Guido Castagna’s gianduia is of the highest quality. He says his secret is respect—for the cacao, for the farmers who grow the raw ingredients, and for the processes he employs to achieve exceptional results. His award-winning Giuinott takes a 150-year-old gianduiotto recipe and modernizes it to create a velvety combination of Venezuelan Chuao cacao and PGI Piedmont hazelnuts. I can never resist buying these triangular-shaped, bronze foil-wrapped, chocolate hazelnut bites of bliss, a jar of his 55+ chocolate hazelnut spread, and his bean-to-bar fine chocolate tablets.

Bottling Alchemy

Along a narrow, 12.4 mile strip south of Lake Iseo, only 40 minutes from bustling Milan, lies Franciacorta. Here, a mere 127 wineries produce some of Europe’s most intriguing and delicious metodo classico (sparkling wines). The first producer to bottle this grape juice, yeast, and sugar alchemic reaction in this region was Berlucchi Winery. Beginning 1955, Guido Berlucchi and Franco Ziliani worked together to improve the quality of the region’s white wine. Ziliani, a lover of Champagne, suggested they try to create their own sparkling wine. Six years of trial and error later, the first 3,000 bottle vintage was released.

On a tour of the cellar and estate, Mario and I learned the nuances of this family-run vineyard, and eventually made our way to the old Palazzo Lana kitchen, where we had the opportunity to try the 1961 Berlucchi Brut and Berlucchi Nature Blanc de Blancs. The former is a 90/10 blend of Chardonnay/Pinot Noir, whose aroma reminded Mario of bread crust, followed by a hit of citrus. The 100% Chardonnay Nature is a zero-dosage wine, and understandably drier, though it stood up very well to our accompanying snacks. We walked away with a bottle of each.

Formidable Formaggio

On our way back from Franciacorta, we made a slight detour past Brignano to visit a small producer of awardwinning goat and sheep’s milk cheeses. Caseificio Lavialattea is located in an unassuming residential area that had us checking our GPS. Once inside, with their many medals in full view, it was clear we had found the right place. Cheesemaker Lorenzo Facchetti initially seemed shy but, once he started talking cheese, there was no stopping him. While many of the cheeses were absolutely superb, the Piramide del Pastore had us exchanging knowing looks. A soft cheese rolled in vegetable ash, this blend of cow, goat, and sheep’s milk has an earthy, umami layer of truffles—making it irresistible.

Traveling Bread

Accompanying our cheese and wine, we found some impossibly fragrant local strawberries and now only needed to find a bread to round out our feast. Lucky for us Milan’s Mercato Centrale, is adjacent to the Milano Centrale, the train station from which we are departing. We find Master baker Davide Longoni’s Pane Terra stall in the market. The staff takes time to explain the various loaves regional origins. We choose a Pan Tramvai (Tram Bread), a pleasantly sweet sourdough studded with raisins. It’s traditionally eaten in the Lombardy region and is so-called in honor of the tram travelers connecting Monza to Milan.

With loaf in hand, like those who traveled before us, we jump on a train to our next destination with our northern Italian picnic and enjoy every bite of terroir that brought these edible masterpieces to being.

Call us today to plan your own Northern Italian culinary adventure.

Curious Just Like You

Mr. John Smith 1234 Street Name City, State 12345

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Call us today to start planning your next delicious escape—and discover a world of new flavors and dining experiences that go far beyond the ordinary.

As Ensemble Travel member advisors, our curiosity about the world has taken us around the globe and back again. Those experiences shaped the expertise, connections, and inside access we leverage to ensure your getaways are truly extraordinary.

When you book with us, you’ll get more than transportation, meals, accommodations, and tours. Along the way, you’ll enjoy the warm welcome of our local partners, happy little surprises, custom-tailored amenities, and access to the most remarkable dining experiences the world has to offer.

The only questions left are, “How many and where to?”