Entries tagged with 'travel'
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"The menu fit in perfectly with my ideal of old-fashioned romantic trains." [Flickr: takaki] You know how you’re supposed to book your ticket in advance when vacationing? Way in advance? To pay less? I have a terrible confession—I wait. Well, I wait, on purpose, when I am traveling from London to Paris. [Other photographs: Kerry Saretsky] I wait, just long enough, because I play a game with myself. At a certain point on the Eurostar, the lowest fare tickets will soar in price but the leisure class stays the same, quite low in fact—only a couple of pounds more than the economy. That’s when I buy. Because, truth be told, of the food. I suppose being born in the 1980s...
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Note: Today, a quick post that really evokes a sense of place. Food writer Cheryl Sternman Rule takes us on a fishing expedition in Alaska. Enjoy! —AK Photographs by Cheryl Sternman Rule When the server set the salmon carpaccio in front of me, I felt like whispering in her ear. "Just so you know," I’d say, "this fish and I have met before." And it was true. A day earlier, on Prince William Sound in southeastern Alaska, I’d bore witness as the commercial fisherman on whose boat I was riding netted three sockeye, pulled out their gills, and tossed them to the bottom of her bow-picker. There was blood, yes, but there was also something beautiful about the process—its simplicity....
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According to Terrence Henry of The Atlantic Food Channel, Buenos Aires leaves much to be desired in terms of food and flavor. He notes that most restaurants use wood-fired grills, which he thinks blanket all foods with similar flavors. He also comments on the lack of variety in the street food available, saying that it is limited to empanadas. Henry writes: A great food city is a place that caters to all manner of the food-obsessed: vibrant street food, affordable ethnic and traditional dining, and highly acclaimed (and more important, highly respected by their peers) destination restaurants. It should have a connection to its seasons and soil (or sea, as the case may be). It should be a place...
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John Brunton of The Guardian picks his top ten street eats and cafes in Hong Kong for budget-friendly eating, "where the quality and freshness of the food is what counts, not the decor and service."...
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Gordon Ramsay's Plane Food Picnic Insulated Lunch Bag You know the first thing I order when I arrive in the UK, but what is the last thing I eat before I leave? Even though I love plane food, I think if it were British Airways's fish pie, I would be too depressed for words. Plane Food, the Restaurant in Terminal 5 at Heathrow Instead, since the culinarily inspired Terminal 5 opened at Heathrow this year, my last bite out of Britain is Gordan Ramsay's Plane Food. If you have time to kill, by all means, take a seat and order à la carte. The restaurant serves such refined fare as Foie Gras and Chicken Liver Parfait with Sauternes Jelly...
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On Fridays, Deb Harkness of Good Wine Under $20 drops by with Serious Grape. This week, she discusses the scenario of drinking wine alone while traveling for business—minus the hotel room's plastic tumblers. The McCormick & Shmick's bar at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel. Photograph from Paul Keleher on Flickr If you are a business traveler like me, dining alone on the road can be more than a bit depressing. This is especially true if, like me, you drink a glass of wine with dinner each night. Room service might be able to produce competent hamburgers and fries, but I can't face an industrial-strength "wine glass" full of warm red wine with a piece of plastic wrap on top and...
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As contracts with "refreshment car" vendors run out (the last one expires Friday), the regional rail network has chosen not to renew them: "The commuter rail line has decided to shut down its rolling taverns, ending an era that hearkens back to the days when executives in gray flannel suits climbed aboard club cars and lubricated the journey home with martinis."...
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I've been up on the Cape all this week and yes, I brought my scale (right). But having the scale with me only begs the question of how often I should weigh myself no matter where I am. I brought the scale to hold myself accountable for any forays into vacation gluttony I might embark on, but the fact of the matter is that this question of how often I should be getting on the scale has been weighing on me for months. I know there is no right answer to this almost cosmic question. I last attended a Weight Watchers' meeting 20 years ago, so I don't know where those eminently sensible folks are on this issue now. Other...
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My friends and I set out for our day in Abruzzo on a rainy, foggy, downright chilly morning in Rome. It was a straight shot out on the autostrada, and within 40 minutes we had hit the Abruzzese border, bidding Lazio farewell in order to immerse ourselves in the foods, sights, and countryside of a region that is blissfully off the well-beaten tourist track. In no time we reached Sulmona, a pretty little city known as the birthplace of the Roman poet Ovid and the home of the candies known as confetti. The rain had stopped and bits of sky were starting to peek out of the low-hanging clouds. I was told that the entire city would be filled...
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I had just "powered off" my "electronic device" for landing on a recent flight and was placing my tray table "in the upright position" while glancing around anxiously for a cabin attendant to relieve me of my soda can and little plastic cup. When she came around with a trash bag, I offered the cup, but she asked for the can as well, placing everything in the same bag. I guess they don't recycle, I thought. What's up with that?!? Salon's "Ask the Pilot" column (one of my favorite features on that site) tackles the issue in its latest installment....
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