your dream (foodie) vacation?
You win an all expenses paid vacation for only 5 days to the foodie destination of your choice, USA or abroad. Where do you go??
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54 Comments:
buenos aires has been getting panned lately as not being a great food city, but i'd go back there in an instant. however, it's so dang cheap to eat out in BA, it might be a waste of the 'all expenses paid' part of the fantasy.... on second thought, paris.
andshewas at 11:37PM on 06/11/09
My North America choice is a 5 day food tour of the Pacific Northwest that includes Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland. My abroad pick is a serious food binge in Morocco.
Sweet E at 1:25AM on 06/12/09
Not abroad - but would break up the 5 days like this:
Northwest for Seafood - then down to San Fran for a wine tour in Napa and Sonoma, then head down to Chinatown for an Oriental food feast.
That would be 2 days. With 3 days to go - would jet out to the Austin Hill country for Texas Style BBQ, then head into Louisiana for an authentic run at some cajun food (emphasis on Gumbo and Boudin). That leaves one day left, I would probably head up to Chicago for a deep dish pizza.
But there's more: somehow would like to stop in Santa Fe for some good Southwestern cuisine, New York Tribeca district for some good Italian, Brooklyn for an authentic deli, Memphis for some ribs and then Miami over to Joes for some Stone Crabs.
Is there anyway I can have more than 5 days. Because I'd also like to stop at a few Micro Brews for some good fresh brewed beer, head to Amarillo for a steak, El Paso for real authentic Mexican food, back to Chicago for a hot dog, up to Buffalo just to try out some of their wings, venture to Toronto where I ate a great little French Restaurant near the sky tower.....
Okay I'll stop, but this is a great question...I guess my goal would be to find a hidden gem in each state..hmmmm maybe when I retire.
Ribster at 5:16AM on 06/12/09
@nalega: Great Topic...my mind is spinning with the possibilities...
International: Western Pacific to include Tokyo, Shanghai, Seoul, Vietnam, New Zealand.
Domestically: A BBQ tasting: Nashville, Memphis, Kansas City, San Antonio, St. Louis
thegoch at 7:10AM on 06/12/09
Tuscany.
smallkitchen at 7:21AM on 06/12/09
I want 5 days working with Mario Batalli.
huneybumper at 8:07AM on 06/12/09
anywhere near any ocean with lots of seafood : )
goodcooker at 8:23AM on 06/12/09
All expenses paid? France.
Grumpy Old Man at 8:36AM on 06/12/09
US: the southwest
International: Campania area of Italy
finsbigfan at 8:38AM on 06/12/09
Ah, honeybumper stole my answer. I was going to say Italy with Mario Batali as my escort.
annabanannas at 8:44AM on 06/12/09
@anna I just want to observe him in the kitchen for 5 days, hell truth is I'd spend 5 days washing dishes for a chance to watch him work.
huneybumper at 8:48AM on 06/12/09
I would love the opportunity to visit (and eat!) in France - not necessarily Paris, but places like Provence and Normandy, in the countryside and small towns. My choice for a celebrity chef to accompany me - Jamie Oliver or Ina Garten.
bareneed at 8:54AM on 06/12/09
@ribster...that's my kind of vacation! I always tell my dh that I'd love to get a winnebago & do just that when we retire...unfortunately he's not a foodie at all...he just doesn't understand! lol
mepolo at 9:04AM on 06/12/09
Paris.
There's a trip I've ben saving up for years now with David Lebovitz & Mort Rosenblum...a 'grand chocolate tour'...one day.
Second choice?
Pittsburgh.
My mom is the best cook in the world and I could use 5 days at home.
gastronomeg at 9:04AM on 06/12/09
I'd love to eat my way through Italy. Or Greece. Or Morocco, or Thailand. And I want eat at everything from 5-star restaurant to "hole-in-the-wall, Mom & Pop" places that nobody but the locals know about. Although I think gastronomeg's "Chocolate tour" sounds awesome too!
kimberlymac at 9:12AM on 06/12/09
Italy
Piedmont
Truffle Season
derosa at 9:26AM on 06/12/09
Italy, but 5 days is not enough! So, there is a little goat farm in Vermont that makes all kinds of cheeses and they run programs 3-4 times a year where you can learn and participate hands on the entire process! It sounds fabulous and well done, and I've wanted to go for years. Send me in October please for the foliage....
Cary at 9:53AM on 06/12/09
A culinary tour of Asia - Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, China, Singapore, and the Phillippines. However, this would probably be impossible in five weeks, let alone five days, so I would go with...India! Delhi belly you say? I have an iron stomach. I've always wanted to see India by train a la Darjeeling Limited, sampling the diversity of the food from north to south. I'd even pay for a sixth day on the beach in Goa, fat and happy under a palm tree with a coconut in hand.
LetThemEatQueso at 10:36AM on 06/12/09
This is tough! But a friend recently came back from a trip to Baja, Mexico. She said the food was outstanding the entire time- many undiscovered wineries and B&Bs serving up fresh seafood and lots of deliciousness. Perhaps I would go there.
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 10:51AM on 06/12/09
My dream vacation would include:
One week cooking in America's Test Kitchen in Boston and helping with filming their show.
One week cooking in the test kitchens at Food Network and helping with any of the shows.
One week helping on set cooking, prepping, research, script writing, etc. for Be Square while they are filming Good Eats.
Ahhhh, yes. A vocation vacation.
-Dawn
Wicked Good Dinner
WickedGoodDinner at 10:53AM on 06/12/09
Definitely Italy!!
caramel at 11:59AM on 06/12/09
This is one of those nearly impossible topics.
My heart would take me anywhere and everywhere.
But for sake of 'mock necessity' of choice--
an abbreviated skip through all Med-bordering countries. One meal in each of whichever five countries would suffice. Would tend to be pulled to the Northern bordering nations.
If only life goals were so easily fulfilled.
emilytaylor at 12:01PM on 06/12/09
Tough to choose! Mine would either be:
- Ukraine + Greece + Turkey with a pit stop in Lebanon
- Mongolia + Korea + Vietnam
I'd love to check out Dubai as well...but I know there wouldn't be enough time!
Cassaendra at 12:11PM on 06/12/09
Italy
Spain
France
Croatia
Vietnam
CJ McD at 12:21PM on 06/12/09
Wicked post nalega!!!!!!
I've always wanted to visit the Big Apple (many of my posts mention this)
As a greek-cuisine lover; I'd also DIE to visit Athens and taste the real-deal.
On a more realistic (semi-off-topic) note:
Disney World's Delux Dining Plan (Dec 2008) provided one of the best foodie experiences OF MY LIFE! I could go on forever about how much my expectations were exceeded with this option.
PS. I hope to visit my family in Germany this fall and re-sample Omas friggen-super-bestest foods :)
hungrychristel at 12:23PM on 06/12/09
A Euro/cruise. Italy, Greece, France, Spain.
pjracz10 at 4:38PM on 06/12/09
Lyon and environs in fall/early winter so there's game available.
Ortolan at 4:54PM on 06/12/09
5 days in an Italian/Tuscan chateau - going to the market and learning about all the local ingredients in teh mornings and taking cooking lessons in the afternoons. It'll be my thirty-tenth birthday present from me to me. Ahhhhhh!!!!
MadelynRodriguez at 5:06PM on 06/12/09
Since we are only talking five days, it would have to be Paris.
Paula Maack at 5:17PM on 06/12/09
I've pretty much traveled the world on my stomach but truly, truly I'd love to spend a week in the modest kitchen of Alton Brown's grandmother; somewhere on the south Atlantic seaboard, soaking in the simple pleasures of heritage Americana cooking.
If the episode were true, I've seen her go head to head with Alton in a biscuit bake-off. Her well of experienced wisdom held its own against his "food science".
czken at 5:24PM on 06/12/09
Either France or Spain. If Spain, I'd absolutely have to stop by Pateria de Sousa!
yayfood at 11:17PM on 06/12/09
For USA, I'd choose New Orleans, Charleston, South Carolina, New York City, Chicago, and Miami.
Out of the country, I'd pick Italy, Greece, and Spain.
Pinotnana at 10:53AM on 06/13/09
@czken unfortunately AB's grandmother passed away shortly after that episode was filmed. It was a great episode though!
huneybumper at 9:47PM on 06/13/09
A toss between Tuscany (Italy) and San Sebastian (Spain).
cucumberpandan at 10:49PM on 06/15/09
A leisurely tour of Nappa and Sonoma would be lovely. But, as strange as it sounds, just hitting every farmers' market, farm stand and Amish food stand with in a 50 mile radius while camping in the Adirondacks is my idea of fun. Great driving with scenic views and a boatload of bounty to cook with over the campfire and campstove. And of course part of that dream would include my hubby and sons carrying water and helping with the over all clean up. It just may come true early August.
dhorst at 11:34PM on 06/15/09
Easy- International is mediterranean/middle east (ok including N African influences). US is definitely southern, because I'm not very familiar with southeast US and I would love to learn about the history behind creole/cajun cuisine...
oregonpinot at 3:53AM on 06/16/09
In the US it would be New York. Followed closely by New Orleans...never been to NY and I was too young to understand the food I was eating the last time I was in New Orleans.
Abroad would have to be France. Even something as simple as cheese there would probably be an incredible experience.
hkydiva at 5:05PM on 06/16/09
Paris or New York........or both!
portail32 at 8:42PM on 06/16/09
I'm onboard with the Asia trip - Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong...
juliebean at 1:07PM on 06/17/09
Take three years and eat my way around the world. Long time dream of mine.
tatianak at 3:34PM on 06/17/09
Hong Kong
wookie at 3:39PM on 06/17/09
Malaysia. Or anywhere the opposite of Italy, frankly. My brain and mouth are pretty tired of Mediterranean flavors right now.
JustNancy at 6:22PM on 06/17/09
All expenses paid? Oh, Japan and Hong Kong, absolutely!
CityMinx at 5:49PM on 06/18/09
Start in Gibraltar. go East. follow the coast of the Mediteranean until i reach the other Pillar of Hercules.
redhead at 8:26PM on 06/19/09
@tatinak - agreed. I would take it nice and slow. Gotta give time for the stomach to digest.
But my trip would include occasional stop-overs for some liposuction, tummy tuck, body cleanse that I will certainly need.
JubileeNYC at 10:01PM on 06/19/09
domestic? new york
abroad? mmmm....france.....cheesey cheese cheese! i might end up dying from all that cream but it would be well worth it!!
sfred at 9:33AM on 06/20/09
Domestic: New Orleans
Abroad: Japan, South America, China, Singapore.
eviliciouz at 3:17PM on 06/20/09
Abroad - Mendoza Argentina and Spain everywhere.
Domestice - New Orleans
Romi04 at 12:28AM on 06/22/09
Definitely Japan! I could eat anything and everything there...best foodie place I've been to so far.
YummyInTheCity at 1:23AM on 06/22/09
Japan - luxurious ryokan stay with perfect Kyoto style kaiseki meals.
Aaah...
fuuchan at 3:17AM on 06/22/09
As a Brit who's been to a lot of the places already mentioned (Japan, Lebanon, France, Italy) I would choose Chicago. Give me endless deep-dish and tavern-style pizza. Fill me with Italian Beef (cheesy, combo with peppers, dipped). Get the tamales at the ready. Start turning the gyros. Take the cheesecake out of the fridge. Hang the steaks to dry. Cast a net for the lake perch. Toss the sweetcorn on the grill. Heat up the pizza puffs. Grab a Vienna Beef, and drag it through the garden. Call Milwaukee, tell them we'll be needing a large supply of Bratwurst to be cooked in beer with hot mustard. A large bag of Jay's potato chips. Proper Kielbasa, on a soft roll; or better yet, small slices of the spicy sausage Uncle Jan used to bring at Christmas. Carson's Ribs, stand at the ready. And have the Strohs and the Old Style well-chilled.
Grew up in the city, now live 4000 miles away, and miss it like crazy a lot of the time. I want a burger from Schoop's and a dog from Boz's so much...and a Lou Malnattis pizza would probably kill me with joy.
NotAmerican at 7:40AM on 06/22/09
Chicago! Went for a long weekend,ate @ Alinea, Tru and Boca. Had tasting menus @ each one. Amazing!
JoyceSusan at 4:37PM on 06/22/09
Sorry thought it was best foodie vacation you went on. I would like to eat my way across Italy.
JoyceSusan at 4:39PM on 06/22/09
Any where where there is cheap yet fresh & delicious sashimi!!!!!
Giasbash6260 at 11:29PM on 06/22/09