Ali Barbour's Cave

Would you prefer a table in your own corner of an ancient cave or a spot under the stars? That's the choice for diners at one of Kenya's most romantic restaurants, set in a cavern that is hundreds of thousands of years old. The candle-lit cave is made up of a series of interlinking chambers, creating romantic nooks and crannies, with an open patio so diners can also opt to eat under the stars.

Situated 30km south of Mombasa, the cave was converted into a restaurant 33 years ago by husband and wife, George & Jackie Barbour. Rather appropriately named Ali Barbour's Cave, the restaurant welcomes up to 80 guests a night for the unique dining experience.

Booking Office Bar and Restaurant

The fantasy of time travel is simply a daydream one never expects to embark upon. But as you step into the stately venue of the former ticketing headquarters for London’s St. Pancras Rail Station, murmurs of hurried travelers beginning their journeys linger in the air and you begin to believe time travel is possible. The grandiose new resident occupying the former booking office of the British railway services transports you back, far back, to a time when travel was a luxury and preparation for it was a social experience. The appropriately titled, Booking Office Bar and Restaurant in the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel, is an architectural statement of British heritage and history. Gothic arched windows frame the dramatically high ceilings while the 100ft marble bar spans the length of the palatial cathedral-like hall. Rich, stylish furnishings and dark wood décor are the backdrop to the show stopping centerpiece of the room, the original ticket booth, magnificently restored and a true testament of the respect taken during restoration, celebrating both the ephemeral lifestyle of a jet-setter and the legacy of English traditions.

The unique appeal of the Booking Office is reflected in the clientele, a revolving door of diverse guests ranging from business suits to fashionable socialites all with varying purposes and schedules. Patrons can arrive fresh from their Eurostar journeys and nibble on a selection of bar snacks, like haggis bon-bons and modern interpretations of time-honored British recipes. The drinks menu, a declaration of praise and admiration of the Victorian era, features an array of bespoke and seasonal cocktails with contemporary novelties such as Billy Dawson’s punch, served in hand made copper punch bowls. Continuing down the path of reverence to English heritage, there is an abundance of wines, ales and ciders sourced from local and historical breweries. Afternoon tea can be enjoyed on the outside seating area overlooking the platforms of St. Pancras Station.

A ubiquitous café echoing the transient spirit of its patrons, the Booking Office Bar and Restaurant is not just a passage until your next destination, it is your destination.

Pigeon Hole Cafe

Pigeon Hole is as much a social scene as a café. You go there expecting that you will know many of the customers - and that is partly because the place is always crowded with regulars who return again and again for Emma's great coffee and Jay's perfectly-pitched food.

This café would be right at home in New York's Lower East Side or the 11th in Paris. It is quite small with less than 20 seats inside and a few more on the footpath outside. It sits on the fringe of the city in a residential area where people walk to work, stopping in here for their first fix of coffee for the day.

Saturday morning is a real buzz with regulars and visitors claiming tables here from early in the morning. The tables turn over regularly so there is rarely a long wait.

Dishes for the day are chalked on a blackboard on the wall. There are usually three or four breakfast dishes and a similar number of lunch offerings.

Pigeon Hole is famous for its panini which anchor both the breakfast and lunch menus. The fillings tend to vary from day to day but you can usually be assured that the sought-after breakfast panino filled with long-cooked onions and gruyere cheese will be available.

Two other long-time favourites at breakfast are the house-cooked baked beans and the baked eggs with onions and jamon. There is also a comforting dish of yoghurt with fruit and crunch from nuts such as pistachios. A recent addition has been a flavour-packed dish of baked eggs with taleggio and parsley and preserved lemon. The interplay between the tang of the preserved lemon and the punch of the cow's milk cheese from northern Italy form a perfect backdrop to the richness of the perfectly baked eggs.

At lunch there is always a soup and a savoury panino available. We fondly remember a chicken, carrot and trofie soup which consisted of shreds of chicken, circles of carrot and the rolled pasta swimming in a very good stock, punctuated with green flecks of parsley. The trofie is a pasta that is hand-rolled and twisted to form short, tapered shapes that are ideal for a soup.

We have also enjoyed a panino stuffed with meat balls and slathered with grated cheese. The flavour packed into this parcel was amazing.

Jay has increased the bread production now, working as a baker at night and a chef during the day! Every morning the shelves now groan with his flavoursome loaves of perfect bread which you can buy any time of day. The sourdough loaves are particular favourites and you can be assured that they are the 'real deal' with no shortcuts taken.

Gelateria dei Gracchi

Gracchi looks spare—clinical even. But a just-delivered crate of wild strawberries fragrantly reassures you. So does Gracchi’s pistachio gelato, considered Rome’s best. It’s alive with the flavor of fresh-roasted Bronte nuts from the slopes of Mount Etna. The gelatiere, Alberto Manassei, is a Neoclassicist whose fruit flavors follow the seasons and whose chocolate-and-rum frozen sensation draws on pure fondant (not just the usual cocoa powder).

El Garzon

Our restaurant is enhanced by the romance and taste of fire, our food is cooked on a old Andean technique called “infiernillo” (little hell) were we cook in between two wood fires, on different sized iron griddles, that go to the table with the sizzling delicacies. The result is very special, with the added flavors of simplicity; olive oil and fresh herbs from our garden are the added luxury to our food.

A classic Wood oven were we bake our breads and desserts is the last step of this restaurant that reaches as close as possible to our soul of south-American produce and history.

Knife & Fork

According to the knife & fork website it “is a restaurant that minimizes its impact on the environment and maximizes its impact on local economy by sourcing nearly all ingredients and materials from extremely local growers and suppliers.

The menu offers only seasonal and sustainable dishes that reflect the traditions and culture of the mountains or North Carolina.”

The restaurant is run by a husband and wife team, Chef Nathan Allen and his spouse Wendy. They opened knife & fork restaurant in July of 2009 after both leaving careers in Los Angles. Chef Nate studied at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island. He was on the opening culinary team of the James Beard Award winning Chef, Suzanne Goin, in her restaurant AOC (achieving “Most Popular Restaurant” – Los Angles/Zagat 2005-2006). He followed that up by working as a chef to many elite patrons for about five years. Wendy worked as a restaurant manager at high profile restaurants learning the ins and outs of the administrative side of managing a dining room.

Half of the dining room in knife & fork
Together they make an incredible team that covers all the bases. Both consistently refer to what they think the guest is looking for when they come to the restaurant. The guests don’t even have to come in the door to get a sense of a different style of restaurant. Wendy leaves several tables set without table cloth for those customers that feel more comfortable going without. Anticipating the guests’ needs and how they will dine doesn’t just happen. It comes with experience, knowledge, forethought and the willingness to work hard to make it happen for the guest. This team does it.

The two dishes I tried were fascinating studies in the use of local ingredients with a very few exceptions. Starting with a prosciutto wrapped rabbit livers skewered atop chili popcorn and pralines drizzled with reduced balsamic. The farmer who provides the rabbit provides all that he raises for knife & fork. I’m not the fondest of liver to begin with but the ingredients melded together to raise the bar for me. I could still taste the rich earthiness of the rabbit liver but it was rounded out by the prosciutto and balsamic. The pralines and chili popcorn added a sweet and spicy element to the dish to make it even more fascinating. When Chef was asked why he added a drizzle of olive oil to the plate. He said that he anticipated the diner to get just a little of the olive oil on each bite as we negotiate the bite and ingredients on the fork adding another hint of flavor.

The second dish was the crispy pulled pork with corn shoots and sautéed mustard greens and red Russian kale. This appeared more like a salad when it arrived with the pulled pork under the greens. The first item I tried was a corn shoot and it offered that sweet light corn profile that is so refreshing. The pork was prepared so that it was all crispy adding a nice texture to each bite. The greens added a bit of spice and the corn shoots gave their touch of sweetness giving the dish a more complete appeal for the senses.

In the two dishes the following ingredients were not from around these parts: olive oil, balsamic vinegar, chili spice and prosciutto. Chef Nate almost seemed apologetic that he acquired the pork from about an hour away and the popcorn from South Carolina. There is a true farm to table mentality at knife & fork that is hard to come by even in this local food haven of Western North Carolina. Nate and Wendy take their business serious and their passion is obvious.

I highly recommend taking the time to visit knife & fork. There are just over 40 seats, they do take reservations and walk-ins and they are closed on Mondays. I understand the Sunday Brunch is wonderful but also very busy. It is much easier to get in during the week.

What the Dickens?

The new generation of traders is raising street food drama to new heights – with costumes and scripts. Three old school friends founded What The Dickens to revive iconic British fare – dressed in cravats and cuff links, and riding round on a Victorian tricycle. "We're not trying to do anything theatrical" says Dominic Rose. "We just do what we do. We're three well-dressed gents larking about. And that just happens to include an element of performance."

Some days Adam and Michael will serenade the crowd on ukeleles while Dominic serves up home-smoked bacon and devilled kidneys. Other days, the friends will just banter – "and we'll try and flog people a bit of kedgeree off the back of it" says Dominic. "But we always wear ties. That's quite important. And Michael wears his brown bowler – the less formal version of the black bowler. He couldn't get away with black – this isn't the bank."

Julian Serrano

On this night we sat at the bar at Julian Serrano in the Aria Resort & Casino. Color, food, people, energy! Serrano wanted his eponymous restaurant to offer flexibility and comfort to all guests; from a quick bite to a long meal, small bites to larger portions, and what he calls economics – spend a little or spend a lot, he’s serving Spanish foods of his homeland with an International flair.

Interior design by famed Spanish design group Gente de Valor, in their first U.S. restaurant combining the elements of a Spanish restaurant with the more casual patio area (below) and more formal dining area (above) and bar (below) into one interior space. It’s fabulous!

L’Asino d’Oro

In northern Rome, far from the glitz of the Via Veneto and its five-star hotels, Lucio Sforza opened L’Asino d’Oro in November. The noncentral location was a calculated choice: the Montasacro neighborhood, he believes, is ripe for innovation, and the restaurant’s ultramodern Scandinavian-style interior seems to suggest just that.

Mr. Sforza originally gained fame as a chef in his hometown of Orvieto, where the first incarnation of L’Asino d’Oro was a pilgrimage destination for Italian gastronomes. He closed his doors there over a year ago and reopened in Rome to seek what he describes as “new adventure and new stimulus.”

At the new location, the handwritten menu changes daily to incorporate the freshest seasonal ingredients. The chef’s dishes evoke the traditions of central Italy — Umbria and northern Lazio, in particular — and are firmly rooted in peasant cuisine: A dense chestnut pancake starter would have provided ample fuel for tilling fields, while a hearty lentil soup could have been a source of protein for an Umbrian farmer.

Mr. Sforza’s signature dishes — mainly game, pork and offal — contrast sweet and savory elements. Tender wild boar in “dolceforte” is a harmonious blend of sweetness and pungent gaminess. Caramelized pork ribs have a delicate smokiness balanced with a lightly sweet glaze.

The chef spends most of each evening in the kitchen, visible through a porthole in the dining room. As dinner service draws to a close, he makes the rounds, greeting old customers from his days in Orvieto and conversing with new ones.

La Mar Cebicheria

Inspired by the thousands of cebicherías found throughout Perú, La Mar cebichería peruana was created as an attempt to globalize and preserve one of the best guarded treasures of Peruvian cuisine: cebiche, Peruvian seafood and the scenery created to enjoy them, the Peruvian style cebicheria. All this, while maintaining the natural joy that is always found in a cebicheria along with utter respect for the authenticity of Peruvian cuisine. Adding to these elements we provide all the necessary essentials to achieve that every single ingredient, flavor and plate surrounding the world of Peruvian cebicherias has the perfect stage on which to shine as each deserves, successfully bringing warmth to hearts around the world.

Since our first opening, La Mar cebichería Peruana has strived to attain its mission to encourage those who visit to discover, enjoy and forever make their own the marvelous invention that is Peruvian cuisine. Today’s Peruvian cuisine retains the humility it has had throughout its 5,000 year history, while embarking on the long voyage to enter a world in which Peruvian cebiche is enjoyed by all and has discovered the new cosmopolitan Peru, ready to play a major role in the 21st century.

Screen Door

This place is a must go when your in portland! Whether it be for brunch on the weekend or for dinner, they have the best fried chicken ever! If you go during brunch make sure atleast one person orders chicken and waffles, its the best chicken and waffles, well a close second. But if you do go for dinner, make sure to go a little later in the night or like 10-20 minutes before they open or you can be waiting up to an hour and half for a table. I guess that also counts for brunch, its literally busy all the time. Love the vibe from the place and honestly the best southern restaurant I have tried! Also make sure to try their mac and cheese and for desert get the banana cream pie (forgot what its called) but its the only banana related desert they have and its amazing.

Ithaa, Conrad Maldives Hotel

Situated 15 feet below the surface of the Indian Ocean, this is the only all-glass, undersea, aquarium style restaurant on the planet. Surrounded by the world famous Maldivian coral reef on all sides, dine while manta rays and other exotic, colourful marine life glide by. The restaurant only seats fourteen diners per service so is extremely exclusive. The food at the restaurant is as good as the surroundings serving a world-class fusion of Maldivian and Western cuisines. The restaurant is also famed for its champagne selection and cocktails and each diner is presented a genuine fresh pearl.

Villa Escudero

Villa Escudero is located in Quezon Province, Philippines, offering a vast hacienda filled with comfortable rooms, and a museum of curious things. Perhaps the most curious thing at the villa is the amazing Waterfalls Restaurant, where lunch is served against an impressive backdrop of thundering clear spring water. Grass fringed buffet stations and bamboo dining tables stand steadily in just inches of flowing river water from the sparkling falls, as it washes around the feet of diners enjoying delicious local dishes.

The experience of dining as water is running over your feet would certainly create a memorable holiday moment, and possibly one of your most unusual experiences ever, as they boast this “is a truly singular and memorable experience only Villa Escudero can offer.”