Tag: Restaurants

Photo You Must See: Ice Restaurant in China

Photo You Must See: Ice Restaurant in China REUTERS/China Daily
REUTERS/China Daily

Diners sit at a table in an ice restaurant in Harbin, in north east China. The temperature in the restaurant is about 25 degrees.


Kyoto Joins Tokyo Near the Top of the Michelin Heap

Kyoto Joins Tokyo Near the Top of the Michelin Heap Photo by rhosoi via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Photo by rhosoi via Flickr (Creative Commons)

Brace yourselves, foodies of the Western hemisphere: If you were disgruntled about Tokyo landing top Michelin honors last year—receiving more stars than Paris and New York combined in its debut guide—then you probably won’t be happy to hear that Kyoto is following close behind. The city received 110 stars in its first-ever Michelin treatment, including six three-star restaurants—one more than New York City.


Has the World’s First Novelty Restaurant Been Discovered?

Looks like it. Archaeologists in Rome claim to have unearthed a circular rotating dining room used by Emperor Nero, proving, as Felicity Cloake writes in the Guardian, that “when it comes to naff eateries, anything we can do, the toga wearers did first.”

The AP has a proper news report on the discovery:


Are Zagat Ratings an Endangered Species?

Are Zagat Ratings an Endangered Species? Photo by philosophygeek via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Photo by philosophygeek via Flickr (Creative Commons)

The New York Post reports that the company’s book sales are “down dramatically” and that web traffic is declining, too. The culprits? The recession—and its impact on high-end dining—on the one hand, and free online upstarts like Yelp and Chowhound on the other.


McWorld Goes Local

Further evidence (not that we needed it) that a globalized McWorld does not necessarily mean global homogeneity: Increasingly—though it has been going on for years—fast food franchises around the world are rolling out menu items created for local tastes.

From Global Post:

Domino’s pizzas come topped with squid in Taiwan, black beans in Guatemala and feta cheese in Greece. In China, Kentucky Fried Chicken sells rice congee, while Col. Sanders in India woos vegetarians with offerings like the Chana Snacker, a chickpea burger topped with Thousand Island sauce.


A Night at El Bulli, Frame by Frame

After a five-year effort, Amateur Gourmet blogger Adam Roberts finally landed a reservation at El Bulli, the Barcelona restaurant regularly dubbed the best in the world. He’s documented his 30-course evening in an entertaining comic strip/photo essay. David Farley interviewed El Bulli’s chef, Ferran Adria, for World Hum back in March. (Via The Morning News)


In Search of America’s Most Bizarre Restaurants

World Hum contributor Nicholas Gill lists his picks over at Forbes Traveler.


The Last Bite and the Other Part of the Fish

The Last Bite and the Other Part of the Fish Photo by David Farley
Photo by David Farley

Few people are lured to the Czech Republic for its cuisine, but I’m one of them. Actually, hearty Czech food is a taste acquired over time (accompanied by lots of pints of hoppy pilsner). Until recently the pub grub—rich goulash and pork made just about every way you can imagine—functioned more as stomach filler than actual taste bud pleasers. But things are slowly changing.

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Can We Interest You in a Whale Meat Spring Roll?

Uh oh. A group of restaurateurs in Yokohama, Japan, is looking to embrace the port city’s whaling heritage with a slew of new recipes—including whale dumplings, whale spring rolls and whale bacon. “Whale meat is a very important part of Japanese tradition,” one of the leading businessmen behind the push told the AFP. “If whaling is not done to excess, I think this is a great thing. ... Whale meat is delicious, high in protein, low in fat.”

Delicious or not, I can already hear the howls of protest from animal-rights activists worldwide.


Nashville: You’ve Still Got It

Nashville: You’ve Still Got It Photo by exothermic via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Photo by exothermic via Flickr (Creative Commons)

Nashville,

Just after I plucked my bag from the baggage carousel and walked out the airport doors to meet my ride, you wrapped me up in your humidity. Though that kind of welcome would, normally, put me off, I found it comforting. You were just making it clear that I was back in Nashville, that my two year for-no-good-reason exile from your borders had come to a close.

Before my visit, I told you I was nervous. One of my favorite cities, you had gone magical in my mind. When I thought about you, it was always fun fun fun, big food, history, music, blah blah blah. You were far removed from daily life. But from the minute that humidity grabbed me, I knew all would be OK. While my past visits have been anchored with purpose (reporting stories, the Tin Pan South festival, and so on), this trip was about, simply, hanging out and letting the week unfold as it might. I wanted to see what it was like just to be in Nashville, no run-around keep-yourself-busy necessary. My only requirements: eat at least one ice pop at Las Paletas and get a better understanding of the way your neighborhoods relate to each other.

You delivered.

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The Secret is Out on Secret Dining

The Secret is Out on Secret Dining Photo by wit via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Photo by wit via Flickr (Creative Commons)

I met a woman at a party a few months ago who, when she witnessed my eyebrow-raising eating prowess, revealed she knows of a few secret dining spots: places only known by the covert band of dining cognoscenti, a cabal of eaters who fetishize the idea of eating in places that no one else knows of. I know, it’s exciting. I tried to extract the information from her that night with the grace of a tooth-pulling dentist, but she wouldn’t budge.

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Checking in at the Boone Tavern

Checking in at the Boone Tavern Photo by Alexander Basek
Photo by Alexander Basek

Swinging through the positively quaint town of Berea, Kentucky, last week, I had the chance to stay at the refurbished Boone Tavern. The hotel, which is owned by Berea College, just across the street, celebrated its 100th anniversary this year with some renovations that are now more or less complete; they were laying a snazzy brick design in the parking lot turnaround when I was there.

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Luau Chow: Chicken Long Rice

Luau Chow: Chicken Long Rice Photo by Randy Willis via Flickr (Creative Commons).
Photo by Randy Willis via Flickr (Creative Commons).

I admit it: I think you should go to a luau at least once. You need to see one of those big showy events where the dancers make you think impure thoughts with their suggestive hips and a shirtless guy twirls fire while drums pound. Also, there should be a huge buffet where a roast pig comes out of a hole in the ground and poi is dished up in polite amounts for the malahini (foreigners) and there’s a big gooey pan of chicken long rice.

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When Choosing the Best Food in America, What Matters?

When Choosing the Best Food in America, What Matters? Photo by Unlisted Sightings via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Photo by Unlisted Sightings via Flickr (Creative Commons)

Lately, the word best has been tumbling around my mind a lot. Blame it on the Beard Awards. Who was it going to be? Who would capture the crowns for best chefs in America?

Now, before you slam me for being anti-best, I’m not. I make part of my living off the damned, er, lovely word. As a travel and food writer, I package a bit of this from one place with a bit of that from another. Drape a coat of “best” on it—after extensive tasting and inner turmoil over who I’m leaving out—and, blammo, a list is born.

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A Twitter Road Trip Twitique: What Worked, What Didn’t

A Twitter Road Trip Twitique: What Worked, What Didn’t Photo by Sophia Dembling
Photo by Sophia Dembling

My husband Tom and I recently drove a loop south from Albuquerque. (Here’s an annotated map of our route, in case you want to follow in our tire tracks.) This was the first time I’ve Twittered from the road. Interestingly, the great to-Twitter-or-not-to-Twitter debate started up while I was Twittering my trip and triggered a little metacognition about the process. Is it the right thing to do, and what makes a good travel Tweet?

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Don’t Forget to Splurge!

Don’t Forget to Splurge! Photo by Carlton Browne via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Photo by Carlton Browne via Flickr (Creative Commons)

For me, part of the fun of budget travel is the chance to loosen the purse strings once in a while and drop some cash on a worthwhile splurge.

Whether that means a night in a plush hotel room after weeks of hosteling, a spa day, or a way-out-of-my-price-range meal, I generally find some way to treat myself once during any budget-conscious trip—and, I figure, I appreciate my reward that much more than if I’d been pampering myself all along. It doesn’t have to be about spending a lot of money, either. My favorite travel splurge of all time cost just $15.

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Interview With a Celebrity Chef: Govind Armstrong

Interview With a Celebrity Chef: Govind Armstrong Photo courtesy of Table 8 at the Cooper Square Hotel
Photo courtesy of Table 8 at the Cooper Square Hotel

Govind Armstrong may not yet be 40 years old, but the dreadlocked chef is already a veteran in the kitchen, having logged time in some of the world’s most famous restaurants.

It all started at the improbable age of 13 when Armstrong found himself working at Spago, Wolfgang Puck’s celebrated Los Angeles restaurant. Now, after working in some of the most acclaimed kitchens in Los Angeles and Spain, he’s on the verge of his own restaurant empire. The Los Angeles and South Beach outposts of Table 8 won rave reviews, and now he’s about to take his biggest leap yet: New York.

On his way up the celebrity-chef ladder, he’s found himself on Iron Chef America, as a judge on Top Chef and on People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People” list.

I met up with Chef Armstrong at the Cooper Square Hotel in New York’s East Village where he’s putting the finishing touches on the Big Apple outpost of Table 8.

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Eight Great Travel Stories About Food

Eight Great Travel Stories About Food iStockphoto

To mark World Hum's eighth anniversary, we've collected eight favorite stories from our archives that explore the sweet spot where taste meets travel

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My Twice-Cooked Pork Epiphany

twice-cooked pork Photo by avlxyz via Flickr, (Creative Commons)

Living in Shanghai, Julia Ross wasn't too hot on Chinese food. Then she moved to Taiwan and stepped into Shao Shao Ke.

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The Last Taco in Playa del Carmen

The Last Taco in Playa del Carmen Photo by David Farley
Photo by David Farley

I was dying for a good taco. I’d been on the tourist-board-branded Mayan Riviera (the coastline south of Cancun) for a few days and had been planted in beachside, tourist-crammed towns where a legion of mediocre restaurants lined the sea like B-grade culinary sentries guarding tourists from the locals-only edible delights off the beaten path.

The last straw came when my wife, Jessie, and I picked the most salt-of-the-earth eatery in Playa del Carmen and sat down, thinking the place might yield something more authentic than what we’d been served so far.

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