CHILE – Oenological Eden!
Arriving in Santiago for the first time is thrilling: from the plane the Andes rear up but faintly, as though behind a scrim. You expect the curtain to rise any moment, then it does, and there is the city, cupped and tucked beneath the massive mountains. I would...
Sylvan Siren — Franconia
photo courtesy Weingut Hans Wirsching So many wonderful wineries located in some of the most beautiful small villages in all of Germany: welcome to Franconia. Located about a two-hour train trip southeast of Frankfurt, Franconia is home to one of the world’s most...
DISCOVERING CACHAÇA
text ©2008 France has cognac, Scotland has scotch, Peru and Chile claim pisco as their national spirit, and yet until recently few of us in the United States had heard of cachaça, Brazil’s spirit of choice. With the caipirinha craze, as well as the opening of...
Exploring South Africa’s Cape Winelands
text & photos ©2010 Host country for the World Cup 2010 Soccer Games, South Africa’s time has come. Buffed and polished to the nth degree, the nine host cities exude excitement and pride. Cape Town is where the June 11 kick-off begins and the “Mother City” of...
Romancing the Rhones 2012
Text and photos ©2012 The Rhone valley came to the San Francisco mint on July 14th to celebrate Bastille Day and give aficionados a chance to savor some of these blended beauties. We found a lot to like! The SF Mint is a truly marvelous venue for a wine tasting:...
ALTO-ADIGE COMES TO SAN FRANCISCO
©2010 Like many border areas in Europe, this precious parcel of wine-making heaven has been tossed between nations — here, Austria and Italy — and the wines reflect this double heritage. The Dolomites protect the vineyards from wind and allow the 300+ days of sunshine...
TASMANIA: A Land Apart
Barossa. McLaren Vale. Coonawarra, Margaret River. Most U.S. wine consumers are familiar with these names for they are the Australian wine regions which export abundantly overseas: those chesty Chardonnays and heady reds from Western Australia and the old-...
Swiss Idyll
I recently went on a wine safari of Switzerland. This is the only way to define a voyage of discovery as filled with tantalizing tastes and sights as you might experience during a safari through the African veldt. Only here the exotic flora is rare grape...
The Ostschweiz: Northeastern Switzerland
text and photos © by Susanna Gaertner Our jumbo Airbus 340, on its recently inaugurated non-stop service from San Francisco to Zurich, with its exuberantly colorful markings is a novel sight. As I look down on it before departure, the man next to me wants to know...
2014 PINOT NOIR SUMMIT
To arrive at the wines for this year’s PINOT NOIR SUMMIT we tasted over 400 Pinots. We weedled that list down to the top forty-four wines, which ranged from $20 to $60 with an average price of $32. My favorite dozen were: Asuncion Ridge Vineyards, 2010 Estate, Central...
Presto Pasta
For a last-minute entertainment emergency, you might have use for this fast yet fancy pasta. It will take you no more than 15 minutes to put this together! You can use any short-cut pasta but I like campanelle, or “little bells.” Other favorites are gemelli (twins),...
Georgia Sea Grill: Leading the Golden Isles in Farm to Table Cuisine
Located on Georgia’s picturesque St. Simon’s Island, this seafood restaurant was a not-to-be missed highlight of our visit to this award-winning Golden Isle. As one island resident proclaimed to a couple browsing the menu outside the restaurant “Trust me. If you only...
BLUEGILL: Flaming Oysters Served with Seafood, Sunsets and Live Music on Alabama’s Mobile Bay
The Bluegill Restaurant has been serving oysters, alligator, shrimp and many varieties of Gulf fish continuously since 1958, with only brief interruptions for repairs after hurricanes. The exterior is deceptively unassuming, but step inside and you will be swept into...
FISHER’S: A Rare Culinary Gem on Alabama’s Gulf Coast
Discovering Fisher's nestled in the Orange Beach Marina on Alabama's Gulf Coast is akin to finding an unblemished Junonia shell washed up on the nearby white sandy shoreline. Rare. Unexpected. Exhilarating. Fisher's is in a gorgeous setting with a truly exceptional...
Basta Pizza e Pasta: Rome’s Best Non-Italian Restaurants
When I first arrived in Rome in 1972 as a young bride, I could count the number of “foreign” restaurants on one hand. Now I only remember three: French “Charly’s Saucerie” between the Colosseum and St. John Lateran, Japanese “Hamasei” downtown near Piazza di Spagna,...
Ginger Pumpkin Bread
Here's another take on a seasonal favorite. This is more of a bread than a cake; the slices want to be buttered! This recipe calls for butter instead of oil and is delicately ginger flavored. I always add more ginger, or grate in a touch of fresh. Nuts add vital...
Panettone: The Story of Italy’s Ubiquitous Christmas Cake
Panettone translates as “a large loaf of bread”. Actually, it’s a large sweet bready cake with various creamy fillings, raisins and candied fruits; its dome’s covered with toppings of different flavors. Panettone’s origins probably date to the Roman Empire:...
Lucky New Year’s Foods
New Year’s Eve is Saint Sylvester’s Night. If an east wind is blowing, it promises a calamitous next twelve months. Roman-born Pope Sylvester I was pope from January 31, 314 to his death on December 31,,335. He is buried in Rome’s Catacombs of Priscilla. During his...
Victual* Bits
Here are some tips, tricks, and shortcuts that I have come across or invented in the course of my foodie journey, ones that I think readers may enjoy. While I make every effort to give credit where it is due, many of these ideas may have become so much a part of my...
Dining Our Way Around Adventures in the Gorge in West Virginia
There is a long list of reasons why you should visit the amazing Adventures on the Gorge. Located in the startlingly beautiful New River Gorge in the Appalachian Mountains of southern West Virginia, which is part of the New River Gorge National Park, it’s not only in...
That Sinking Feeling
In which our Far-Flung Correspondent heads for Venice for the world’s greatest muscle-powered nautical event: the Vogalonga. Four decades ago in a galaxy far, far away—that is to say, Venice, which is, yes, in Italy, but no, not of this world—Toni Rosa Salva...
Simply Seggiano
The little red Fiat took the curves and inclines in 360 degrees of glorious countryside and tiny villages on the Cassia from Firenze. Spring showed its presence in wildflowers, mustard, shocks of wisteria, roses, supernatural green quilted fields, and hints of...
The Janiculum: Rome’s Eighth Hill
The refrain of the Morcheeba, a British trip hop Band, tells us repeatedly in the most famous hit of their 2000 album, “Fragments of Freedom,” “Don’t you know that Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Indeed so, Rome, a layer-cake of history built on seven hills, is...
Experience a Gondola Cruise in America: La Gondola in Providence, Rhode Island
It is not necessary to travel all the way to Venice to experience your first delightful cruise on a gondola; on the contrary, all you need to do is make a quick trip to Providence, Rhode Island. Surprisingly enough, you can enjoy a lovely gondola cruise on the...
Where Train Tracks and Food intersect in Dalat, Vietnam
Located in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, the picturesque town of Dalat is a corner of France in the tropics. Created as a hill station from a barren plateau in the early 20th century by the French colonial powers, modern-day Dalat retains much of its European...
It’s Not Too Late for a Michigan Ski Getaway Weekend!
Although daffodils are poking their little, bright yellow heads up in certain parts of the country, there are still plenty of snow and skiing options available in northern Michigan. Snow doesn't melt in these parts until late in the Spring and there are lots of...
Duluth — An Uncommon Vacation
Our suite at South Pier Inn, with a warming fire and a jetted tub, commanded a 270-degree view encompassing the blue water of Superior Bay and the Aerial Lift Bridge at the entrance to Lake Superior. In the morning the surface of the bay was a glistening white slab of...
Delicious NOLA
The city beckoned as the 737 landed mid-afternoon at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. We craved NOLA’s offerings and anticipated people and places prepared to satisfy. Four days and three nights later, ten highlights are too delicious to keep to...
Traveling to Tuscany?
FutureBrand, the international business evaluation company, surveyed thousands of people to describe countries worldwide in a few words. The three most frequent for Italy were culture, beauty, and food. Without a doubt food is a “driver” when it comes to...
AUTUMN IN VERMONT
text and photos ©2012 Driving down nearly deserted roads during the first two weeks of October, I couldn't help but wonder, 'If this is the busy season, what is Vermont like in the off-season.' This, after all, was the “high season” as tourists flock to see the...