I’ve ordered the incredibly delicious truffles for my wife from Vosges Haut-Chocolat for Valentine’s Day in the past. But for the perfect gift for the Moms in your life from this Chicago-based company, give these a look… • The Lady – The limited edition Luxe Fleur pictured here, each filled with flower adorned truffles. •…
Wine is fine with most foods. But when I’m dipping tortilla chips into salsa, eating a burrito topped with guacamole or washing down rice, beans and other Mexican delights, I’ll take a cold beer. Anytime. One I’ve heard about is Chipotle Ale from Rogue Ales in Newport, Oregon. It features smoked jalapeños, or chipotle chiles,…
Hot tables. Hot nights. Hot spas. With summer coming soon, Condé Nast Traveler has just uncovered the hottest new restaurants and nightspots around the globe, as well as the world’s best new spas. Its Web page says CNT covers “the 82 best places to eat –– from Australia to Vietnam and with entrees from $3…
The secretive, anonymous food critic at the San Francisco Chronicle is immersed in food day and night. Because he only writes a few weekly restaurant reviews about local cuisine, he’s now pleased to be able to share all the other stuff rattling around in his well-seasoned brain — including eateries in New York and other…
This must be heaven for wine, spa and golf lovers. Surrounded by 135 acres of some of the world’s best vineyards, the former chateau now known as Relais De Margaux is elegance personified. Northwest of Bordeaux in the world famous Medoc region, high-quality grapes are grown here to produce Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and…
There’s a Starbucks in my little corner of the world. That’s not unusual. But now, 50 yards away inside the Safeway Store where I shop, they’re building another Starbucks. Obviously, it’s for shoppers who can’t walk a few extra feet to pay through the nose for their half-decaf, half-latte, cappucino with three shots of espresso…
The Boss, Bruce Springsteen, sang songs, played guitar and generally whipped the crowd into a frenzy Monday at what he called “criminal ineptitude” in Hurricane Katrina’s wake. It was during the New Orleans Jazz Festival, which runs from April 28 to May 7. After visiting the Ninth Ward, he added, “I saw sights I never…
Since we’re putting the spotlight on beer festivals this week, let’s raise a frosty, frothy mug to these upcoming spring salutes throughout the Golden and Silver States: • Beer Festival, Boonville, May 6 –– Sample suds of over 50 brewers from many states, including Deschutes in Oregon and New Belgium Brewing Company. It’s at the…
Bergkirchweih is the other beer festival, held in a hamlet in southern Germany, so it’s not as well-known as Octoberfest in Munich. Yet every year since 1755, more than a million people flock to the “Berg” in the Alps for beer, brats and Bavarian music. Best of all, this one attracts far fewer tourists than…
I haven’t yet flown Jet Blue, but all my friends rave about it. To capture these passenger love stories, the airline’s ad agency, J. Walter Thompson, has created The Story Booth. Designed by New York’s Mesh Architecture, the booth, which features an interactive atmosphere, just launched a 10-city tour after its initial installment in New…
My travel writing colleague and photographer John Flinn recently ventured to the end of the world as we know it. It’s called Ushuaia, an Argentine town of 50,000 in Tierra del Fuego. Pronounced “oosh-WHY-uh,” it’s better known as the world’s southernmost city. I’ve been to the other most southern city — Invercargill in New Zealand…
For years, I thought only hippies and vegans ate organic produce. I thought it was overpriced vs. the traditional veges and fruit I bought at my local grocery store. Not anymore. Now, my family is buying organic milk. Why? Because it’s produced by cows who are raised on feed with fewer pesticides. We’re buying organic…