THE THOMS SUNDAY TRAVEL SECTION.
Last week, we were looking at different places where you can pray.
So this week, let’s take a look at some fun, unusual places where you can eat.
Spoiler alert: next Sunday’s (Valentine’s Day), topic may be…
Theme Restaurants.
There are places where you can eat in a pitch black room enhancing the taste and smell. We are not going to talk about those. They could be anywhere and since you can’t see anything…
In 1900, a French tire company began putting out their Michelin Guide to direct travelers to quality restaurants. To get a star next to your name means you are “a very good restaurant’. In 1933, they add a second and third star tier.
In 2020, there were more than 100 restaurants with the highest rating “exceptional cuisine that is worth a special journey.”
France and Japan tie with thirty 3-star restaurants each. The United States has 15.
I have been very lucky to dine at several establishments on the Michelin list.
But we are not going to talk about these restaurants although they are famous for their food and service.
Not becasue they are not good. But, there isn’t room. There are almost 400 with a 2-star rating and more than 2,000 with one star.
That is a Treat.
Instead, I am going to cover just a few restaurants I like or think are out of the ordinary.
These, I think, (you may not), have the right mix of food, service, and atmosphere.
Do not get me wrong, I require service in a service industry establishment. My resume includes just about every position from manager down to pot washer, in several award-winning restaurants. I will speak my mind if service is missing.
Some of the locations on my list, it is about the view, but there better be service and good food.
Food quality is important. But there are many places I will never return because it was only about the food.
There are very few items I can not reproduce in my own kitchen. Yes it might take every pan I own, 20+ attempts and a few days, but I could.
Some are Historical, and Others a Little Touristy.
In 1948, a girl from Pasadena California steps into the La Couronne restaurant in Rouen. In France for the first time, it is her first meal only hours after disembarking her ocean liner. She has a dining experience she describes as “the most exciting meal of my life.” Her name is Julia Child.
The restaurant, dating from 1345, is the oldest inn in France. They still serve the same lunch that took Julia down a different career path.
That’s a dining experience.
So these are a few places, that I want to share. They just seem to get it right for me.
I hope someday, they will do the same for you.
Many will be a once in a life experience because you will only be there one time.
Who you dine with is a big factor. Friends make everything taste so much better.
England
Simpson’s in the Strand.
What began quietly as a 1828 smoking room, Simpson’s found their calling circa 1850 when they began serving meats tableside. Waiters in uniforms wheel these impressive trolleys through the dining room. For a moment, I am dining at the Harmonia Gardens in Hello Dolly.
The star of the show is the Roast Rib of Scottish Beef that they carve tableside. It comes complete with sides and a Yorkshire pudding (popover) warm out of the oven. Lunch at Simpsons is not cheap, and that’s before you convert from pound sterling. Is it an experience? You’ll feel like you’re back where you belong.
The Belmond British Pullman.
If after watching “Downton Abbey” or “The Crown” you should hanker to travel by British train. If not, your wanderlust may be on the blink. Although invitations to tea at Downton, or Buckingham are rare, you can have tea like the best of them. The British Pullman train consists of meticulously rebuilt Pullman cars from the hayday of British rail travel.
Step aboard and find your assigned comfy high back chair. In front of you is a table with silver, china, flowers, on a crisp white tablecloth. Soon the adventure begins. It helps to be a Crawly or Windsor as Afternoon Tea will set you back four Benjamin Franklins. But this is no ordinary tea. In addition, there are tea sandwiches, savories, cakes, pastries, scones and champagne. And outside your window, you will see your train depart London and travel through the English countryside. The journey lasts for approximately 3.5 hours. There are longer programs including stops in English towns. This train is the British sister to the Belmond Venice Simplon Orient Express.
Dining in France.
Is there time to visit the Tour de Eiffel and have lunch at a Michelin 1-star restaurant? What if I said you can do both at once? The Jules Verne restaurant is on the second floor more than 370 feet over Paris. The private elevator bypassing the ticket and waiting line to the first floor justifies the $150 and more lunch prices. As does the food and just maybe the view. Unfortunately, the lower-price, sitdown brasserie on the first floor (level) as of 2021 is now a buffet. Not knowing the future of buffets, it may be a sit down, waiter-service establishment again.
Seine Dinner Cruise.
There are several sightseeing, dinner cruise options on the Seine. Some are private and will set you back several thousand dollars. I have the luxury of local travel experts who could direct me to the one they think is best. With no others to compare to, I still think they may be right.
Bateaux Parisien’s boats are more like glass conservatories with a restaurant inside and all of Paris moving outside. You can do a lunch cruise at a middle table for under $100. For a three course lunch in Paris, that’s not that expensive plus you get the cruise.
However, you are in Paris, the city of lights. Why not splurge? At the front of the boat they offer prestige class with windows all around. It includes a five course dinner and a few glasses of champagne. Does it cost more? Oui! Are you worth it? Absolument!
Quand l’amour veut parler, la raison doit se taire. When love wants to talk, the reason must be silent. ― Jean-François Regnard.
And a dinner here is never second best. – Lumiere, a candlestick.
Italy Dining.
For Italy, we give the wallets a breather. Are there no expensive restaurants in Italy? Assolutamente!
Let me give you two lower cost options first.
Parma Italy.
A plate of fresh Parma cheese, Parma ham and a glass of local wine. It doesn’t get much simpler than that. Drizzle some balsamic vinegar from Modena less than 40 miles away.
In Modena, if you want expensive, check out the three star Osteria Francescana, where a tasting dinner with wine will range over $550 per person. Is it worth it in this 12 table restaurant that several call the best restaurant in the world? The ten month wait to get a reservation seem to say yes.
But we are talking cheese and ham. You can find it at farms around Parma where they make the cheese or ham. You can taste it in just about every restaurant in the region. There is a reason UNESCO designates Parma as a Creative City of Gastronomy in Italy.
My favorite is a small cafe on the Piazza. The staff of Angiol d’Or is always lovely even with my awful Italian. I say I am only going for a snack. It never ends that way. If I did, with a glass of wine, it would be around $25. Once again, “if” I would stop.
Florence.
Of all the incredible places to eat in the capital of Tuscany, one of my favorites is the local market. WHAT?
The Mercato Centrale is market downstairs and a food court upstairs. You are sending me all the way to Italy and I am going to eat in a food court? Yes, and you are going to love it. This is not greasy food in pans that has been sitting there since 8:00 A.M. or the week before.
Chefs are constantly preparing dishes with fresh local ingredients. You can get pizza, but you can also get pasta with black or white truffles. Send one person to get drinks while another goes for pasta. This is a good place to go with friends as everyone can go in opposite directions. It is a Florence experience. And now more than ever I need to travel to Italy. They now have Mercato Centrales in Milan, Turin, and Rome.
And One Over the Top.
You will never be at a loss for places to eat in Italy. Try a pizza in Naples, its birthplace. Sip wine in a centuries old farmhouse while the mother carries plate after plate of homemade goodness from the kitchen.
An indulgent treat for me is lunch on the terrace at Le Sirenuse in Positano. I am so lucky to have a friend who loves to take me there. To sit on the terrace by the pool, ripe lemons hanging off the trees along the deck, is enough. Eating up the diamonds sparkling on the Mediterranian below. I could eat lima beans in this setting and probably enjoy them. It’s that magical. Luckily, they do not serve lima beans, the food is always incredible. The service incredible.
Dining in Greece.
I am not going to talk about places that make me happy when eating and skip Greece.
Everywhere is Greece makes me happy.
Let me stop and talk about eating in Europe in general. Dining is more of an experience in Europe. The wait staff takes it more seriously as to many, it is a profession. The same with your kitchen staff.
Fast food, and food on the run are not common terms in Europe. Although, the two hour lunch is a thing of the past.
One of my favorite places in Greece is in Athen’s Plaka area. It is where I have my first meal in Greece many moons ago. And there is no view of the Acropolis.
Santorini.
Many people clamor to eat in the restaurants in Firatown along the rim of the harbor (caldera.) They are nice, the food at most of them is nice. The views are incredible.
However, I like getting out of town and going to the Akrotiri area where there are more locals. Taverna Aeolos has typical Greek fare. I could (and have) make a lunch of nothing but appetizers. The staff is always warm and inviting. The view is one of my favorite in Santorini. Instead of sitting in Fira looking out, you are looking back at Fira and all the way to Oia. Beautiful during the day, and magical at night.
Honorable Mentions.
In Mendoza Argentina, there is/was a wonderful place by the name Almacen Del Sur. The last time I was there was 2008? and I cannot find a working web page for it so I have a bad feeling.
It may be a wedding venue now. Then, it was a farm and vineyard pairing their homegrown produce and wines in a tastebud-blowing experience.
The more I think about it, more and more honorable mentions come to mind. A BBQ on a Argentina Estancia in the Pampas still lingers.
Dinner on the Belmond Hiram Bingham after a day climbing all over Machu Picchu is certainly extra whip cream.
Dining Summary.
Going into this blog, I was thinking, this is going to end somewhere completely different from where I am beginning. Success. It did.
This is not a “ten most-unique restaurants I like” list. I doubt I could cut it down to that.
It is not a list of the best restaurants in a city or country. That would take a guide.
It is not about Italian cuisine, the most luxurious restaurants in France, or trendy celebrity chefs. That’s a coffee table book.
However, I hope it shows you there are so many “other” restaurants and food experiences out there.
I hope it gets you to think outside of the (Jack in the) Box when planning dinner or a trip.
Even better, I hope it reminds you of an incredible meal that still makes you smile.
Was it just the food? The setting or people you were with? Or did it all mix to make it just right?
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“Do you have a favorite dining memory? Is there a place you want to dine on your to do list?
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“See the World” Continued on Page T3. “Taste the World” Continued on T11.