Calling all Indian cuisine aficionados: if you believe in heaven, then the Varli Food Festival just might be it. Tomorrow, April 5, the second annual food and wine extravaganza descends upon New York City's Metropolitan Pavilion, bringing with it tastings and demos from more than 60 celebrated restaurants from all over the world. The epicurean event features a culinary constellation of New York's Indian celebrity chefs—Vikas Khanna of the Michelin-starred Junoon, Suvir Saran of Devi, and Jehangir Mehta of Graffiti and Mehtaphor—as well as some global superstars like Vancouver's Vikram Vij, Kunal Kapur of New Delhi, and Ajay Chopra, formerly of Mint Leaf in London. Not enough gourmet wattage for you? The festival is hosted by Top Chef's Padma Lakshmi and Indian TV chef Sanjeev Kapoor.
Tickets won't be available at the door, so get yours ASAP online.
[Insert your own horrible "Curry up before it's too late!" joke here]
Sarah Khan is a copy editor at Travel + Leisure. You can follow her on Twitter @BySarahKhan.
We’re wrapping up our May food issue here at Travel + Leisure, and the delectable stories we’ve dished up (don’t read this one on an empty stomach, you just may eat the pictures) simply reaffirmed to me how vital a component dining is to a memorable travel experience. I, for one, explore a locale with both my eyes and my stomach. So, intrepid gastronaut that I am, on my first trip to Vancouver recently I saw all the sights (don’t miss the random Jimi Hendrix shrine tucked into the outskirts of Chinatown, or, if you have children, the wonderful Kids Market on Granville Island) while still squeezing in meals that ran the gamut from high-end to hole-in-the-wall, each worth writing home about. So let’s pretend you all are “home,” and here goes my paean.
Travel + Leisure's March Trip of the Month is an adventure in the far north with U.S.- and U.K.-based tour operator Black Tomato. In association with Travel + Leisure Elite Traveler, our travel club for deals on hotels, cruises, and more, the Trip of the Month offers T+L readers exclusive, once-in-a-lifetime itineraries from the world’s top tour operators.
I've long been a fan of Amrita Singh's glittering jewelry, and I'm hardly the only one—Jennifer Lopez, Katie Homes, and Anne Hathaway are devotees of her ornate necklaces and gem-studded bangles. So when I heard Singh was launching a new home collection with an exclusive party at a penthouse suite at the Trump Plaza, I was intrigued. Would Singh's aesthetic translate into blinged-out interior décor?
This is hands down the most electrifying book cover that’s come across my desk in my recent memory: the words Love, Inshallah: The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women emblazoned over lacy lingerie tantalizingly dropped on an unkempt bed. If Ayesha Mattu and Nura Maznavi, the editors of this intoxicating compilation of 25 personal narratives, are to be believed, Muslim women flirt, date, have sex, and fall in love, just like everyone else. Who knew?
The essays range from hilarious (a 14-year-old being given a crash course in the birds and the bees by her mom in a movie-theater parking lot) to heart-wrenching (a woman who realizes that her non-Muslim fiancé has an insurmountable disdain for her faith); from chaste (an endearing tale of a girl passing up a chance to make out with her model-hot trainer) to steamy (a bittersweet retelling of a passionate weeklong affair with a Muslim punk rocker). Premarital sex, arranged marriage, online dating, polygamous relationships, date rape, lesbian romances—everything is recounted with refreshing honesty and courage. My favorite section was, unsurprisingly, International Habibti: Love Overseas, full of enticing encounters in the Andes, Sri Lanka, and Cairo—who hasn’t fantasized about meeting a mysterious, accented, handsome stranger in an exotic, faraway land?
Travel + Leisure's FebruaryTrip of the Month is a classic two-week itinerary in Turkey. In association with Travel + Leisure Elite Traveler, our travel club for deals on hotels, cruises, and more, the Trip of the Month offers T+L readers exclusive, once-in-a-lifetime itineraries from the world’s top tour operators.
Hot off the release of the second edition of best-seller 1,000 Places to See Before You Die (Workman; $19.95)—featuring 28 new countries, including Ghana, Nicaragua, and South Korea—the globe-trotting author sat down with T+L.
Q: What can readers expect this time around? A: No sooner was the ink dry on the 2003 edition than I saw destinations that were on their way to being better equipped for visitors: former Soviet-bloc countries and war zones, places like the Balkans and Colombia. Now is their moment.
Q: Is there someplace you wish you could have included? A: Libya would have been great for armchair travel. Its future looks just too unstable right now.
Q: What were some of your best discoveries? A: Ireland’s Aran Islands are remote and otherworldly. And it’s hard to believe you are still in Europe in Romania’s Carpathian Mountains and the pristine swath of Transylvania—one of the most untouched corners left on the continent.
Q: Where are you going next? A: Turks and Caicos, for my annual luxury-on-the-beach reprieve. Grace Bay Club and Parrot Cay, here I come!
It’s no secret that I’m an avid Bollywood aficionado—one of my goals in life is to lead the T+L staff in an Indian-inspired flash mob someday. But it looks like FinnAir’s ingenious flight attendants beat me to the punch: in honor of India’s Republic Day today, the entire crew of a Helsinki—New Delhi flight surprised delighted passengers with a choreographed routine set to the 2007 hit “Om Shanti Om.” Not a bad way to spice up a long trip!
Now that’s my kind of in-flight entertainment.
Sarah Khan is a copy editor at Travel + Leisure. You can follow her on Twitter @BySarahKhan.
Don't miss Travel + Leisure’s January Trip of the Month, Quintessential South Africa. In association with Travel + Leisure Elite Traveler, our travel club for deals on hotels, cruises, and more, the Trip of the Month offers T+L readers exclusive, once-in-a-lifetime itineraries from the world’s top tour operators.
I’m a confirmed carnivore, and whenever I’m asked to name my
favorite food, I don’t hesitate: a Cuban dish called vaca frita that
translates, literally, to “fried cow”—how apt.
Sarah Khan is a copy editor at Travel + Leisure. You can follow her on Twitter @BySarahKhan.
Sarah Khan is a copy editor at Travel + Leisure. You can follow her on Twitter 
