With Beer Here: Brewing New York’s History opening May 25 at the recently renovated New-York Historical Society (in which you’ll learn that home-brewing has been around in New York City since the 17th century), now is the perfect time to check out some of the city’s newest brew-centric spots.
Top Hops Beer Shop(pictured): A former distributor for Anheuser-Busch/In Bev, owner Ted Kenny is the mastermind behind this Lower East Side beer emporium. The 700- bottle selection fills refrigerators in the back, while the custom wood-and-polished aluminum bar up front offers 20 beers on tap (tip: order a flight). The menu is limited, so don’t come hungry—just really thirsty. 94 Orchard St.; 212-254-4677.
It’s true: We like it when people read (and share) our lists. We like it even more when people create entire videos about them. So we were thrilled to see this from our fans at the Providence, RI tourism board, which is eating up the news of its ranking as the best burger city in America. Now when you visit Rhode Island’s capital city, you’ll know exactly where the locals go to get their burger fix.
Planning to devour some sticky barbecued ribs this weekend? Don’t feel guilty: they could be your ticket to a free trip to Blackberry Farm, the Travel + Leisure's World’s Best Award–winning resort in Walland, Tennessee. Starting today, “spot” Southern dishes—from BBQ to grits to gumbo—on Foodspotting, a website and app for finding the best meals around the globe, and you’ll be entered for a chance to a win a trip for two to one of the country’s best foodie escapes.
The chef-as-rock-star trend may have played itself out, but here’s a new spin: star chefs plus music icons. And no, they aren’t just sizing up each others’ tattoos. At a handful of events from coast to coast, our country’s top toques are catering alongside the most anticipated stage shows of the summer. Below, a few that we’re especially excited about.
The Great GoogaMooga (May 19-20, Brooklyn) New York’s first food-and-music fest makes its debut in a big way, with 73 chefs (including David Chang, April Bloomfield, Marcus Samuelsson, and Daniel Boulud) and 150+ wineries all aboard. As for music, expect The Roots, Hall & Oates, and Preservation Jazz Hall Band. And the best part? It’s free to enter and open to the public—though you may want to splurge on ExtraMooga, with culinary demos and tastings by industry greats like Ruth Riechl and Anthony Bourdain.
In Bravo’s latest culinary competition show, Around the World in 80 Plates, 12 up-and-coming chefs crisscross the world, battling each other in challenges of both skill and strength. (Yes, it takes a certain type of strength to scarf down excessive amounts of kidney pie.) Here, co-host Cat Cora (the Iron Chef America star-cookbook author-restaurateur-philanthropist shares duties with Australian celeb chef Curtis Stone) dishes on the action-packed show, reveals her ideal family meal, and more.
Q: How would you define Around the World in 80 Plates?
A: The competition is very much like Top Chef, but in a fresher sense. The challenge is in the style of Amazing Race, and the elimination part is Survivor. I think someone even threw in American Idol. It’s such a new take on a competition show that also there’s nothing like it out there.
In Beijing, five years is more like two decades. The last time I was in the Chinese capital was before the 2008 Olympics, when the city was just entering a building frenzy and gaining prominence on the world stage. When my husband announced that he had gotten a job in Beijing, I knew to expect a transformed city—China, after all, has emerged as an economic powerhouse. But the pace of change is still breathtaking.
For starters, I don’t recognize anything. Granted, I haven’t had a chance to visit the historic monuments like Tiananmen Square and the Temple of Heaven. (Expats’ dirty secret: you save the sights for when visitors are in town.) But I thought I'd at least recognize old haunts that survived the construction boom. One night, I confidently told my husband I knew the exact location of Nali Patio, a complex in the Sanlitun neighborhood that’s home to trendy restaurants and bars, where we were meeting friends. What I hadn’t reckoned on was that everything around Nali Patio had been demolished, with a shiny shopping development and dozens of bars in their stead.
Can't get a reservation at Noma until 2020? This summer, you have two other ways to work up an appetite for chef Rene Redzepi's wildly inventive New Nordic cooking, which just topped the Restaurant magazine's World's 50 Best Restaurants list for a third consecutive year. On July 1-2, the second annual MAD Symposium (Copenhagen, $350) addresses "Appetite" as its theme; along with Redzepi, expect tasteful thinking from other culinary wild men like Wylie Dufresne, Fergus Henderson and Ferran Adria. Then Redzepi moves his team to London for "A Taste of Noma" pop-up at Claridge's Hotel in Mayfair. (Five courses, $320, July 28-Aug. 6). To pre-register for reservations, click here now. First come, first serve!
Shane Mitchell is Travel + Leisure's special correspondent.
Exclusive GloboMaestro Video: When's the last time you walked into a ceviche bar and experienced truffle butter popcorn, blowtorched sweet potato brulee, and a homemade gravity bong (strictly for smoking oysters)? And that's before you've even tried the ceviche—delectable, innovative creations that include lobster marinated in coconut milk, orange juice, ginger and jalapeño.
Astute scholars of the Spanish language will note that Desnuda means "naked" — but the food here at this East Village cevicheria in New York is anything but stripped down.
From hotel openings to cultural happenings, we’ve got the latest in five buzzing cities.
BARCELONA Stay: Primero Primera A stylish boutique hotel in a tucked-away bourgeois barrio alto. Doubles from $255.
Eat: Fábrica Moritz Barcelona Tapas restaurant set in an old Moritz beer factory and made over by French architect Jean Nouvel. 34/93-426-0050; dinner for two $55.
The team behind the wildly popular Experimental Cocktail Club has struck again with a brand new speakeasy, Le Ballroom du Beef Club, in the 1st arrondissement. The cocktail scene takes place in the cellar, where the chic sip Salers Smash and Cucumber Fumant. Don’t miss Beef Club, the steakhouse that recently opened on the ground floor.
Tina Isaac is Travel + Leisure’s Paris correspondent.
Shane Mitchell is Travel + Leisure's special correspondent.
