Food

On our last night in Kentucky Bourbon Country, we started with Old Fashioned’s (made with Buffalo Trace bourbon) at Middle Fork in the Lexington Distillery District. Then it was on to an upscale section of town to have dinner at the recommended Honeywood. We started with Tokyo Spice Chicken, wings with a nice jalapeno bite, and their signature dish, sweet potato beignets. Then moved on to tender grouper and a dish of pork roast. Afterwards, we wandered over to one of the best ice cream joints in town, Crank & Boom, for a dish of blackberry and buttermilk ice cream. Across the way, we stumbled into a cozy bar, Whiskey Bear, and met the owner Daniel, who has assembled an impressive roster of top-shelf bourbon and whiskey. A great place for a nightcap or to watch a sporting event on the large-screen TVs when in Lexington. 

We left our tour of the Wild Turkey distillery and drove on backcountry roads past the rolling hills of bluegrass and horse farms of rural Kentucky to reach The Stave, a new stylish roadhouse restaurant and bar recommended to me by a friend in nearby Lexington. The owner, Rebecca, has designed many restaurants in the region. One step inside the cozy interior and it’s hard not be charmed by both the look and the folks working here. The Stave made its debut in September just down the road from the Woodford Reserve distillery, a National Historic Landmark, and the impressive circa-1887 Castle & Key distillery that just reopened this year making vodka, gin, and eventually bourbon. Rebecca has hired a skilled chef at the helm, Jon Sanning. Start with warm black-eyed pea fritters with tangy sweet onion relish and cucumber salad, or the deviled eggs dusted with paprika and served on pickled greens. Then get ready for their version of the Louisville Hot Brown, this time served on corn bread instead of the typical white bread. Delicious! Wash it all down with sweet ice tea or an impressive roster of bourbons to sample. A fun stop for authentic Kentucky cooking in bourbon country. 

On the way down to Amalfi Coast, we stopped for an afternoon in Naples to wait for our friends to arrive at the train station. We left our bags in Left Luggage and walked straight to the pizza joint Elizabeth Gilbert went gaga over in "Eat, Pray, Love," L’antica Pizzeria da Michele Forcella. There’s close to 1000 pizza places in Naples, often referred to as the birthplace of pizza, and Michele Forcella make’s everyone’s Top 10 list, from the Guardian to Yelp. We took a number, waited about 30 minutes with a mix of locals and travelers and then were squeezed into a long table in the last room. You have only two choices, margherita, with a fresh dollop of mozzarella or marinara, tomato sauce only with oregano and garlic. We ordered one of each (Gilbert ordered the double mozzarella in her book) and waited as the pizza come out of the wood-fired oven at breakneck speed. Each of the thin-crust pizzas, which come whole, not sliced, were delicious. But if I went back I’d go with Gilbert’s order. The cheese was so fresh, it made each bite sublime. 

It’s no surprise that Portland was recently recognized by Bon Appetit magazine as the Restaurant City of the Year. Lisa and I have been heading up to Portland for memorable meals since the James Beard-award winning Fore Street opened over two decades ago. Another long-time love is Duckfat, always our first stop for those heavenly fries, innovative salads and grilled panini sandwiches, all washed down with an extra-thick milkshakes or Maine craft brew. Duckfat was once again our first stop in town last week, before checking in at the brand new AC Hotel Portland Downtown on the waterfront, a short stroll from the restaurant . Our 24 hours of gluttony continued with IPAs on the picnic tables at Rising Tide, dumplings at Bao Bao, and the best bagel and lox I had all year (including a stop at my old stomping grounds, Manhattan’s Upper West Side at Barney Greengrass) at the deli, Rose Foods. Thankfully, we were headed the next day to Maine’s North Woods to paddle and hike off all those luscious calories. 

Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is a smaller version of Portland, Maine, with its own great dining scene, one that I discuss in an upcoming story for Yankee Magazine. A 75-minute drive north of Boston, it’s ideal for dinner or an overnight. Lisa and I stayed at the Ale House Inn for a night in October and had a fun visit. This past Wednesday, I met my friend, Joel, in town from Seattle at Row 34. This is the sister restaurant to Row 34 in Boston’s Seaport District, a favorite that I always put on itineraries for clients headed to Boston and New England. We sat outdoors and dined on lobster rolls and a shrimp banh mi. They also feature their Row 34 oysters, farmed locally in Duxbury, Massachusetts, by one of the co-owners, Skip Bennett. If you can’t find a room at the Alewife Inn, check out the Residence Inn, just down the block from Row 34 and within easy walking distance of the historic buildings at Strawberry Banke and other excellent dining spots like Franklin Oyster House. 

The Intercontinental Medellin, where I stayed in town, is only a 5-minute taxi ride down the hillside to the upscale neighborhood of Poblado. I started the day at the Santa Fe Shopping Mall to find souvenirs, then headed south along the wide boulevard of Carrera 43A, stopping at one of the outdoor restaurants for hot out-of-the-oven arepas stuffed with cheese and corn. At Poblado Park, I turned right and headed slightly uphill to the narrow streets of Via Primavera. Carrera 35 is home to fashionable clothing shops, restaurants, breweries, and a charming bakery and café, Como Pez en el Agua, where I stopped for an almond croissant and cappuccino. That night I would return to the area for dinner at OCI.Mde, one of the city’s finest restaurants. Earth, Wind & Fire was blaring on the radio (always a good sign) as I walked in and ordered the best caipirinha I ever tasted, paired with an appetizer of fresh tuna sashimi dipped in a tangy soy sauce. Dinner was braised short ribs, cooked 12 hours in a cashew sauce. When it arrived on the table, it was so tender it fell off the bone. 

One of the most memorable meals I’ve ever had as a travel writer was at the Inn at Bay Fortune on Prince Edward Island’s western shores. I arrived via kayak, courtesy of a four-day inn-to-inn sea kayaking jaunt; paddled onto the grassy shores and walked across the sloping manicured lawn. After washing the salt and rust colored sand from my body, I arrived for dinner expecting the usual PEI meal of lobster and mussels. Little did I realize that I was in for a culinary epiphany. The first course was pan roasted oysters in a soothing soup, creamy but not overwhelmingly rich like chowder. Then came a splendid salad of mixed greens where the waiter announced matter-of-factly that "everything is grown on the property, including the edible daisy." A seared rainbow trout topped with tomato risotto and black olives was followed by the meat course, a roasted leg of lamb, butchered by the farmer down the road. Dessert was a peach, strawberry, and mint compote, made on premises, of course. 

When we caught up with Woodstock Inn General Manager, Gary Thulander, over dinner last month at the property, he was very excited about the opening this spring of the Red Barns, renovated rustic barns down the road from the property that will showcase the wealth of produce already growing at the surrounding Kelly Way Gardens. Certified organic by the Vermont Organic Farmers Association, the gardens boast more than 200 varieties of produce including 55 varieties of tomatoes, 75 berries and orchard plantings, 50 herbs and edible flowers, a mushroom glen, annual and perennial flowers, honey, and hops. Taking advantage of this bountiful harvest, the Red Barns will combine rustic charm with a state-of-the-art cooking and dining facility to offer the Red Barn Dinner Series this summer. Join Gardener Benjamin Pauly and Executive Chef Rhys Lewis on Sundays in July and August for an evening of dining that features the local artistry of Vermont’s cheesemakers, farmers, beekeepers, and dairymen while celebrating the abundant produce of the Kelly Way Gardens. Dinners will start at 5 pm and cost $55 per person. Reservations are a must. You can also enjoy tea in the gardens, Tuesdays in July, August, and September, free to inn guests, or a sensory stroll through the gardens on Thursdays. 

Guest Post by Amy Perry Basseches 

In 2012, Boston, a city that prides itself on its fresh seafood was rocked to its ocean-loving core when a two-part expose published by the Boston Globe revealed that a significant number of fish were mislabeled at area restaurants, grocery stores, and fish markets. Diners were served cheap Vietnamese catfish instead of the succulent and more expensive grouper, haddock instead of cod, tilapia in place of pricey red snapper. Indeed, 24 of the 26 red snapper samples tested were some other species of fish. The two reporters went on a fish collecting spree, sending samples of their findings to a laboratory in Canada for DNA testing. The outcome? A whopping 48 percent of the seafood was mislabeled. In his latest book, Real Food Fake Food, writer and friend Larry Olmsted delves much deeper, telling us that that most kobe beef sold at restaurants is indeed wagyu; extra virgin olive oil is rarely that, usually cut with soybean and peanut oil; grated parmesan is almost always fake; and that grass-fed beef was probably drugged and raised in a crowded feedlot. It’s no surprise this book already made many “notable books of the year” lists. For anyone who wants to start off 2018 on the right foot, grab a copy and then buy that olive oil from a trusted supplier Olmsted recommends, like Oliviers & Co. One taste of their olive oil and you’ll never go back to the fake stuff again. 

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!