Where Would You Travel for a Meal?

by David Farley on
Just what motivates us to travel? What exactly inspires us to get on a plane and, thousands of miles later, blurry eyed and sleep deprived, to step into a place that was hitherto unknown to us? I’d be willing to guess that for an increasingly large amount of leisure travelers, “food” might be near the top of the list.

Last week, hundreds of hungry people attended the Lucky Rice Festival in New York City, an annual weeklong feast of all things Asian and eating. During the “Grand Feast,” where a couple dozen chefs served up Asian-inspired snacks and curious cocktails (a martini spiked with a whole baby squid, anyone?) in a large Mandarin Oriental hotel ballroom overlooking Central Park, I put my hypothesis to the test. I asked some of the chefs at the festival – many of whom are New York City’s most esteemed toques – to answer one simple question:

Where would you travel for a meal?


“Malaysia. I’m fascinated with the growth and interest in Southeast Asian food. Thre are so many undiscovered foods there that we in America have not even discovered yet. I’d also eat my way through the spice route.”
-Todd English
Celebrity chef, owner of umpteen restaurants

“I would say Morocco. I’m fascinated with spices. I’d like to have a local, say, in Marakesh, take me to the food and spice market and from there we’d construct an entire meal out of what we buy.”

–Angelo Sosa
Top Chef alum (season seven)
Executive Chef, Social Eatz

“Thailand. I’d just travel around the country and eat everything I saw. I did that when I was in France and it was great. I’d try to find new stuff, food that hasn’t really come here yet, food that’s unknown to us.”

–Eric Hara
Executive Chef at 9 Restaurant and Pier 9

“Vietnam. I’ve always wanted to go there. The country’s culinary history is amazing. There’s a long story behind every dish there. From a chef’s perspective, Vietnam would be great.”

–Brandon Kida
Chef de Cuisine, Asiate

“I would go to Portland, Oregon. I was just there, actually, and now I already want to go back. The food and restaurants there are incredible. The people are willing to do interesting and creative things with food there. They’re doing their own coffee, their own distilling. There’s just a lot going on in Portland.”

–Brad Farmerie
Executive Chef, Public

“Well, India for sure. But I’d also go to San Francisco. It’s such a great food city. I’d go there and focus eating California cuisine.”

–Hemant Mathur
Executive Chef, Tulsi

“Apart from just staying here in New York City, I’d go to Bangkok. Specifically, I’d go to David Thompson’s new restaurant. It’s called Nahm, which means ‘water’ in Thai, in the Metropolitan Hotel. I trained under him and I haven’t eaten at any of his restaurants since he left Australia. After that, there would be a thousand more restaurants I’d eat at.”

–Ty Bellingham
Executive Chef, Kittichai

“Kerala, India. The food there is extremely fresh. If you want an oyster, for example, there’s a guy who will jump into the water right then and get one for you. It’s a such a great place. There’s no judgment there. And they have a 99 percent literacy rate.”

–Jehangir Mehta
Executive Chef, Graffiti and Mehtaphor

“Paris. Just to see Jean Francios Piege. I ate at his previous restaurant, which was in Hotel de Crillon, and it was one of those meals where it makes you stop and think about what food is all about. He has a new restaurant called Hotel Thoumieux.”

–Tien Ho
Executive Chef, Ma Peche

“Definitely Tokyo. I love Japanese food. I would get recommendations from friends. I love sushi and would go to the fish market to eat there.”

–Damien Hergott
Pastry Chef, Bosie Tea Room

“Taipei. There’s a great night market there and the best Japanese food outside of Japan. The best Chinese fusion. Plus, the food scene is really diverse.”

–Ching-He Huang
Chef & TV Personality, UK Food Channel

“elBulli. If I could get one of the last seatings there before it closed. The last time I was in Spain, I ate at almost every important restaurant, but I didn’t get to eat at elBulli.”

–Dale Talde
Top Chef alum (season 4)
Creative Director, Buddakan

Win a legendary golf outing from Hilton HHonors

by Kraig Becker on

Are you a golf fan looking for an epic escape with your buddies this year? Than you’ll definitely want to enter the Legendary Golf Getaway contest from Hilton HHonors, which could send you and seven of your closest friends, on a once in a lifetime golf outing.

The contest, which launched last week, will award one lucky winner a fantastic prize that will take them, along with their guests, to one of three Waldorf Astoria Resorts for four days of fantastic golf. The grand prize includes airfare for eight, lodging at the resort, complimentary tee times for three rounds of golf, and a clinic with the local pro. They’re even throwing in a $5000 Hilton Worldwide gift card and 100,000 Hilton HHonors points for the winner and 50,000 points for each of the guests.

The three resort options that are available to the winner include The La Quinta Resort & Club located in California, The Boulders, A Waldorf Astoria Resort in Arizona, or the Waldorf Astoria Orlando in Florida. Each of these locations offers a world class golf course to challenge players and plenty of fantastic fun while away from the course as well.

The contest runs through September 5th with a grand prize winner being selected a few weeks later. Six first prizes will also be awarded as well, with those prizes consisting of a TaylorMade R11 Driver and 50,000 Hilton HHonors bonus points.

To enter the contest click here, and then start pairing down your guest list to the lucky seven you’ll take along on this legendary golf outing.

[Photo courtesy Fevi Yu via WikiMedia]

GPS devices on flights? Maybe

by Chris Owen on
Is it even possible to use a GPS device on a commercial aircraft? That’s the question being asked by many who would just like to see where they are from time to time, on a device they are familiar with.

“Of the 10 airlines who responded to my query, only two (Delta and Southwest Airlines) gave an outright yes about GPS devices being allowed during flights. Three (Continental, JetBlue and United) said it’s at the discretion of the pilot. The other five said no, but then added that the pilot may permit use. Those five include Alaska and American” says Ann Tatko-Peterson of the
Contra Costa Times.

So it might be worth a try, but will it even work? Most sources say yes which is good news for travelers who may have tried iPhone apps that vary by quality from good as in FlightTrackPro to bad for WindowSeat.

“It might be okay, depending on several factors. Remember, at all times you must obey crew member instructions. On some airlines it is in their policies to not allow GPS receivers to be used while onboard the aircraft. On other airlines there might not be a policy against it, in which case it is up to the crew. If they tell you not to use it, you don’t use it, end of story” says GPSreview.net adding “Additionally, some GPS devices carry transmitters of some sort such as the Rino series from Garmin as well as Bluetooth GPS receivers. Since transmitter devices are not allowed on commercial flight this will also ground those types of GPS receivers from being used. In the end it is rare for all of the stars to align properly to allow the use of GPS onboard a commercial aircraft and I imagine it will only become more difficult with today’s security threats.”

Gadling has covered GPS gear for quite some time and noted the limitations of the technology before.

Our Kraig Becker found out “Despite some of these drawbacks to the use of a hand held GPS, they can be quite a powerful addition to anyone’s mandatory gear list. They are an excellent navigational tool, as long as the person using it is familiar with both the strengths and limitations of such a device. Finding our way in the backcountry has never been so easy, and we’re definitely safer than ever while on the trail.

Flickr photo by alvxyz

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Space race brings trip around the Moon by 2015

by Chris Owen on
We’ve heard of suborbital flights being booked by Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, those have been in the works for quite some time. So have various plans for a replacement vehicle for the retiring space shuttles. Now, the news about space travel brings us to the Moon with a flight around the moon available coming up as soon as 2015 says one company already in the business.

Space Adventures based in Virginia is the only company to have booked and offered commercial space travel, delivering astronauts to the International Space Station.

“The moon holds a special place in all of our hearts. It’s a symbol of the space future that humanity wishes for, a symbol of our curiosity, and something that we see every night. When the private moon mission launches, the eyes of the world will truly be upon those people, and it will truly be an extraordinary event,” Eric Anderson of Space Adventures told International Business News.

The price tag?

A round-trip for two looks to be right at $150 million.

Back in 2009, Gadling reported on a NASA focused on commercial space travel with a plan to spend $50 million of economic stimulus cash from the feds into putting the average traveler into space. Then, commercial space travel was not much more than a dream or something for a “weird news” column.

Now, as plans develop on several fronts, space travel may very well be within reach for everyday people…who have $150 million to spare.

Flickr photo by *L*u*z*A

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Airlines offer in-flight menu items at food trucks, pop-ups

by Laurel Miller on

In a marketing move best described as “ironic,” a handful of airlines are now offering land-bound folk a taste of the finest of what they serve in the air. The New York Times reports that Air France, Austrian Airlines, Southwest, and Delta are trying to lure potential passengers by tempting them with samples of in-flight meals “from” celebrity-chefs.

The modus operandi are primarily roving food trucks and pop-up restaurants in cities from New York to Denver (there are also some permanent vendor spots at various sports stadiums). In Washington, passerby were offered European coffee and guglhupf, a type of cake. In Manhattan, crowds lined up for a taste of buckwheat crepes with ham, mushrooms, and Mornay sauce, or duck confit.

I get it. Airline food sucks. Time for an image makeover. But isn’t the airline industry so financially strapped that we’re lucky to get a bag of stale pretzels during a cross-country flight? And just because reknown chefs like Joël Robuchon, Tom Colicchio and Michelle Bernstein act as consultants for airlines and design their menus, that doesn’t mean it’s their food you’re eating on the JFK-to-Paris red-eye.

Most ludicrous, however, is the notion that there’s any basis for comparison against fresh ingredients and made-to-order food versus even the best institutionally-prepared airline crap. I’ve had a couple of decent meals designed by well-regarded chefs when I’ve been lucky enough to fly business class, but in the grand scheme of things, they were still made from flash-frozen, sub-par ingredients whose origins I’d rather not ponder. And if food truck crews are merely nuking actual airline food, then how are they any different from the corner deli with a microwave?

I’m not trying to be a food snob. I just find it interesting that airlines are hopping on two of the hottest culinary trends of the new century–ones largely based upon local, sustainable, seasonal ingredients. Yet by all accounts (to hear airline reps tell it), the plane campaign has been wildly successful. Of course. Who doesn’t love free food?Raymond Kollau, founder of Airlinetrends.com, cites social media as the gateway to this type of “experiential marketing.” “As people are bombarded with marketing messages,” he explains, “real-life interaction with products and brands has become increasingly valuable for airlines to get their message across.”

Valid point, and there’s no doubt this is a clever scheme. But truth in advertising is what wins consumers. What a catering company can pull off on-site is a hell of a lot different from what you’ll be ingesting in the friendly skies. If airlines want to use food to entice new passengers, they need to start by sourcing ingredients in a more responsible, sustainable manner, rather than supporting ecologically detrimental produce, meat, and poultry (talk about carbon offsets). I realize that’s not financially feasible at this time, but supposedly, neither are in-flight meals. As for making it taste good? You got me.

[Photo credit: Flickr user OpalMirror]