Marisa Christensen, Holland America's associate vice president of food and beverage operations, directs guests to the line's Dive-In burger. 'It's made fresh to order, incredibly satisfying, and so easy to enjoy right after embarkation when you're settling in.'
This, for me, is the magic of Japandi design. It's low-profile and humble, yet utterly absorbing. I feel faintly meditative each time I return to the apartment, which, after a day immersed in the melting pot of Cape Tonian nature, sport and hospitality, becomes a welcome, sanctuary-like moment of recuperation.
When you hear that a restaurant is hard to get into, it signals that there must be something worthy of drawing a crowd - and with all of the restaurants on this list, that is certainly the case. Whether it's food so creative you just can't find it anywhere else, cocktails and wine lists crafted to impress, stellar service, or celebrity sightings, these locations are hard to get a table at for a reason.
Chef Masa Ikuta brings serious classical training honed under Bruno Verjus at Table and Stephane Jego at L'Ami Jean to his own tasting menu restaurant in the 11th arrondissement. The cooking is confidently French-Japanese, moving from sardine churros with Cantabrian anchovy cream to veal brain tempura styled after shirako to a perfectly grilled lamb rack with smoky harissa.
After swapping it for a "better option" in South Africa, he now makes travel videos that he posts on YouTube. Henry lives in a fully furnished R19 000 penthouse apartment in the upmarket neighborhood of Gardens. His outdoor balcony comes with views of Table Mountain.n "This is a view I will never get tired of waking up to every morning", he said.
The collection of buildings and rooms feel like they have been there forever. Each space and room is unique, and not in a cloying way. It's as if the hotel organically grew over time with a storied history to accompany it-inhabited by convivial ghosts you'd want to meet. Surprisingly, the Dorp was built from the ground up less than a decade ago, opening its doors in 2019.
My wife Claire and I had arrived in Cape Town exactly one month before, and these days at Gary Freeman Safaris had been circled on our calendar for a long time. Many of Claire's core childhood memories were spent here in the Greater Kruger, a huge swath of protected land to the west of Kruger National Park. She first told me about her Uncle Gary's camp on our first date.
Cape Town tourism is a booming industry, and the Mother City needs foreign cash to operate as one of the planet's elite destinations. However, some locals are getting a little annoyed by the oversupply of digital nomads. European tourists are loving Cape Town, and why wouldn't they? When one single Euro gets you R19, an Uber to Boulders Beach to check out the penguins isn't all that pricy.
"Cooking at high altitude means having to adjust our seasoning as your senses are actually dulled in the air," Monica explained. "Something else you have to take into consideration is the space the team has to work in. It's obviously tiny, so you need to think about how practical it is to physically put the dish together and still create something that looks beautiful".
Back in 2024, after a reporting trip for a whiskey magazine, I got tired of drinking. Perhaps it was the sluggishness I felt each morning, or maybe it was the podcast I'd heard while traveling, which shared the news that one or two glasses of red wine was not, as we had long been told, healthy. Whatever the reason, I tossed in the daily drinking towel after that trip, figuring that going forward, I might only have a drink or two every now and again.
Holidays can be notoriously challenging to manage dinner reservations, particularly at quality establishments that are high in demand. Valentine's Day is one such event that calls for a certain amount of finesse. While it might be tempting to skip off to one of the restaurant chains advertising Valentine's Day deals rather than one of the most romantic restaurants in the U.S., a bit of intentional planning can help you and your loved one enjoy a relaxed and romantic evening.
But you shouldn't stop at the beef when it comes to these types of restaurants. To appeal to a wide variety of palates, steakhouse chains often offer a variety of delicious non-steak options. Seafood just happens to be one category that a lot of steakhouses out there do particularly well. And what's the seafood counterpart to a steak? Lobster, of course.
The best restaurants in South Kensington are no secret to the most cultured among us. This corner of London is more synonymous with groundbreaking exhibitions than a buzzy food scene - but hey, who can compete with the V&A, Natural History Museum and Science Museum as neighbours? Alas, culture vultures require sustenance like everyone else, and there are plenty of exceptional places in these parts ready to tend to those post-gallery rumbles.
These days, if you're splurging to dine out, you want the whole package. Not just incredible food, but the atmosphere - a place that's worth meeting up with friends to catch up over a bite, or the ideal detour on a day trip. From seafood platters to elevated pizzas and breakfast bites, January did not disappoint. Here's a look at nearby eateries to try around Los Angeles, Orange County, and the Inland Empire, according to our reporters.
Launching on March 1, Akoko's West African inspired menu will be headed up by the Akoko burger, £16, which will see an aged British beef patty seasoned with a special spice blend as well as tamarind jam, sosu kaani scotch bonnet chilli sauce, yassa-spiced onions and melted goat's cheese. The Akoko burger will come in Heard's signature roast potato bun and be served with dibi dipping sauce inspired by Senegalese barbecue.
Never heard of "the Bridge District"? The newly christened neighborhood is a development in Anacostia near the eastern foot of the Frederick Douglass Bridge, and this new taproom from Atlas Brew Works, where you can sip microbrews and snack on pizza and wings, is among its first occupants. The facility also doubles brewing capacity for the DC-born producer, which makes craft beers such as Ponzi IPA and Bullpen Pilsner.
