TopDawg Travel

Archive for the ‘Culinary Travel’ Category

Elizabeth Rose tells us all about an evening in Santa Fe at a new favorite restaurant:

The weather is turning colder yet in climately mild Santa Fe, New Mexico you can still stroll the streets in the evening, do a bit of window shopping and, when you get chilled, stop in for a world-class meal at a downtown restaurant.  Housed in an ideal corner location on 229 Galisteo Street at West Alameda, Tomme offers both indoor and outdoor dining. But it was chilly that night and I enjoyed the warmth and minimalist decor of the new Tomme. Awaiting my friends, I had a lovely glass of Malbec at their sleek bar and enjoyed the scenery through the immense windows.  Read more….

Recently I received a pre-release copy of Fred Plotkin’s latest edition of Italy For The Gourmet Traveler.  This is the fifth edition that is updated for 2010.  I have read major portions of this book even though I have never been to Italy.  I will say this is one of the most in-depth, comprehensive and enlightening guides I have ever seen for travel through any country. I was stunned by the magnitude of information the author has placed at my fingertips.  I would take this book to Italy and use it to plan my itinerary for the country.  I do think it would take a year to eat my way through Italy if I did it the way this book lines it out, maybe even longer.  His passion and expertise is clearly evident in this book.

This book contains more than 1,000 listings for all kinds of places to eat – restaurants, trattorias, food fairs, festivals, bakeries, coffee and wine bars, bookstores, gourmet shops, markets, vineyards, farms, wineries, olive oil producers, cooking schools and so much more.  In addition there are 42 recipes, 2 from each area, that give the traveler the chance to savor their experience any time they want when they arrive back home.  And even though I can not immediately head for Italy, I am going to be experimenting with a taste of Italy with several of these 42 recipes! After reading this book, the only thing that could possibly make this book better would be to have it in Kindle format.  WIth that,  I would be able to take it to Italy, and as I go to many of the locations reviewed in this guide, make my own notes and have a travelogue of my culinary vacation that would make other people green with envy.  What a marvelous resource for the traveler!  (Kyle Books – read my lips!  I want this in Kindle version!)

If you are thinking of going to Italy soon, call TopDawg Travel to book your itinerary. You will receive a copy of this book to take with you when you purchase your travel to Italy through TopDawg Travel.

Read a more in depth review about this book here.

If, as book lovers, you and your sweetheart are frequently the first to read the new bestsellers and go to all the book signing, now there is an opportunity for a sweet get-away Valentine’s present – a new literary series launching with Kathleen Flinn,  the bestselling author of “The Sharper the Knife, the Less You Cry,” on February 19 & 20 at Skamania Lodge.   Read more….

Is the benefit of travel insurance worth the cost of travel insurance?  Knowing you are traveling to see family over the holidays, the last thing you want to worry about is an accident or illness.  You have saved both time and money for this holiday vacation.  The time you will be spending is frequently worth more than the money you are spending.  The experience of seeing family or going to a destination to do the things you have dreamed of doing should not be wasted or marred by accident or illness.  But sometime bad things happen to good people,usually at the worst time. Read more… Travel 101: Should I buy travel insurance?

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I just read an article in the Christian Science Monitor about endangered bluefin tuna due to the rage for Sushi that has taken hold over the past few years, not just in America but around the world. This is really worth noticing and reading, as well as consuming.  Perhaps we should all become connoisseurs of sustainable Sushi:

Written by Trevor Corson, the only “sushi concierge” in the United States, is author of “The Story of Sushi: An Unlikely Saga of Raw Fish and Rice.”

…..Perhaps the most significant development for bluefin in recent days was a little-noticed event this month in Seattle.

A Japanese chef named Hajime Sato did what celebrity chef Matsuhisa has not had the wisdom to do. With the help of a seafood conservation expert named Casson Trenor, Chef Sato converted his sushi bar, Mashiko, to an entirely sustainable menu. Although a few other sustainable sushi bars have sprung up in recent months, this was a first for a Japanese chef in America – perhaps anywhere. Sato no longer serves bluefin. And he’s thrilled. “I found probably 20 more fish that no one uses for sushi anymore,” he says. “My restaurant has so much more different fish that I can’t fit them all into the new menu.”

Sushi doesn’t need to die because the bluefin is endangered. With our help, sushi can be reborn – better than ever…..

Read the entire article here