Category Archives: travel

Lobster Rolls: Nancy’s in Martha’s Vineyard

When it comes to lobster rolls, the more bare bones a restaurant is, the better. The best lobster rolls we’ve ever had were usually served grumpily through a kitchen window and eaten on picnic tables, often in a crab grass lot by the side of a major thoroughfare. Because why would you need table linens, atmosphere or attentive service? They would only detract from the main event.  (more…)

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Red and White Dress, Martha’s Vineyard

Sure, Martha’s Vineyard is known for some of the over-the-top preppy fashion going on there, but not all preppy fashion statements are regrettable. This graphic print red and white dress makes a splash in downtown Edgartown.

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Summer Getaway: Asbury Park and Ocean Grove

New Jersey’s Asbury Park, the launching pad for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, has a rock and roll vibe you don’t find at many seaside towns. With lots of music clubs big and small, it draws a tattooed crowd that’s more indie than family. It’s hard to get bored here, with new restaurants opening every year, a great vintage pinball hall, hopping bar scene, touring bands and the occasional Bon Jovi sighting.

The perfect getaway for New Yorkers? Maybe, but there aren’t that many places to stay in still-gritty downtown Asbury. Fortunately, the antidote to Asbury debauchery can be found right next door in neighboring Ocean Grove, a former Methodist summer camp populated with historic Victorian houses, several of which have been turned into gracious B&Bs. There’s no booze to be had in this still-dry town, but the old-fashioned ice cream parlors and antique stores are the perfect counterpart to the nightlife next door.  (more…)

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The Amalfi Coast: What to Wear

The Amalfi Coast may be the beach, technically speaking, but a suitcase full of cut-offs and old T-shirts won’t get you very far here. Italians dress in a polished, pulled-together style at all times, and they’re very conscious of the quality of clothing and accessories. The gorgeous light here calls for saturated colors in lightweight materials – so say arrivederci to your urban jungle uniform.

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Rome: Dining & Drinking Guide

One of the best things you can find in Rome is a bargain. After seven days on the wallet-bruising Amalfi Coast, the main thing we were craving was cheap, cheap, cheap. Fortunately, Rome has a variety of inexpensive but excellent traditional restaurants, some of them trattorias several generations old, others a new endeavor from young chefs setting up shop in up-and-coming neighborhoods. Most importantly, you don’t sacrifice anything in quality for the price.  (more…)

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Amalfi Coast: Dining & Drinking Guide

Long before farm-to-table dining was all the rage in the U.S., this verdant peninsula on the western coast of Italy was home to some of the finest, freshest cuisine anywhere. The fruits and vegetables grown right on the Amalfi Coast – terraced gardens of olives, lettuces, tomatoes and lemon trees, all whizzing by as you take the Circumvesuviana train down south – make a startling difference on the plate. Over the course of seven days this May, we sampled some of the best the Amalfi Coast has to offer. (more…)

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Montauk Dining & Drinking

If you ever want to convince someone to like the Hamptons, take them to Montauk. Of course, they might claim that this fishing and surfing village is not actually a Hampton, since there are very few manicured lawns, polo players or designer boutiques in sight. But this naturally beautiful, windswept tip of Long Island could charm even the staunchest Hampton hater.

Exterior, Fishbar

Once just the site of fish shacks and red sauce joints, Montauk has been luring serious diners out here ever since Sam Talbot took over at the Surf Lodge several years back, right after winning Top Chef. He has since moved on to Imperial No. 9, but Montauk’s culinary caché lingers on. For one thing, it would be hard for a seafood chef to be much closer to the source, since lobsters, clams, oyster and fish are hauled in to the docks here every day. Unlike tourist attractions like Mystic, this is still very much a working fishing village.

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Berlin Guide: Dining, Drinking and Shopping

Henne Wirtshaus Berlin

The Berlin that exists today is actually two cities: East and West Berlin combined. After the wall came down, the result was a vast urban expanse with lots of room for new parks, monuments, pedestrian walkways, cutting-edge architecture, and new businesses – all coexisting with historic sites like the Brandenberg Gate and the Reichstag. There is history everywhere you look here, but Berlin feels distinctly modern, a city with both an intellectual vibe and a great dining and nightlife scene.

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Le Grand Colbert

Tiled Floor, Le Grand Colbert

If you have a fantasy version of a Parisian restaurant as a warm, inviting place with soaring ceilings, flattering lighting and fin-de-siecle decor, chances are it’s not your imagination at all, but an amalgamation of the many films shot at Le Grand Colbert. This gem of a restaurant served as the backdrop in Something’s Gotta Give, and like the best movie stars, it looks even better in person.  (more…)

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Paris Dining Map


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