Following President Obama’s recent trip to Cuba, you can rest assured the flood gates of tourism to the largest Caribbean island will open very soon for Americans, and the lines to get in will be fairly long. While you’re waiting your turn, you can do the next-best thing by taking a stroll through Miami’s Little Havana. My hunger for a Cuban meal intensified as I walked along Cuban Memorial Boulevard, with its memorials to the Cuban independence movement and its heroes dotting the verdant meridian, and then along the main drag, Calle Ocho, past Domino Park, where older men gather to play this national pastime; past the Walk of Fame on the sidewalk with stars for famous Latino performers; past abundant cigar shops. Fortunately, I didn’t have to travel very far for what I was yearning for when I found Havana 1957. Read more >
Category Archives: Restaurants
Feel Like Family Over Dinner at Botticelli in Rapid City, South Dakota
Named for the Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli, this downtown Rapid City eatery received both the Best of the Black Hills Award for Italian restaurants and the Wine Spectator Excellence Award in 2014. Recommended to me by some local cognoscenti, Botticelli has been serving hungry South Dakotans and visitors alike since 1997. And when you’re here, you almost feel like part of la famiglia. Read more >
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An Emporium for All Tastes in Scottsbluff, Nebraska
The “Coffeehouse and Café” part of the restaurant’s name seems to understate its offerings. But the “Emporium” part gets it right. Serving everything from buttery steaks to Greek salads, from wild mushroom ravioli to shrimp orecchiette, and boasting the most expansive wine list in the Nebraska panhandle, the Emporium Coffeehouse and Café in Scottsbluff prepares something for everyone. And after you’ve driven more than 400 miles across the entire state in one shot with barely a break, you’ll be ready to devour the entire menu. Read more >
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Beyond Haggis: Terrific Thai Cuisine in Glasgow, Scotland
If you’re in Glasgow, Scotland, and want to see irreplaceable architecture, you head to Style Mile along Buchanan Street. If you want to shop for any article of clothing imaginable, you head to Style Mile. Talented and not-so-talented street performers? You head to Style Mile. And if you want to have a terrific non-Scottish dinner in between all the haggis and sticky toffee pudding, you, of course, head to Style Mile — to Chaophraya, the best Thai restaurant in the city and the largest one in Europe. Read more >
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Authentic Estonian Food Among the Tourist Traps
I had spent a full day in Estonia outside of Tallinn’s Old Town — something few tourists to this fairy tale city do — with a knowledgeable private guide who took me to Lahemaa National Park, a few of its outstanding manor houses, and a rustic beach town where we had lunch at a bare-bones cafeteria-style eatery filled with Estonians enjoying a lovely summer day along the coast of one of the bays at the edges of the Gulf of Finland. When I returned to the terrific Savoy Boutique Hotel in the Old Town, I was still in a local frame of mind and began my search for some authentic Estonian food, perhaps not served by a wait staff dressed in medieval garb and setting my place with silver “weapons” to attack my meal. That meant avoiding Tallinn’s beautiful Town Hall Square, but it didn’t take very long at all before I found what I was looking for at Kuldse Notsu Kõrts, or the “Golden Piglet Inn.” Read more >
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“A Rare Steakhouse, Very Well Done” in Grand Cayman
That clever slogan of Copper Falls Steakhouse in the Seven Mile Beach section of Grand Cayman proved to be very apt. After several nights of fantastic seafood dinners, I was ready for a bit of beef, and this establishment had caught my eye a few days earlier when I purchased some staples for the week at the huge (and blissfully cold) supermarket across the street. Framed by white lights, the inviting restaurant lured me back for a meal that was, indeed, very well done. Read more >
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Finding the Best Restaurant in Downtown Bismarck, North Dakota
An unexpected quiet had gently descended on the streets of North Dakota’s capital by 6 p.m. on a Wednesday. The few stores that weren’t boarded up had already closed for the night, nobody was strolling around, and the cars along East Main Avenue didn’t bother to stop. Not exactly deserted, but not exactly teeming with excitement, either. I became pensive as I considered returning to my car to start a search for a broader, or at least existing, range of restaurant choices for my final night in Bismarck. But then I spied signs of life at the historic, 10-story McKenzie Hotel, the tallest building in the city when it opened in 1911. It all centered around Peacock Alley — a fortuitous find for a terrific dinner. Read more >
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“Local. Really.” The Accurate (and Delicious) Mantra of The Skinny Pancake in Burlington, Vermont
Vermont’s largest city exudes small-town charm, particularly in its pedestrian-friendly downtown. Rising uphill from the cobalt-blue waters of Lake Champlain, Burlington bustles with knowledgeable locals, students from the University of Vermont and Champlain College, content families strolling along Church Street, and laid-back visitors taking it all in. Nowhere presents a better microcosm of this diverse population than The Skinny Pancake, a local eatery that seems to be jumping all day. You’ll be as likely to dine among college students as among yuppie families, aspiring musicians, fit cyclists, and German tourists, all while enjoying the best breakfast — and outstanding crêpes — in town. Read more >
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PM Buenos Aires Brings Argentinean Cuisine to Miami
The pervasive Latin influence in Miami is inescapable, whether it’s the Mediterranean-style homes, the Spanish-language music emanating from clubs and cars, or the accents of residents from a couple of dozen Latin American countries. Ultimately, all of that will have you hankering for some food from south of the border. Just about every nation and cuisine is represented here, from Creole dishes in Little Haiti to a coronary-inducing but fantastic Cuban sandwich in Little Havana to Guatemalan bakeries. Near the top of the list is PM Buenos Aires, an upscale Argentinean establishment that served a dinner more delectable than any I had during a week in Buenos Aires itself. Read more >
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First-rate Dining at Café Christiania in Oslo, Norway
Consistently ranked at or near the top of lists of the most expensive cities in the world, Oslo can easily break your budget. While you’ll want enough money to last throughout your entire trip, you won’t want frugality to prevent you from enjoying the finer things that this friendly city offers. The key is balance. For instance, you can spend your day ice skating at the free rink in the middle of the city and admiring the 212 bronze and granite sculptures in fee-less Vigeland Park while snacking on excellent cheese and bread from a local grocer, then put all the krone you saved into a superb dinner. And one of the best restaurants to enjoy that superior meal is Café Christiana. Read more >
Stephen Travels 