With more than 1,000 restaurants to choose from in Amsterdam, ranging from Argentinean steak houses to Indonesian takeaway joints to traditional Dutch establishments, you’re never at a loss to satisfy any particular craving. Those located along the city’s famous canals, of course, boast the more charming setting. But even if you can’t get to enjoy the views at the often limited outdoor seating, you’ll still be satisfied with the fine meal you’ll be served at your indoor table. Villa Zeezicht is one of those lovely canal-side restaurants with a delicious menu that ultimately makes it irrelevant where you’re sitting. Read more >
Category Archives: Restaurants
A Taste of the World at The Silk Road in Missoula
When I arrived in Montana, I was fully prepared to start consuming higher-than-normal quantities of beef. After all, this is a state where cattle outnumber people (2.6 million versus 1 million) and livestock makes up about two-thirds of the agriculture industry. No wonder that I had conjured up plentiful images of steaks and burgers. So I was a little suspicious and more than a little curious when the owners of the Gibson Mansion Bed & Breakfast where I was staying recommended a restaurant that had an international menu with dishes from countries as far-ranging as Japan, Ethiopia, and Austria. But their suggestion was spot-on, and dinner at The Silk Road proved to be a surprisingly cosmopolitan — and scrumptious — affair. Read more >
Share my story:
Students Create Culinary Art at Montpelier’s NECI on Main
As soon as I discovered that the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, Vermont, operated a restaurant downtown, I knew exactly where I was going to have lunch. Just a short and charming walk from the campus, NECI on Main serves as a working laboratory for the students who may very well become tomorrow’s master chefs. Taught the mantras of organic, sustainable, and seasonal foods, NECI students channel what they learn in the classroom and on field trips to local farms into works of art on a plate. Don’t feel apprehensive about their relative inexperience — these students are serious about what they produce and how it’s presented. Judging by the meal I enjoyed, they’ll graduate with honors. Read more >
Share my story:
Go Fish: Dinner at Baltimore’s Best Seafood Restaurant
Crab dinners and Baltimore are practically synonymous, but there are plenty of other fish in the sea, and the Oceanaire Seafood Room has expertly mastered the preparation of many of these options. Just a short stroll east from the Inner Harbor, this upscale restaurant combines a sophisticated nautical ambience with a deep menu overflowing with seafood specialties ranging from Florida yellowfin tuna to Faroe Islands salmon to a wide variety of crustaceans. You may have to shell out a few extra dollars, but that will seem irrelevant from the moment you get hooked on Oceanaire’s offerings. Read more >
Share my story:
Carson City’s Most Capital Restaurant
Although Las Vegas rakes in the lion’s share of visitors to Nevada, Carson City captures a number of those who want to see the state capitol, a superior train museum, and a pleasant historic district. And for a fantastic lunch, the smart ones head over to Adele’s Restaurant and Lounge, where the chef-owner and his wife continue a 40-year-old family business that makes magic out of mostly local ingredients. And they do it all in a historic house built in 1875 for a Nevada attorney general and Supreme Court justice. Read more >
Share my story:
Getting Hooked on Helsinki’s Best Seafood
With 780 miles of coastline and 187,888 lakes, Finland is a seafood lover’s delight. The creative chefs in Helsinki take full advantage of the country’s maritime resources and produce some imaginative results from what is pulled from the water. Located across the street from the old food market and the busiest harbor in the city, Havis combines its highly appropriate setting with an alluring menu that has earned it warm regard as one of the best seafood restaurants in the city — a reputation it well deserves. Read more >
Share my story:
Dining — and Definitely Wining — in Mendoza
The symbiotic relationship between wine and the city of Mendoza, Argentina, simply cannot be overstated — a connection that made itself abundantly clear to me when I stepped off the plane in Mendoza, exited the terminal, and caught sight of a vineyard on the grounds of the airport. To really absorb it all, I headed off to sample some of the region’s best varietals and blends at a few of the hundreds of wineries around town, including Finca Decero, where a gorgeous setting and a fantastic meal awaited me. Read more >
Share my story:
Sure Things in Saratoga Springs
October in Saratoga Springs, New York: Racing season is over, the thoroughbreds are on vacation, and the smart set has returned home. Picking a winner now does not revolve around our equine friends. Rather, it becomes a wager on where to have dinner.
Saratoga Springs doesn’t have countless options, but the choices that do exist will more than satisfy foliage seekers who’ve come to revel in the autumnal leaves in this attractive city of beautiful Victorian homes from the late 1800s. For a hearty meal in a historic setting, the Olde Bryan Inn is a sure bet. (Read more about the Olde Bryan Inn > ) And if you’re in the mood for something more elegant, the fine American bistro Maestro’s at the Van Dam will be the big payoff. (Read more about Maestro’s > )
Share my story:
Fine Dining in the Capital of Croatia
I’ve never been a fan of hotel restaurants. Often overpriced and a deterrent from going out and exploring local eateries, they’re never my first choice. Nor my second. They may prefer an international menu rather than a good selection of the regional cuisine, and I’d prefer to dine among locals rather than other travelers. From the second I stepped into Radicchio, the restaurant in the Hotel Arcotel Allegra in Zagreb, Croatia, however, I changed my mind. This is, by far, a superior restaurant I would have regretted missing. Read more >
Stephen Travels 