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 >
Tag Archives: dining
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 >
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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 >
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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 >
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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 