(Lake Travis, Austin) — Seriously, almost every night, perfect sunsets. This is one money-maker, a ginormous restaurant on a hilltop overlooking the leaky Lake Travis outside Austin. The Oasis. Drinks are cold, lots of room, the drinks are better than the food. But well worth the jaw-dropping sunsets and the jaw-dropping size of this joint. It really is cool. Get their early, the sun drops fast.
(MADRID) — Dry Cosmopolitan Bar, the cocktail bar from Javier de las Muelas. I’d read about it when I was in Barcelona last Christmas, put spaced making it there. But this year in Madrid, I saw they’d opened an outpost there and heard it was the bomb for cocktails. It was eerie walking in, almost like “The Shining”, but instead of Lloyd, it was just me and Ricardo. Nobody else in the place. I heard it was packed, always, but maybe it was the holidays, lack of tourists or Spain’s economy. In any case, I had Ricardo all to myself to understand the mysteries of making the perfect martini. The man was a master, going into detail of each step, from “dee ice must be
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MERCADO DE SAN MIGUEL — Just like the Boqueria in Barcelona, the Mercado de San Miguel is the perfect place to go back to several times to load up on the best tapas, wine and beer. You just walk from stall to stall, looking for what’s interesting, step up to the bar and eat. Perfect if you’re with a group that can’t decide, everyone can find what they want and meet up at the common eating area. About as easy as it gets, but it can be jammed with people. Just be assertive. LA GABINOTECA — This was my favorite place to eat in Madrid. A very hip new place called La Gabinoteca. Truly a delightful place. When I
(Chicago) — I”ve stayed now a half-dozen times at the Public hotel and it still ranks as one of my favorite places to stay in Chicago and certainly my favorite Ian Schrager hotel. One of the coolest lobby designs I’ve seen — that great combination of classic architecture and modern design — with good looking people as props. Come in at night and all the wealthy black-dressed Chicagoans are silhouetted against the perfectly lit white whiles. It’s almost an optical illusion. The rooms are really big, with huge windows and awesome amount of sunlight. Gigantic baths. Love the quiet stretch of upper State Parkway, quiet with gorgeous townhouses lining the blocks. And if you’re a Tablet Plus member, they’re really good about upgrading you
[SAO PAULO, BRAZIL] — Nicely tucked into the leafy Jardins neighborhood is the famous restaurant Figueira Rubaiyat, an outdoor restaurant set under about the biggest tree I’ve ever seen — a 200 year old banyan tree planted in the 1890s There must be seats for a couple hundred people underneath its limbs, with an ingenious glass canopy built under it all. I first noticed it while taking a short walk from the Fasano, right around the corner and instantly knew I had to come back. I was there over a Monday lunch, and as I sat there a host of SP’s business elite came to have long lunch meetings over grilled steak and some of the most attentive service I’ve seen at any restaurant….I take
(BARCELONA) — El Born is a cool, quiet neighborhood away from the crazy crowds. Perfect for walking around, cool shops, mellow restaurants and beautiful streets. There’s a great little square with four or five outdoor cafes, perfect to just sit and watch Barcelona go by. Go here. Here’s a good article from The Guardian. Last visited July 2015
(Buenos Aires) — Continuing my pursuit of visiting all the restaurants of my favorite chef, Francis Mallmann, after an all-night flight, I had a five hour layover at the Buenos Aires airport. I planned to take a car into the city to have lunch at his famous restaurant Patagonia Sur in BA’s colorful La Boca neighborhood, then head back to the airport. I asked my travel agent to make a reservation and when I got there they unlocked the door and let me in. There was no one there but the extremely nice waiter. I asked “Where is everybody?” and he replied: “We’re normally not open for lunch, but you had made a reservation so we opened up early for you.” I think that’s a perfect
(Garzon, Uruguay) — About 40 or so miles inland from the surf of Jose Ignacio is a sleepy little town called Garzon. There, in the middle of gaucho country and home to Uruguay’s famous grass-fed beef, Francis Mallmann (my favorite restauranteur in the world) has created a true destination place, El Garzon. I first ate at his famous restaurant Los Negros in Jose Ignacio several years ago and was immediately hit over the head with his incomprable design style, intense focus on every detail and his complete dedication to cooking with fire. Los Negros was built around a horno, a large clay oven, where nearly everything was cooked around the high temperature wood fire. He has since closed Los Negros, but I’ve sought out his other
(Trancoso, Brazil) — What makes Trancoso special is not just the beauty of the beaches, the nice hotels and people, but also the great food. The whole town is built around the Quadrado, a long square in the center of town with a National Geographic-perfect colonial church at the end. The Quadrado is the center of the village’s activities and nice restaurants, galleries and shops line its periphery. Each night, the town promenades around the oval road, so sitting at the tables is just fantastic people watching. My favorite restaurants are El Gordo, Restaurante Vitoria and Restaurant da Silvana. El Gordo, UXUA article in Vogue, here’s a great article on Trancoso restaurants by the website Brazil for Insiders by two beautiful journalists,
(Amsterdam) — I’d never been to Amsterdam before – not that interested in the coffeeshops and sex shops and drunken British lads. But after working like a fiend all year, I decided to make a Mileage Run over Thanksgiving, booking two weeks before and doing very little research. I jumped on a plane and just decided to wing it, knowing I just needed to get out of the country, fast. Icame for five days, but I was kinda done after three. It’s a small city. November is, I discovered, the absolute rainiest month in the year. No big deal, I was expecting that, I like going places when hoards of tourists aren’t there and get a chance to live like a resident. Living in New York taught me that. While everyone came in