Secret #1 Google- Complete a mass search on Google on the city you are visiting, pull up published articles from reputable food critic publications such as the New York Times, Travel and Leisure, Food and Wine, Bon Appetite, etc. Scan articles for "best of" lists, trends, new restaurant openings, and anything else you can find. This initial research helps us understand the essence and culture of a city and helps us narrow in on finding the "best of" in a specific region. For every trip we choose one of the top restaurants in the city to a get a real taste for the culinary greatness the best city chefs can provide.
Secret #2 Yelp/Trip Advisor/Urbanspoon-After finding out everything we can from reputable publications we turn to the people. We like to balance the opinions of the critics with local reviews from the people in order to undercover "real" truths and insight on the information we discovered through articles. If a city is known for a specific cuisine from our initial research we may begin to focus our attention on reviews from praised restaurants in that category. Sites that we use for "the peoples" reviews are Yelp, Trip Advisor, and UrbanSpoon.
http://www.yelp.com
http://www.urbanspoon.com
http://www.tripadvisor.com
Secret #3 Recommendations- More than the critics and consumer reviews, we talk to the ordinary people in the city. As soon as Stu and I land at our destination, we immerse ourselves quickly with our surroundings by befriending anyone we can to get the real town scoop! We talk to people at the airport, our taxi drivers, hotel concierge, store clerks, and the person sitting next to us at a bar...you never know who is around you and we are not shy. This has proven to be the most successful way of finding the off-the-beaten path gems in a city. Never underestimate the power of a LOCAL.
One other fun note to add is that over the past 2 years we have tapped into one other "food find" resource, The Food Network!! Our most trusted sources are Anthony Bourdain (travel channel), Guy Fieri, or Giada's recommendations, they are our favorite FN personalities and we trust their finds but we look into all of them. Once you find a restaurant in a city that was featured on the Food Network, we go to YouTube and watch the episode and note all of the dishes that the host features to remember the most well made items on the menu. This is just another way to dive into a city food first.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/local/index.html
Please let Stu or I know if you ever need restaurant recommendations, we love sharing our yummy finds.
Since great food is one of our loves, here are some food adventures we have had lately.
Road Trip from Dallas to New York City- Stu and I had THE most amazing BBQ we have ever had on our road trip to move up north! We followed our rules above as we were driving through the Arkansas hills and stumbled upon this little gem. Just thinking about it I am ready to grab a car and make the drive back down just to stop again. Get the Collard Greens...they 'der cook 'em up right.
First night in New York Dinner- Well, you would think that our first night in New York would be glamourous and exciting, but since we were up to our eye balls in boxes (literally) and were recovering from a traumatic day of moving (including parking tickets, Russian movers, chaos, and city shock) we just wanted something warm that we could eat in our new home. So, our first night included our first experience with NYC takeout and what better way to find the best takeout than ask our doorman (they know everything). We were quickly directed to Luigi's which was supposedly the best takeout Italian in our neighborhood. We ordered the "normal" Chicken Cutlet Parmesean and a garden salad and Stu picked it up from around the corner. In the only space left in our apartment we huddled around two chairs and had our first meal in NYC. To be honest, the dinner was nothing out of the ordinary, but due to the circumstances...it was pretty extraordinary.
Union Square Greenmarket- The best food that New York has to offer is not in the $500 per person meals at Masa in Columbus Circle (although I cannot attest), but rather found in the Greenmarket in Union Square. If you are like us and a sucker for fresh food, sustainable farming, and you like you support local agriculture, this would be your dream foodie haven too. This is where 140 regional farmers, fisherman, and bakers sell their goods to NY city dwellers. Our first trip to the market was pretty much the most exciting thing ever and I just had to restrain myself from buying every shiney apple and tomato I laid eyes on. The best thing we got were a dozen of the largest most beautiful eggs, so incredibly fresh that when we opened the carton to make breakfast the next day feathers were stuck to the shells. Growing up I noticed that most dads watched football on Saturdays and Sundays, read sports or golfing magazines, and defined a steak or burger as their favorite meal, but this was not my reality. My dad read Organic Gardening Magazine, planted gardens as big as some people's homes on the weekend, and loved vegetables as the main course. Maybe my love for fresh food comes from my dad and my appreciation of fresh produce reaches deeper than just the tastebud, never the less I am so thankful for what he has taught me. I CANNOT wait to bring him to the Greenmarket and buy everything in sight! :)
Our trip to GreenMarket
Stu and I would love to share our reviews and point of view on many restaurants we visit as we travel the world. Stay tuned for more sweet finds.
Such fab tips!!!!! :)
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