Tag: Restaurant Travel

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In Phnom Penh: The Friends Restaurant is Food for Good

April 25, 2013 at 3:00 PM | by | Comments (0)

After yesterday's heavy post, we figure a little pick-me-up is in order, so let's talk about the good things going on around Phnom Penh. Specifically, we're speaking of Friends Restaurant, just off the banks of the Mekong River, and it has nothing to do with the hit sitcom from the 1990s.

Plating up the some of the best in Khmer food and continental food, tapas-style, this eatery comes complete with a healthy dose of philanthropy and good karma by helping underprivileged youth to work in every part of the operation. The former street kids are given shelter and taught useful skills for their reintegration into society, such as cooking, serving and running a successful eatery.

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In London's Soho, No-Reservations Restaurants are Where You Want to Be

December 15, 2011 at 3:46 PM | by | Comments (0)


Spuntino's Peanut Butter and Jelly Dessert "Sandwich"

In London, our preference is for restaurant trawling, not pub crawling. The local culinary scene has undergone subtle yet significant changes over the past year: artisanal coffee is easier to come by, locals are every-so-slowly embracing the concept of brunch, there is an increased presence of street food, and a handful of strictly no-reservations outposts have made a splash among critics and discerning diners alike.

It's the latter trend with which we're most taken, as these democratic, "queue-with-the-rest-of-'em" restaurants are focusing more on putting out great food rather than trying to compete with their five-star contemporaries. Their websites are typically devoid of essential intel, save for the locale's address. If you're lucky you'll get a phone number, not that it will help in trying to wrangle a dining spot.

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London Restaurant Festival Rails Against the City's Middling Culinary Rep

September 29, 2011 at 3:05 PM | by | Comments (0)

The London Restaurant Festival's Gourmet Odyssey bus won't be stopping at any soggy fish 'n' chip joints

We vacillate between taking obvious, stereotype-driven jabs at London's cuisine—for good reason, oftentimes—and bringing you pleasantly surprised reports from the city's gastronomic field. The rise of chefs such as Heston Blumenthal and Marcus Wareing and the opening of respectable restaurants in recent years notwithstanding, London still suffers from a middling culinary reputation. Yet, the city's gastronomes soldier on, endeavoring to ensure that soggy fish 'n' chips don't define its fare.

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Three Hot Tables to Book for Miami Spice's Two Months of Discount Dining

July 20, 2011 at 12:25 PM | by | Comments (0)

Red, The Steakhouse

Good news: the city of Miami isn't just reeling in spa junkies with its summertime promotions--it's after foodies as well. And forget Restaurant Week--here the lunch and dinner deals run for two entire months. Ladies and gentlemen, prepare your taste buds for Miami Spice, August 1 through September 30.

The program celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, with more than 125 restaurants across Miami participating--including 35 new ones, which certainly helps keep things, well, spicy.

Three-course dinner menus are $35 (plus gratuity and drinks), and many restaurants are also offering three-course lunches for just $22.

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Chow Down During Shanghai Restaurant Week in September

Where: Shanghai, China
August 23, 2010 at 1:28 PM | by | Comments (0)

Whampoa Club

Foodies who will be in Shanghai from September 6 to 12 better make reservations now for the second annual Shanghai Restaurant Week.

An extra incentive to hit up the participating high-end restaurants is that you'll get a great deal: a three-course dinner will cost you 238 RMB, or about $35, and a three-course lunch will be 118 RMB, or $17.

But don't expect to be overwhelmed by options for authentic Chinese cuisine. According to CNNGo, most of the 28 participating restaurants skew toward Western cuisine or are in hotel venues, although few of the major Chinese restaurants will take part.

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NYC Foodie Tour Shows You What It's Like to Be a Top Chef

February 25, 2010 at 11:45 AM | by | Comments (0)

If you love Top Chef or just wish you had the cheftestants' skills, a new walking tour called "In the Steps of a Top Chef" will lead you around New York City to see sights from the show's Manhattan-set season five, learn some culinary know-how and, of course, eat some good grub.

During the three-hour tour, you'll chow down on sandwiches at lead judge and James Beard Award-winning chef Tom Colicchio's 'wichcraft; a treat from a Chinatown bakery; cheeses at Di Palo's Fine Foods in Little Italy, where the competitors shopped; and snacks at 24 Prince, the American bistro of season four cheftestant Nikki Cascone. When she's in the restaurant, Cascone will chat with tourgoers and relay her experiences of being on the show.

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Book These Top Five NYC Restaurant Week Reservations Today

January 12, 2010 at 11:39 AM | by | Comments (0)

Calling all foodies! We hope you've already booked a quick trip to New York City sometime between January 25 to February 7, because that's when Winter Restaurant Week will be in full swing, offering up prix-fixe lunch and dinner menus at some of the best and most famous restaurants in the Big Apple.

And although restaurant week has been around in NYC since 1992, the prices haven't changed for the menus since 2006, meaning that 3-course lunches are a set $24.07 and 3 or 4-course dinners are $35.

Reservations officially open today, although if you follow NYCGo as we do, you had first dibs on booking the best tables yesterday when they twittered a special link. And since we know that sluicing through over 250 restaurants to nail down a few choice reservations is tough work, allow us to help you out with our list of the Top Five NYC Restaurant Week Reservations...

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Flavor is the Focus For Top Chef's Eli Kirshtein at Atlanta's ENO

Where: 800 Peachtree Street [map], Atlanta, GA, United States, 30308
November 19, 2009 at 4:44 PM | by | Comments (0)

Spiky-haired, bespectacled Top Chef contestant Eli Kirshtein garnered the ire of Tom Colicchio after serving up what the judge deemed "raw lamb." That's no mark of a master chef, but as we know, even talented artisans are prone to missteps, perhaps owing to the pressure of a major prize and a national audience in the millions.

Off the show, Kirshtein serves as the Executive Chef of Atlanta's ENO Restaurant and Wine Bar. No relation to Brian Eno as far as we can tell, although that would make it infinitely cooler. Like many of his competitors, he's a locavore, sourcing ingredients for ENO's menu from farms and specialty stores around the great state of Georgia.

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NYC's Winter Restaurant Week Returns In 2010; Better Get Booking

November 13, 2009 at 12:24 PM | by | Comments (0)


The bass restaurant week entree at NYC's Asiate restaurant

Foodies, unite! Book your trips to New York City now for the end of January or beginning of February, since the dates for Winter Restaurant Week were just announced. Some of the best and most famous restaurants in the Big Apple will be offering up prix-fixe lunch and dinner menus from January 25 to February 7.

And although restaurant week has been around in NYC since 1992, the prices haven't changed for the menus since 2006, meaning that 3-course lunches are a set $24.07 and 3 or 4-course dinners are $35.

Of course they're breaking out the prix fixe menus during the low period before Valentine's Day, but that's just means more foodie fun to brighten up dreary winter days. We're already plotting our reservations, and although you won't be able to book tables until probably sometime around New Year's, it's the right time to plan an indulgent trip to the city. Put our the airfare alerts now!

Related Stories:
· NY Restaurant Week Is Up For A Second Helping Through Labor Day [Jaunted]
· Restaurant Weeks coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Jaunted]

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Robin Leventhal of 'Top Chef' Pushes Truffled Popcorn In Seattle

Where: 115 Blanchard St [map], Seattle, WA, United States, 98121
November 12, 2009 at 2:29 PM | by | Comments (0)

Even when the grand prize eludes them, Top Chef alums often find a way to get the maximum mileage out of their fifteen minutes. Take, for example, Robin Leventhal, who didn't earn many popularity points with her fellow cast mates, but did manage to land an Executive Chef gig at Seattle's See Sound Lounge in early October. A simple panna cotta proved to be Leventhal's Achilles' heel on the show, so it's a good thing that there aren't many desserts on See Sound's menu, aside from a couple ice cream sandwiches and the silly inclusion of candied orange peel.

See Sound talks up their new chef's pseudo-celebrity stature on their website, declaring with pride, "The show is extremely popular. Take heed, watching it makes you hungry!" However, it's going to take more than a paltry self-endorsement to convince us of the restaurant's culinary cred. In our experience, the focus of restaurant/lounges tend to be promoting a cool, sexy atmosphere, not quality dishes. Pre-judging? Maybe, but let's take a closer look at what's on the menu for more.

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Laurine Wickett Of 'Top Chef' Gives Left Coast Some Market-Fresh Options

November 5, 2009 at 3:29 PM | by | Comments (0)

This week's cheftestant profile involves travel to you, rather than a self-initiated jaunt to a cast member's restaurant. Laurine Wickett, whose tenure on Top Chef effectively ended after what is arguably the show's most difficult challenge, "Restaurant Wars," has since returned to San Francisco where she runs Left Coast Catering.

New York born, but Northern California bred—at least in the culinary sense—Laurine incorporates the Bay Area's various cultural influences into market-fresh menus for her clients. Whether left coast parents planning a Bat Mitzvah or bride-to-be hosting a dessert reception, Laurine will provide you with options galore. We perused some of her sample menus online, which reflect a flavorful Californian approach to cooking while turning to other regions of the world for inspiration. She does everything from sushi stations to steak and french fries, on the same menu if you'd like guests to have multiple options. Her ill-fated Pork Rillette (or, as Dana Cowin punishingly put it, "cat food") made no appearance on any of the menus we saw.

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Some News From Philly That's Not World Series-Related

November 4, 2009 at 4:29 PM | by | Comments (0)

How do you enjoy Restaurant Week menus and prices without it actually being Restaurant Week? Well, if you're in Philadelphia, all you've got to do is book your hotel stay on withlove.gophila.com, and you'll receive all the details on the hotels where you can dine on discount prix-fixe menus through December 30.

Restaurants featured run the gamut, from super swish 4-course meals at Lacroix at The Rittenhouse to fresh Italian at Positano Coast. And since we promised Restaurant Week prices, you'll be happy to hear the the 3-to-4-course meals are all either $20, $30 or $35 per person. We're guessing that Lacroix is up at the $35 end, but menu choices aren't piddly; think "prime rib, crab imperial, handmade orecchiette and olive oil-poached Scottish salmon."

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