OUr family loves to travel and the more adventurous the better. We all love food and have an interest in exploring different food cultures. Last summer we spend time in northern Iceland. Super clean and cold waters equals fantastic seafoods and water fowl. We had a chance during our trip to eat puffin! Even our eight year old daughter sampled the grilled bird. Gamey, rich, salty from living on the ocean. We harvested much by hand from the tides, from mussels to sea urchin. All fantastic! Looking forward to returning!
This summer looking to travel by car to the Dakotas, forage with a local guide and fly fish for trout!

I'm definitely going to Miami in June for a family reunion with my Mom's GA/FL side of the family, and while it's not ostensibly food-focused, I will definitely spend some time in Little Havana particularly looking for good Cuban home cooking. I'll also be traveling home to Southern Indiana to begin work on another project TBA.

Of course my vacation will be food focused! Drew and I spend a week each year in Montreal. We stay at a quaint little auberge and rent bikes for the week. We have our favorite restaurants, check out the new ones and save two lunches for picnics from the Atwater Market and Jean Talon Market. The food in Montreal is exquisite! Like a European vacation 2 hours from Chicago. Also spending a week later on in New Orleans, our other favorite food city.

am on a short pre-simmer jaunt right now...my anual BYOB tour of Philadelphia...
ULIVO...then Russet...then The Pickled Heron....
plus the traditional, cheesesteak, hoagie, scrapple, water ice, soft pretzel drill

I'd love to say that I'm planning a summer vacation, but that's currently up in the air due to scheduling conflicts. If both my husband and I can get the time off, we're hoping to go to Nashville. Is that food focused? Partly, but it's also because we have family in the area. Last time we were down there, we ate at this place on the strip called Merchants. It was so exciting to see the re-birth of a restaurant truly doing local food. It was southern, the pictures in the upstairs dining room were taken by one of their line cooks of a farm that supplies the restaurant, and I felt this very homey vibe there. The staff was excited to share their thoughts about the local food scene, sharing other favorite places to go. I feel like Nashville's culinary scene is blossoming and I hope to go back to check it out. Doesn't hurt that we have built in babysitters there, either...

I am headed to St. Thomas in the USVI on Monday!!! This trip is mostly for some R&R but we always love finding local spots to eat at. I am excited to visit some rum distilleries.

Summer vacation with my new tequila bar??? Fat chance of that.
That being said, we are attempting to take a trip to Tequila Country to take many distillery tours. I am currently beating on a few of my suppliers to sponsor this trip. Though I have spent much time in Mexico, I have yet to tour a distillery. I feel that as much as I know about tequila, this is a huge missing link for me. Much like when I was a wine buyer, it really came together after my first trip to Napa and Sonoma. Nothing substitutes for seeing and feeling and smelling the atmosphere of a winery or distillery.
In general, almost every trip I ever take has a culinary or cocktail element. For example, I have learned so much about cocktails on my trips to New Orleans. It was those trips that led me to ask Jenny Kessler to create a tequila version of the Aviation for our original drink menu. She humored me, put in on the menu, and then fired it a month later. I still get picked on for that ill-fated cocktail (hahaha)! Although, she does now have a Mezcal version of the Corpse Reviver #2 on the menu, which is an incredible cocktail!

My goal is to get out to bourbon county and spend some quality time
"tasting" some spirits and eating some good food. it's still in the early
planning phase so i'm talking to all my industry people to find out some
great tips as far as places to go and things to do. as far as food goes,
all vacations are food focused even if i'm not heading to a culinary
"hotspot". It's pretty much impossible to turn off the whole "find
inspiration in every plate" thing when i'm eating anywhere.

My Summer vacation is going I be a week in Denmark. It will be part food related and part relaxing. I will attend the MAD-Symposium in Copenhagen hosted by the guys from Noma and Nordic Food lab. Then I will spend a few days on the west coast of Denmark also knows as Jutland, there it will be relaxing time and visit family and of course Fishing.
All the best.
Marcell Davidsen |
Chefmarcell.tumblr.com