Food lover's vacation travel guide: France and Italy remain the food vacation destinations of the highest caliber.
For some people, the best part of taking a vacation is to sample food of a different ethnicity. They don't look forward to the theme parks or the cultural museums, but they dream of the restaurants and cafes and sandwich bars of a chosen destination.
There are, of course, some vacation spots which have distinguished themselves for having better food than others. For example, a tourist in search of culinary delights might not seek out the United Kingdom. The best places to visit for food- Paris, France and the Tuscany region of Italy- may feel overdone. After all, you've heard them mentioned before, and their reputation for culinary masterpieces is perhaps as old as restaurants themselves. However, they have earned their reputations for good reason, and they continue to maintain a standard of excellence regarding both the preparation and serving of dishes which deserves the attention of a food-loving tourist.
French men and women are renowned world-wide for maintaining healthy, slim figures despite their passion for "forbidden," rich foods like whole milk cheeses and butter. Therefore, not surprisingly, tourists in search of a truly indulgent gastronomic experience might seek out Paris. In addition, as the most intimate dining experience is for two people (no more and no less), Paris also attracts on the basis of its romantic atmosphere. The combination of good food and sultry ambience are explosive.
Of course, restaurant reviewers will tell you that the "best" restaurants are those that cost upwards of 200 euros for a three course meal and a glass of wine. However, Paris offers good food for even the most basic of budgets. The restaurants themselves can be classified as classical, bistro, brasserie, or cafe. A classical restaurant is typically the most expensive, offering a wide, diverse menu that might bring in influences from Asia, Africa, and even South America. There are also "traditional" classical restaurants, which offer the food that tourists generally think of in relation to France from thick, cream-based sauces ladled over shellfish to the airy pastries of the dessert menu. Guy Savoy in Batignolles is such a restaurant. The dress code is formal (suit and tie for men, elegant dresses or trousers for ladies), and you can expect the bill to climb well into the hundreds of euros.
On a tighter budget, the cafe-restaurant offers the same proportionate degree of French flair. Its menu is much cheaper and often much more straightforward than that of a classical restaurant, or even bistro or brasserie. Generally, cafe-restaurants have sandwiches, salads, and other light meals which you can eat outside on a terrace.
Finally, beyond just locating restaurants of critical acclaim, Paris can be a wonderful place to enroll in a cooking class. Samira Hradsky and her husband James have established a company called the International Kitchen, which caters to American tourists with daily lessons and prices in American dollars. Similarly, there is always Le Cordon Bleu, Academie D'Art Culinaire de Paris.
Another location to consider when in search of the best food is Italy or, more specifically, the region of Tuscany. Culturally, Italy seems much more open to tourist infiltration than Paris, and so there are perhaps wider opportunities for the food aficionado.
The Aolmaia Tuscany Society, for example, arranges cheese and wine tours along the Etruscan coast. Interested tourists can choose the length of the travel (3 days to a week, or perhaps even longer in some cases) and also the nature of their journey. For example, there is a 3-day vegetarian cooking break in the Tuscan hills for the spring 2005 season. The Aolmaia Tuscany Society also prefers to restrict enrollment in order to create an intimate, personal atmosphere to accompany the sampling of food.
Italian restaurants, conversely, differ significantly by region. The foreigner may not recognize the distinction of a Sicilian dish as compared to its Calabrian counterpart. In Florence, the Ristorante Osteria Dell'Agnolo has earned a reputation both for its delicious main dishes and its longevity- it's one of the oldest, most historically rich restaurants in Florence. On the menu, it offers a wide range of olive-oil-slick pastas, home-oven-baked pizzas of varying toppings, and a region-famous T-bone steak called the "fiorentina." The Incanto Restaurant offers a slightly more elegant atmosphere (Dell'Agnolo is in a two-story tavern) with a more elaborate menu that matches an appropriate wine with every main dish.
Although Paris and Tuscany might be obvious choices, they continue to attract food-lovers from across the world. Consequently, they delight in and develop this reputation, making them unequivocably the best stops for fantastic dining.
