Chicago Culinary Tours Delight Visitors, Chicagoans

Are you a visitor to Chicago (or maybe a local) and looking for a culinary tour of Chicago? There is much to explore in Chicago’s culinary world “We sometimes offer conventions culinary tours or extra help in planning things, and these requests are growing every year,” said Dunbar Hines, director of culinary arts and events for the city’s department of cultural affairs.  Here’s a look at some of the Chicago’s best cooking/culinary/food manufacturing tours being offered in and around the city:

Pastry and confection chef Jenny Lewis leads two-hour walking tours of historic places, as well as tastings. While handmade candy-making is a dying art (most companies utilize machines), Lewis covers Chicago’s rich candy-making history, explaining how chocolates, caramels and hard candies were once made before the rise of the machines.

“I wish more businesses were preparing candy in view, but logistically it is not happening,” Lewis says.

Tours are offered Saturdays at 11 a.m. and Sundays at noon. Cost: $30 per person, $55 for two; military personnel and children age 12 and under, $15. For reservations, call (312) 607-8939 or e-mail chefjennylf@yahoo.com. For more information, visit www.chicagocandytours.com.

Two-and-a-half-hour guided walking tours include traditional and non-traditional chocolate locations and are scheduled Wednesday through Sunday year-round. Cost: $40 per person. Call (312) 929-2939 or visit www.chicagochocolatetours.com for times and locations of upcoming tours and to reserve your space.

Every Friday and Saturday, Dine-Around hosts a progressive, full-course dining tour that hits some of Chicago’s finest restaurants. While the company prides itself on a diverse pairing of restaurants, Chicago Dine-Around’s Brandon Schwartz says tours that pair urban Italian cuisine with smaller, neighborhood Italian fare tend to be the most popular. Previous tours have included stops at Quartino for appetizers, Sapori Trattoria for individual chicken dishes plus pasta served family-style, and dessert at either one sixtyblue or Riva. Just be sure to come hungry.

“People constantly tell us they are full after the first stop,” Schwartz says.

Tours are $85 per person and kick off at 6 p.m. at the John Hancock Center (875 N. Michigan). For reservations, call (312) 437-3463 or visit www.chicagodinearound.com.

Take a trip around the world without ever leaving the area. Evelyn Thompson hosts this adventurous 3½- to four-hour tour that features stops at ethnic stores across the Chicago area. Thompson says South American cuisine is especially hot now, judging by recent tours. The Latin American market La Unica (1515 W. Devon) is her current favorite.

“Originally a Cuban market with some Columbian ingredients, they have expanded their inventory to include a really good selection of Peruvian items — canned, dried and frozen,” Thompson says. “They also have a really wide selection of different grades of corn meals, dried corn kernels, sauces, olives and canned seafood products that would easily grace a tapas table.”

Those looking for meals of an Indonesian flavor might be hard-pressed to find ingredients. Thompson says it’s the one world cuisine that is currently not well-represented in Chicago ethnic markets.

Tours are arranged on a custom basis and must be made in advance. Cost: two-person tours, $75; three-person tours, $95; four-person tours, $120. Contact her for group rates for four or more. For reservations, call (773) 465-8064 or visit www.ethnic-grocery-tours.com.

Cooking instructor Rebecca Wheeler puts her vast knowledge of ethnic food into 3½-hour tours of various ethnic neighborhood markets. Upcoming tours include Chinatown (Saturday), Devon (March 13), Argyle (March 20) and Andersonville (April 3). Though the Argyle tour remains the most popular, Wheeler says the Chinatown tour, which she added last spring, is gaining on it.

“People are surprised by the exotic goods at the bulk-goods store we visit in Chinatown,” she says. “We talk about the culture of eating in China and how things like sharks fin came to be so culturally significant.”

Cost: $85 per person, including tastings. Bring extra cash/credit cards for additional purchases if desired. For reservations, call (773) 368-1336 or e-mail beccawheeler@comcast.net. For more information, visit the Web site www.rebeccawheeler.com.

CFP tours feature food tastings at seven locations around either the Near North or Bucktown/Wicker Park neighborhoods. Three-hour Near North tours begin at 11 a.m. and operate seven days a week from April through November. Three-hour Bucktown/Wicker Park tours kick off at 11:30 a.m. and operate Tuesday through Saturday from April through November. Both tours are $42 per person and are limited to 16 people. For reservations, call (212) 209-3370 or visit chicagofoodplanet.com.

Food Network rated this tour No. 1 in its survey of tasty tours, and Eli’s Mary Gale says it’s no surprise. “Everyone loves cheesecake,” she says.   Eli’s employee Margie Ware has been conducting the popular tours for the last couple of years and always starts with a historical overview of the company — how Eli Schulman came up with his signature dessert for his now-shuttered steakhouse. The tour is very hands-on, with factory workers politely fielding any questions as you trace what goes into a cheesecake and how they are made, decorated and packaged. Groups of less than nine can take a 40-minute tour of Eli’s Cheesecake World (6701 W. Forest Preserve Dr.) at 1 p.m. Monday through Friday without a reservation. The $3 fee includes a slice of cheesecake. Call (773) 736-3417 or visit www.elicheesecake.com.

The popular Chicago brew pub offers one-hour tours of its brewing facilities (1800 N. Clybourn) on Sundays at 3 and 4:30 p.m. The $7 fee includes a tasting of six beers. Reservations required. Call (312) 915-0071 or visit www.gooseisland.com.

You may never need to actually roast your own coffee beans, but knowing what goes into making a French roast as opposed to a milder blend somehow makes you appreciate both a bit more. Take a 75-minute tour of the roasting facilities (1850 W. Fulton) for the popular Chicago coffeehouse the first Saturday of every month at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Cost: $15 (free for children under 13). Enjoy all the complimentary freshly brewed coffee you can handle, and take home a half-pound of coffee at the completion of the tour. Reservations highly recommended as February and March dates are already sold out (the next available tour is on April 10). Call (312) 563-0023 or visit www.intelligentsiacoffee.com.

If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to handcraft a tasty brew, this family-owned microbrewery (30W315 Calumet Ave., Warrenville) offers free 45-minute tours every Saturday at 1 and 2:30 p.m. Reservations are not required. For more information, call (630) 393-2337 or visit www.twobrosbrew.com.

Sample some of the best foods the city has to offer and gain insight from staff members on what makes Chicago a world-class food city on Gray Line’s “Your Love of Food” tour. Stops on previous tours have included The Spice House for a lesson on all spices, from adobo to za’atar; yummy samples from Old Town’s Twisted Baker, and a stop at Old Town Oil to learn everything you should probably know about olive oil and vinegar. Tours start from the Palmer House Hilton (17 E. Monroe) each Wednesday through Friday at 1:30 p.m. Cost: $40 for adults, $25 for children 5-14. Call (312) 251-3100.

Source:: Sun Times

Culinary Travel: A Chocolate Theme Park in China in Now Open

Chocoholics, rejoice! China is making culinary waves as it opens a giant Chocolate theme park in Beijing at the Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium where the Summer Olympic Games were played in 2008 that opened on January 29. With culinary workers scurrying around for months, World Chocolate Wonderland used more than 70,000kg of Belgium chocolate in the theme park and the grand opening included models carrying chocolate shields as well as Chinese symbols such as the Great Wall and terra cotta soldiers made out of chocolate. Read more

First Caribbean Culinary Festival in Cuba – Sept 20-25

More than 25 nations have confirmed their participation in the First Caribbean Culinary Festival, scheduled for September 20-25, 2009, in eastern Santiago de Cuba

The event will take place at the Heredia Theater with the presence of nearly 250 foreign participants, including renowned chefs and members of world prestigious academies.    Representatives from the Danish, Swedish, Mexican, Italian and French cuisines, among others, will share their knowledge and experience with Cuban professionals of the sector in this event that will include workshops and lectures.

Chef Oscar Rodriguez Herrera, president of the Culinary Association of Havana, told ACN that the delegation from the Cuban capital will be comprised of chefs and cooks from emblematic restaurants and also from important hotel chains in Havana.   Currently, the Federation of Culinary Associations of Cuba has nearly 60,000 members in the country provinces and municipalities.

Las Vegas – The New Culinary Center

If you find scheduling dinner and a show too tight, an alternative is to have a late lunch and then leisurely make your way to a show. This worked wonders when we combined lunch at the Palazzo’s Dos Caminos and Criss Angel’s Believe (Cirque du Soleil and Criss Angel teaming up for a definitely different Vegas experience) at The Luxor.

Want more options? Add some celebrity oomph and hire a limo for a ride to your favourite restaurant; it’s not as expensive as you might think. While definitely more costly than a taxi at $90 for a round trip between the Mirage and Planet Hollywood, it’s just plain fun and provides a taste of how the oh-so-famous crowd lives.

But we’re talking dining here, and Planet Hollywood, where celebrities are known to stay and play, doesn’t come up short on either aspect. We tried a night at Planet Hollywood and enjoyed it immensely. While we didn’t catch a glimpse of any celebrities, stars and crew from the science-fiction series Stargate Atlantis were there filming just a short while earlier. Meanwhile, the Hollywood memorabilia in the rooms add a nice glitzy feel.

Restaurants at Planet Hollywood rated favourably as well. Strip House, more on that later, is excellent for those yearning for beef and Hollywood-style glamour. More surprising was Planet Dailies, a coffee shop. The Cinnamon Roll French Toast with Fresh Strawberries and the 10-ounce Kobe Burger were both excellent.

At last count, there were more than 40 of the world’s top chefs and television food icons with restaurants in Vegas — with some chefs such as Batali (his Italian steakhouse Carnevino served an amazing beef carpaccio while the pasta dish, Bucatini All’amatriciana has succulent homemade-style noodles in a spicy tomato sauce — but dishes here are pricey) or Wolfgang Puck behind multiple restaurants with different concepts — and that number continues to grow.

But we quickly learned that three gastronomic feasts in one day is a Disneyland for the digestive tract and way too much to handle. With food as exhilarating as this, you don’t want to find yourself in a position where you just can’t eat anymore.

Culinary Exhibition: Garden-Fresh Produce

From now until September 13th, the New York Botanical Garden is hosting its Edible Garden Exhibition, which aims to inspire New Yorkers “to grow, prepare, and eat garden-fresh produce”. For an admission fee of $20 (free for members) see cooking demonstrations with celebrity chefs, exhibitions like the Martha Stewart Culinary Herb Garden and go on the 250-acre Botanical Garden’s edible plant tour.
On Thursdays, the NYBG hosts Edible Evenings until 8 pm. The picnic style events are held on the lawn on a first come first serve basis. Eat and drink food from experts, like the Food Network’s Anne Burrell,while you learn about incorporating fresh produce into your diet under open skies. For Edible Evenings in August, enjoy the “Waterlily Concert” series. Acts include The Jeb Patton Trio, Ray Martinez Legacy and M Shanghai String Band.

A Boom in Culinary Travel

In recent years, a culinary vacation usually meant traveling to a famous overseas restaurant or to meet with a famous chef and then watching him or her prepare special dishes.

Not anymore. Welcome to the brave new world of up close, participatory culinary travel. It’s become one of the fastest-growing trends in the travel industry today.

According to a 2006 study from the Travel Industry Association, about one in 10 American leisure travelers reported that food or wine was a major factor in choosing their destinations. Translation: These are  Deliberate Culinary Travelers. Other travelers took at least one trip where they sought out culinary activities (opportunistic culinary travelers), and then there are the accidental culinary travelers — who stumbled upon the culinary experience while traveling. The culinary travel experience includes everything from visiting a farmers market, sampling artisan products, attending a food or wine festival, going wine, beer or cheese tasting, or driving along a food or wine trail. But almost always, you can choose to have a hands-on experience cooking alongside top chefs.

Cruising
Veteran cruise ship travelers will warn you there are about eight meals a day. Now, on a number of ships, there are nine — the ninth being the hands-on cooking classes taught on board. And that seems almost counterintuitive, since “cruise food” hasn’t always been synonymous with “gourmet.”

But these days, high-end gourmet restaurants are available on many lines: Crystal is partnering with master chef Nobuyuki “Nobu” Matsuhisa to launch the Silk Road and The Sushi Bar on Crystal Symphony. Chef Nobu himself will be on the inaugural trans-Pacific cruise from L.A. to Hong Kong on March 3, 2008.

On the Princess, onboard culinary adventures include a shore excursion to a chef’s table on its Alaskan itineraries, where you get a five-course tasting menu of regional dishes.

Holland America has one of the most comprehensive culinary programs out there. The Culinary Arts Center program, presented by Food & Wine magazine, includes hands-on cooking lessons with top chefs, kids and teen culinary classes, a state-of-the-art demonstration kitchen and wine and cheese tastings.

North America
In Walland, Tennessee (about two hours northeast of Chattanooga), Blackberry Farm is a longtime follower of the local and seasonal food philosophy. It’s a combination of luxury resort and working farm — you can spend a day in the life of a gardener, a cheese maker or a chef. Room rates start at $745 a night (two-night minimum), including meals. 865-984-8166, www.blackberryfarm.com

Cheese making in Texas? In Elm Mott, Texas, the Homestead Heritage School of Homesteading can teach you the fine art of making dairy products such as butter, mozzarella, sour cream and cottage cheese.  Prices range from $75 to $245 for a three-day course. www.homesteadheritage-homesteading.com

Would you rather sit back and enjoy a meal prepared with the freshest ingredients? Try dining on a farm. That’s right, you’ll be eating a meal made out of the very ingredients that surround you. Every summer, an organization called Outstanding in the Field hosts dinners on farms, vineyards and ranches throughout California and parts of Colorado, New Hampshire and New York.  831-247-1041; www.outstandinginthefield.com

Even Canada has its own tradition in culinary excellence. Bet you didn’t know that Canadian cuisine has a heritage of British, German and even Mennonite influences. You can learn all about this firsthand at the Wine Country Cooking School, part of Strewn Winery at Niagara-on-the-Lake in Ontario. Owner Jane Langdon and her winemaker husband, Joe, will set you up with their capable staff to create a multicourse lunch. Single-day classes are available for $195 per person, and couples’ classes start $340. 905-468-8304, www.winecountrycooking.com

Just south of the border, Rancho La Puerta’s new cooking school is located in the heart of a six-acre organic farm. You can participate in both hands-on and demonstrative cooking lessons, all using fresh produce straight from the farm. Individual cooking classes run $125 each, a four-class package is offered for $425, and the demonstration classes are $60 each.  800-443-7565, www.rancholapuerta.com

Asia
You may be familiar with the famous Thai cooking programs at the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok and at the Four Seasons in Chiang Mai. Both options are excellent, but there are plenty of less-expensive, authentic experiences throughout Thailand and other parts of Asia.

In Bangkok, a woman named Angsana Andersson operates a cooking class out of her home (she’s Thai and married to a Swedish man). She offers private lessons that include three dishes, which you choose from her own family’s cookbook. This course is about $60; www.thaihomecooking.com

If you’re looking for a really intensive Asian culinary experience, luxury outfitter Kipling & Clark can cater to your specific tastes. For example, a 14-day Tastes of Southeast Asia Tour includes culinary experiences in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. In Hanoi, you can join a local chef on a tour of Hang Be Market, to learn the story behind Vietnamese herbs, spices and produce before going into the kitchen to prepare a multicourse meal. While in Saigon, you may visit the colorful Cai Be floating market followed by a private cooking class at the Hotel De La Paix. These tours are customized, so prices vary. 800-354-3404; www.kiplingandclark.com

Europe
What’s a trip to France without an experience in cheese? Check out C’est Cheese Tours, which brings small groups to France to some of the finest cheese and wine regions in the country. You’ll get up-close-and-personal with fromagers and affineurs (cheese makers and cheese agers), and learn how to pair the best wines with cheeses. The price includes your full-time guide, who speaks English and French, visits with local residents and experts, tastings, entrance fees, accommodations and meals. www.cheesetours.com

Or how about some chocolate? At My Chocolate in London, you can work with owner Hannah Saxton to learn all about the fine art of chocolate making. Of course, the most popular class of the bunch is, surprise, more about tasting and less about making — it traces the history of chocolate followed by a lesson in tasting techniques. Not only do you go home with recipes for every delicious treat from vanilla truffles to chocolate fudge, but you’ll have 20 home-made chocolates in hand (though it’s doubtful that they’ll make it all the way back home!). The workshop costs about $100 per person.  44 20 7269 5760;  http://www.mychocolate.co.uk

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear “Irish food”? If it’s “potatoes,” you’re not alone. But you may be surprised to learn that Ireland is undergoing its own renaissance in culinary tradition — and the center of it all is not in Dublin, but in East Cork at the Ballymaloe Cookery School.

Founder Darina Allen is a renowned Irish chef, cookbook author and TV personality. The school is located on a 10-acre estate with gardens, four teaching kitchens and two demonstration kitchens. You’ll work with produce, eggs, dairy, meat, and seafood that come from the school’s grounds or nearby sources. A five-day course, which starts at about $1,200, is a mix of demonstration and hands-on classes; a shorter two-and-a-half-day course focuses on how to entertain with minimal stress for about $750. 353 21 4646785, www.cookingisfun.ie

Culinary Travel: Vancouver

Whether you visit Vancouver on a culinary travel trip in the summer, when the sea and sky sparkle, or wait till winter, to see dazzling Olympic action, you’re going to face the same problem: so many great places to eat and only so much stomach to go around.   Gearing up to be on the world stage, Vancouver has attracted culinary chefs with international pedigrees, such as Jean-George Vongerichten, who has been called “one of the most celebrated chefs on the planet” and his New York rival, Daniel Boulud.

But to limit your tastes to the high end would be to miss a big part of Vancouver’s charm: funky cafes in former hippie enclaves, fish and chips on the wharf and a dazzling array of ethnic influences. So let your stomach lead you on a tour of Vancouver’s top tastes.

HERE’S AN ECLECTIC LIST.

1. VIJ’S LAMB POPSICLES

It’s been years since the New York Times’ Mark Bittman declared that Vij’s was “easily among the finest Indian restaurants in the world.” And Vikram Vij’s reputation just keeps getting bigger, deservedly.

Line up early (no reservations taken), but don’t worry if you don’t get in for the first seating. Vikram himself will greet you, then direct you to the bar at the back where you’ll be served round after round of appetizers while you contemplate the menu.

The Beef Short Ribs in Cinnamon and Red-wine Curry ($26.50) are succulent and spicy, the B.C. Spot Prawns tender and coconutty ($13). Vij’s signature dish: Lamb Popsicles with Fenugreek Cream Curry ($26.50). You’ll crave it forever after, but there’s a solution: stop in at Rangoli, Vij’s more casual restaurant next door, where you can buy the cookbook ($40) with the recipe (which turns out perfectly) and a can of Vij’s handground fenugreek leaves ($8 and essential to get the same flavour).

VIJ’S RESTAURANT

1480 West 11th Ave.

604-736-6664 or www.vijs.ca

Dinner daily from 5:30 p.m.; lineups form by about 4:30 p.m. on weekends.

2. GO FISH’S FISH & CHIPS

Granville Island Public Market is a foodie mecca. Walk west along the wharf to a restaurant with no roof or walls, but the best fish and chips on the coast. What kind of fish? Depends on what the boats are unloading just down the ramp.

Rated No. 1 in its category by a recent readers’ survey in The Georgia Straight, Go Fish also makes amazing fish or shellfish tacones, soups and clam sandwiches, but really, how often can you get the freshest of fish and chips, with choices such as salmon, halibut or cod?

The fish (about $8 for one piece of fish with chips) is lightly beer-battered, using beer from Granville Island Brewing, which is, oh, maybe 100 metres away. It’s served in a steamer basket with fries and sensational, sesame-oil scented, nutty coleslaw.

GO FISH

1505 West 1st Ave., 604-730-5040

From 11:30 a.m. (weekdays) or noon (weekends) to about 6:30 p.m., or whenever they run out fish. Not open Mondays.

3. HONJIN SUSHI’S SUNSHINE ROLL

Visiting Vancouver without sampling sushi would be like going to Montreal and forgoing smoked meat. Honjin sets itself apart for its unique combinations: bright colours of kiwi, mango and basil combined with the freshest of tuna, salmon, scallop and octopus.

Seeking out Honjin will take you to another of Vancouver’s unique neighbourhoods: Yaletown, a former rundown warehouse district where brick loading docks are now patios for trendy bars and restaurants.

Honjin is a bit removed from this action — it’s down near the water, across from a former railroad roundhouse that’s been converted to community arts spaces.

Take a seat at the bar, ignore the teriyakis and tempuras and get the young sushi masters to roll you something special: house inventions include the Round House Roll (fresh ginger over tuna).

HONJIN SUSHI YALETOWN

138 Davie St., 604-688-8808

Open seven days a week. Lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. weekdays (noon to 3 p.m. on weekends). Dinner 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. (10:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays).

4. CRISPY CECI AT CAMPAGNOLO

What’s that you say? It’s not nearly as mysterious as it sounds. Campagnolo can be translated as “rustic country” — or possibly “country bumpkin” or “rube.” And ceci just means chickpeas.

Campagnolo is the latest venture from the folks who brought Vancouver the award-winning Fuel restaurant. “It’s much simpler, much more stripped down than Fuel,” says chef and co-owner Robert Belcham, who was recently voted Vancouver’s top chef.

Don’t miss the Crispy Ceci ($8) — an appetizer of deep-fried chickpeas, baby arugula, fresh mint, lemon zest, parsley and hot pepper flakes, tossed with a bit of lemon juice and olive oil. You may find yourself flying back across the country just to have it again.

CAMPAGNOLO

1020 Main St., 604-484-6018 or www.campagnolorestaurant.ca

Open seven days a week for lunch (11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.) and dinner (5 p.m. until late). No reservations.

5. HOT CHOCOLATE CHILI POT AT BURGOO

Burgoo, a restaurant in Vancouver with three locations, is noted for its comfort food. (The word burgoo, also known as Kentucky burgoo, means a thick stew full of vegetables, popular in southern U.S. states, but it also means an oatmeal porridge served to English sailors.)

And when it rains for days on end in Vancouver, comfort food is just what’s needed. (Burgoo was ranked the No. 1 “rainy day hangout” in The Georgia Straight’s reader survey .)

So you might drop into a Burgoo, and sit by the crackling wood fire, and order the Gooey Cheese Grillers (made with four kinds of cheese, they’re $12). But you won’t be really satisfied until you taste the Hot Chocolate Chili Pot ($7). It’s a rich dark custard made with bittersweet chocolate with a hint of spice, served warm with vanilla ice cream on top. To hell with the calories; to hell with the rain.

BURGOO

4434 West 10th Ave., 604-221-7839 or 3096 Main St., 604-873-1441 or

3 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver, 604-904-0933. www.burgoo.ca

All open seven days a week, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

6. A PALOMA ON THE PATIO AT DB BISTRO MODERNE

Over at Daniel Boulud’s new establishment, db Bistro Moderne, you may find Cameron Bogue grilling thin slices of lemon zest with garam masala. Or figuring out how to make the perfect grapefruit syrup with a combination of grapefruit-zest-infused sugar syrup and reduced grapefruit juice.

He’s a chef? Nope, he’s the guy behind the big new zinc bar.

“I call myself a bartender,” he says. “Not a mixologist or a liquid architect.”

Bogue, who says Vancouver’s cocktail scene is “light years ahead of other Canadian cities,” says what sets his bar apart is attention to detail and top ingredients. Like the grapefruit syrup he uses in Palomas, which he says are Mexico’s second-most popular drink, after margaritas.

“It’s my favourite drink when I’m down in Mexico,” says Bogue. “Give me a plate of corn chips with meat on top and a Paloma, and I’m happy.”

You will be too if you order one of the $10 drinks made with tequila, lime juice, grapefruit syrup and juice, salt and soda water.

DB BISTRO MODERNE

2551 West Broadway

604-739-7115 or www.lumiere.ca

The bar is open from noon to 10 p.m. seven days a week.

7. A PANINI AND SOUP AT ARBUTUS COFFEE

Arbutus is one of many tree-named streets in the neighbourhood of Kitsilano, a former hippie enclave that still boasts a beach, yoga studios on just about every block, health-food stores and the Naam, a cafe that’s been serving up brown rice with vegetable curries around the clock for 40 years.

Much of the neighbourhood has gone upscale — it’s home to many of Vancouver’s finest restaurants, such as Bishop’s, La Quercia and db Bistro Moderne — but one place that seems apart from time is Arbutus Coffee, housed in a 1907 grocery store on Arbutus Street.

It has 19 kinds of coffee, including seven organic varieties, teas and chai, great baked goods and a daily special of soup and half a panini.

ARBUTUS COFFEE

2200 Arbutus St., 604-736-5644

Open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays; 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends.

Culinary Travel: New Zealand and its Wines

I’m writing this from New Zealand, where I’m touring the main wine regions. I am on my way to Gisborne, judging in the International Chardonnay Challenge and tasting more chardonnays per hour than I’d ever thought I would do.

I was fortunate enough to fly to Auckland from San Francisco in business class on Air New Zealand — fortunate, because it’s a 13-hour flight.  I was impressed that one of the first things culinary travel passengers are given when they board the plane is a 50-page booklet on New Zealand wines. It introduces New Zealand wine and describes the main grape-growing regions and varieties. It also sets out the selection of wines available during the flight, and gives information on each of the wineries represented.

On my flight (which had the intriguing number NZ007; too bad there was no wine from Spy Valley winery), the offerings were a sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, pinot noir, syrah and a late-harvest riesling dessert wine. Compare that with my Air Canada flight to San Francisco, where the options were wines from France, Australia and Italy. In the Air Canada lounge, before the flight to San Francisco, I did catch sight of one Ontario wine, but most were from Australia.

Now, I’m a much bigger supporter of Air Canada than most people I talk to, but I think the company (and its wine consultants) can do better than that. It’s not that the non-Canadian wines aren’t good;  I had a very pleasant white blend from Bordeaux during the flight. And recently, Air Canada has entered into a commercial relationship with Australian producer Wolf Blass, whose wines represent quality and value across the board.

But unlike Air Canada, Air New Zealand promotes its country from the moment you step on board. It’s not done in an objectionable way — and, believe me, I’m sensitive to objectionable nationalism — but in a way that stresses the distinctiveness of the place, including its wines.  This initiative is a partnership of the airline and the New Zealand wine industry, and it works. Although someone I was talking to here about this said they needed to do more training with the airline staff, I was quite impressed by the airborne wine knowledge.

Because I wanted to taste all the wines on board, I identified myself as a wine writer — I didn’t want warnings passed around to watch the heavy drinker in seat 5A — and that provoked some discussions with the attendant about each wine. Later, the purser dropped by to ask what I thought of the wine selection and to suggest a couple of wineries I should visit.  My in-flight experience was the leading edge of what seems to be a broad-based level of wine knowledge and awareness in New Zealand. I was born there, and when I first left the country in the 1960s, the local wine was awful and knowledge of it was best kept to a minimum. Kudos to Air New Zealand for reflecting the transformation so well.  Enjoy this and other great culinary travel destinations.

Top Culinary Travel Destinations

Looking to travel to explore food? Follow your senses to these culinary escapes that will awaken your taste buds in a globetrotting culinary adventure. In this article, we look at some of the top culinary destinations throughout the world. In no particular order….

New Brunswick, Melbourne, Australia
Specifically Brunswick Street, which boasts a multi-cultural and artistic scene. Buzzing with foodies and cafes that provide fresh, local, organic ingredients that are incorporated in every part of the menu. This is the tastiest food precinct in Melbourne where foodies are guided by winding footpaths to drop in cafes and restaurants for an outstanding culinary experience.

Djemaa el-Fna, Marrakech, Morocco
This city boasts an infamous spice market where hundreds of different colorful and aromatic spices are on display. At the spice market the confusing corridors small eateries appear beckoning you to sample and try their ingredients. The best time to visit is in the evening just before dusk. As the sunsets, vendors turn on gas lamps to illuminate their spice selections while wafts of various barbeque entice you to sample the variety of fabulous and flavorful cuisine.

Barcelona, Spain
Known for its seafood, bocadillos and tapas scattered throughout this historic city. There is another reason why food travelers flock to this city. Not far from Barcelona travel North on the Mediterranean coastline to Cala Montjoi to visit elBulli Restaurante created by the renowned chef, Ferran Adrian. He describes his cuisine as a language in which expressions of harmony, creativity, happiness, beauty, poetry, complexity, magic, humor, provocation and culture are communicated using top quality products executed with technical grace always surprising the palette, approaching the world like a curious child. Accolades of this restaurant include the world’s best restaurant in 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Spice Market, Istanbul, Turkey
No other place in the world merges a variety of culinary cultures from Mediterranean, Italian, Middle Eastern, Indian and Northern African. This spice market is claimed to the oldest Grand Bazaar dating back from 1664 where merchants from the Aegean Sea, the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Indian Ocean stopped to sell and trade valuable spices from their respective regions. The market is also well known for its dried fruits, nuts, tea, candy and caviar.

Oaxaca, Mexico
Its culture is deeply rooted in its cuisine. Oaxacan’s are taking their native dishes that are common to a household and putting a twist on its cuisine opening gourmet restaurants that deliver fresh, unique ingredients and turning them into a tantalizing meal that will tickle your taste buds. Respected locals offer private cooking courses from their homes for an authentic Oaxacan experience teaching globetrotters how they use their local ingredients to produce such fantastic dishes.

Donguwa Bazaar, Kashgar, Xinjiang, China
An expansive open-air market offers daily varieties nuts, dried fruits, spices, meats and eggs. This market bustles every morning, but is particularly busy on Saturdays serving as a social gathering place for over 300,000 attendees. Prices are negotiated between vendor and customer while other shoppers take a seat at one of the many stalls to slurp delicious dishes and take a break from the crowded market.

To learn about other foodie destinations:
www.gourmet.com