Khinkali is king in Georgia, but another dumpling of foreign origins has also woven its way into the childhood flashbacks reminiscent of Proust’s madeleines (the French writer’s analogy that morphed into a famous metaphor for nostalgia) of many a Georgian. Pelmeni is presumably Russian in origin, but can be found across the Slavic world and Eastern Europe. These bite-sized dumplings are typically stuffed with a mixture of beef and pork, freeze well due to their tiny size, and rarely break when boiled, making them the quick meal of choice for busy moms with hungry kids. Hence the many childhood memories attached to this dish – one which remains a popular comfort food long into adulthood.

The tall French doors and brightly colored murals that greet you upon entering LUFU NOLA are a dramatic departure from its early days as a pop-up restaurant, when Chefs Sarthak Samantray and Aman Kota were dishing out their regional Indian fare at bars and breweries across the city. The sleek, modern bar and simple, elegant dining room echo the themes of arrival, as what was once an itinerant restaurant has found a home in New Orleans’s Central Business District. And the surroundings aren’t the only thing that’s new for LUFU – a full-scale restaurant has allowed their team to showcase an even broader array of dishes that represent the culinary heritage of India.

It’s that quiet time between lunch and dinner, and we’re sitting with chef Leonor Godinho in a tasca, or rustic, casual, Portuguese restaurant. The furniture is sturdy but unremarkable, and walls are mostly bare except for a couple old photos, a child’s drawing and the ubiquitous vitrine, a built-in refrigerator. “I knew about this place because my best friends had just moved their studio to this building,” Leonor tells us of the space, formerly known as Casa do Alberto. “I would come here all the time to eat with them, and they would joke with me, ‘It would be great if this was yours!’”

Pies, sweet and savory, constitute a massive chapter of traditional Greek cuisine, and are also a timeless popular street food all across the nation. Most classic Greek pie shops tend to open early in the morning, as pies are popular for breakfast, and close in the afternoon, usually after they have sold out for the day. That’s why Ta Stachia, a small shop in Exarchia, stands out – an after-hours pie shop, it runs steadily throughout the night, not only feeding all the pub crawlers and nighthawks, but also staying open until about noon for the early birds who walk their dogs or set off for work or school.

Those familiar with Palermo’s cuisine tend to associate it with indulgent street food and a rich culinary heritage that doesn’t cut corners when it comes to taste – no matter the cost for one’s health. But tucked away down a slender side street that branches off of Palermo's bustling Via Ruggero Settimo is A Casa di Francesco, a restaurant that meets the already high expectations around Palermo’s cuisine with a selection of innovative health-conscious dishes. The restaurant started out in 2015 as a boutique supermarket offering health-conscious Sicilian products and vegetarian dishes to be eaten there or to take away – an idea that was far ahead of its time in Palermo. While vegetarian options were common at home, with simple vegetable-based recipes at the center of traditional cuisine—such as pasta alla Norma (a pasta dish served with fresh tomato sauce, fried eggplant, and salted ricotta) or caponata, (the Sicilian sweet-and-sour dish made of eggplants, tomatoes, olives, capers, and various aromatic herbs) well-balanced dishes for a healthy diet were hard to find in the city’s restaurants.

In our beloved home base of Kurtuluş, the neighborhood's rich patisserie culture is often associated with its Greek and Armenian communities. Some of these shops churn out the best profiterole in the city, while numerous others bake sakızlı Paskalya çöreği, a subtly-sweet bun laced with mastic gum and topped with thinly-sliced almonds consumed on Easter. There are more of these excellent patisseries in Kurtuluş than we could count on both hands, but only one that features the traditional Sephardic specialty börekitas, a small, crescent-moon shaped empanada variation stuffed with either roasted eggplant or potato.

For the thirsty traveler looking to take a load off after – or during – a long day of exploring Mexico’s capital city, there’s no shortage of drink options. From a cold beer and salty snacks at a cantina to smoky, small-batch mezcal, to the ancient elixir that is pulque, it can be daunting to navigate CDMX’s drinking scene and pick out the best bars. Here are a few of our favorite spots, including mezcalerías, pulquerías and more, handpicked by our local guides over the years.

In the center of town on Rue de Lodi, Saskia Porretta-Menne and Jill Cousin were inspired when they learned that a former international bookstore was closing and the space was available. The Librairie Internationale Maurel had been in the same family for three generations and operated since 1952 in a room that felt as if from another era, its walls lined with time-worn wooden shelves and afternoon sunlight streaming in from the large windows. Upon viewing it, the two friends knew immediately that this place was unlike anything else. Unsure about exactly what they would do, they were still certain there was a calling. So in October of 2021, the women opened the doors to Provisions. The word provision, by definition, means “to supply with food, drink, or equipment, especially for a journey.”

In the center of town on Rue de Lodi, Saskia Porretta-Menne and Jill Cousin were inspired when they learned that a former international bookstore was closing and the space was available. The Librairie Internationale Maurel had been in the same family for three generations and operated since 1952 in a room that felt as if from another era, its walls lined with time-worn wooden shelves and afternoon sunlight streaming in from the large windows. Upon viewing it, the two friends knew immediately that this place was unlike anything else. Unsure about exactly what they would do, they were still certain there was a calling. So in October of 2021, the women opened the doors to Provisions. The word provision, by definition, means “to supply with food, drink, or equipment, especially for a journey.”

My first job in Queens was in a garage in Auburndale. Not an auto body garage. It was residential – a guy named Arthur rented it out to store the goods he won at storage unit auctions. My job was to list those goods on Amazon and eBay, for which he paid me $100 a week, and an unlimited MetroCard. It was 2012. I’d take the q66 from East Elmhurst to Flushing on my way to work, and eat my way through the Golden Shopping Mall, where Xi’an Famous Foods had their first stall.

Deep in the Saburtalo district of Tbilisi there is a jasmine-covered arch that frames a faded blue entrance. Stepping under the fragrant arch and into this unassuming shop, you will find yourself in the only Iranian bakery in Tbilisi. Sun Bread offers three lovingly crafted bread products made by the owner, Milad Babazadeh, who has over 20 years of experience as a baker. The most popular and unusual item on the list is their barbari bread.

Whoever came up with the expression “I don’t give a fig” had obviously never tasted a Greek fig fresh off the tree. How figs, almost certainly dried, came to be considered common and worthless in late medieval England is a mystery, but for the Greeks, they have always been something to treasure and preserve, to be enjoyed in all seasons. As the Bible tells us, figs have been around since the very beginning. After taking bites out of the forbidden fruit, possibly an apple, Adam and Eve suddenly acquired the knowledge that they were naked and covered themselves with the leaves of the fig tree.

As the highway speeds out of Lisbon northward, the pastel apartment blocks of greater Lisbon’s northern sprawl give way to plots of farmland. It’s a road with no distinction, one not unlike countless others leaving cities elsewhere. Around 80 kilometers from Lisbon, the highway passes into the region of Oeste; although not readily apparent, Oeste is a place of great distinction. That becomes clearer a bit farther down the road, where on the side of a warehouse the words “Rocha Mundial” are printed beside the giant likeness of the region’s claim to fame, a green pear with light brown spots.

We know that spring has arrived in Mexico City when street carts crowned with whole mangoes begin to roll into town. While wandering the Centro Histórico’s bustling streets just last week, we bumped into Maria, a seasonal worker whose cart is currently laden with this favorite springtime fruit. Intrigued, we stopped to watch as she deftly skewered the mango in her hand with a stick, peeled off the skin, made decorative cuts to transform the bright orange flesh into a beautiful flower, which she then brushed with chamoy, a classic Mexican sauce, and dipped in one of the brightly colored powders stored in plastic boxes: salsa tajín, chamoy, salt, chile or everything mixed together.

When the Phocaeans founded Marseille in 6th century B.C., these ancient Greek explorers launched France’s long history with wine production and consumption. In the 1930s, southern France became famous for another kind of grape juice. In the southwestern town of Moissac, home of the Chasselas grape, Dr. Armand Rouanet touted the amazing health benefits of grape-seeds at his uvarium. At this first-of-its-kind center for grape-based therapies (uva is the Latin root for grape), people would consume a grape-only diet (2-6 pounds a day) to heal everything from cellulite to constipation. Ironically, this grape cleanse was ideal for detoxifying the liver, the organ most damaged by wine. This temple of grape glorification was such a success that dozens of stations uvales sprouted across the south of France to peddle the just-pressed grape juice alongside other fresh-squeezed fruit.