Men on the beach, as simple as that
Wrigley Mansion – Phoenix, Arizona
The historic restaurant and event venue in the upscale Biltmore neighborhood in Phoenix, which recently brought on James Beard Award-winning Chef, Christopher Gross to revamp the food and beverage program, to match the mansion’s upgrades to the interior and exterior late last year, is worth a stop.
Chef Gross rolls out his first menu at Geordie’s, the mansion’s upscale eatery, March 2018. With beginnings like a Duck confit salad paired with a glass or bottle of Justin Giradin Bourgogne Rouge from France, the palate will be primed and ready to be painted by the rest of the adventurous menu. If dinner or lunch are too much, pop in for a glass of wine at Jamie’s Wine Bar. Tell them we sent you.
Cocktail Kitchen Saint Lawrence Gap, Barbados
Barbados is celebrating the Year of Culinary Experiences and, in recent years, the island has gotten plenty of recognition for its innovative food concepts. Winner of Top Chef in the Caribbean ‘Chef of the Year,’ Damian Leach, for example, is pushing boundaries with its trendy Cocktail Kitchen, perched on the corner of the iconic St. Lawrence Gap. Cocktail Kitchen pairs great food with, you guessed it, a tantalizing list of signature cocktails. Menu items include smoked black belly lamb risotto, Caribbean seafood curry and the traditional pudding and souse.
A letter from the Caribbean
My dearest friends,
I am just about to pop out of the villa and head to the beach. The thing is I need to wait for the butler to finish placing my bottle of Rosé in the ice bucket. This minor delay is completely my doing. When I arrived this morning, early, I had time to unpack and unwind, then had lunch at The Deck. I was quite comfortable feeling the breeze, sipping my rosé and gobbling up all the traditional Mexican snacks, until the urge to hit the beach came over me. So what did I do? Headed back up to the villa and just so happened to mention to my butler, who is seated only a few feet from my front door, that I absolutely loved the wine I had with lunch. Two questions later (in which restaurant did I dine and was it a white, red or rosé?) and I smiled and slipped into my room to change into a swimsuit. In the back of my mind, I felt like he might have a bottle sent to my room, but I had no real idea. Royal Hideaway Playacar is an adults only all-inclusive hotel, so I figured it was just the beverages I had stocked in my refrigerator that were part of the plan. I was proven wrong in that assumption. Before I could slip on my cover-up, there was a gentle tap on the door and like an angelic sommelier, my butler was there with wine in hand and ice bucket ready to receive the bottle of pink goodness. Some parts of the world may only experience three to five months of pink-wine weather, but here in the Caribbean…I indulge whenever I want. The weather is always perfect for sipping on this.
Having winessed the bottle cozy up to the ice cubes, I skipped out of the villa and down to the beach, happy to know I would be coming home to a perfectly chilled elixir if I somehow needed a magical potion to cure me of anything that inflicted me on the enviable stretch of white sand upon which the beach butlers had set up my covered seating. As highly unlikely as that seemed, knowing it was there waiting gave me sense of security. Speaking of which, this place has the security game down pat. The Riviera Maya has long prided itself on guest safety and security but here at Royal Hideaway Playacar, there are an additional two, visible, layers to that security, allowing me to relax even more deeply. Today there’s a saxophone player playing at the pool behind me. The breeze carries his music to my ears and I feel a drink order coming on. I’m in Mexico, so tequila comes to mind as a first option, but I am already attending the tequila tasting upstairs in Spices in only a few hours. I don’t want to spoil that experience, so Piña Colada it is.
That will be enough until the tasting because there’s a long night ahead and I only arrived today. Four more days to explore the resort and head to Tulum for an afternoon should reset my spirit and prepare me for the summer ahead. That preparation needs to include long walks on the beach and some time in the gym because I fully intend to take part in dining at each of the six restaurants here at the hotel. I am especially looking forward to the intimate Chef’s Table, where I am to be seated directly in the kitchen in a glass encased dining room outfitted with cameras and a flat screen television to showcase the detailing that takes place as each dish is plated for my enjoyment. I am having a ball here.
Come to Royal Hideaway Playacar.
Besitos,
Gina
Tanta Chicago, IL
Tanta (118 W. Grand Ave.) is the premiere restaurant in Chicago for authentic Peruvian cuisine and craft pisco cocktail preparations. The restaurant is collaboration between Chef Gaston Acurio and VBD Hospitality. The menu, created by Chef Acurio and Tanta Chicago Executive Chef Jesus Delgado, takes guests on a journey through Peru’s flavors and culture via its menu, made with locally sourced products from vendors sensitive to sustainable farming and fishing. From the Pacific Ocean, through the Andes, to the desert, to the Amazon, Tanta celebrates the diverse
landscape and ethnicities that make up Peru’s cuisine, such as Chinese, Japanese, Italian, and Spanish. Tanta is open daily for lunch from 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; dinner at 5 p.m.; and Sunday brunch from 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. The rooftop terrace opens every spring through fall, weather permitting. For more information, please visit www.TantaChicago.com
O Monot Boutique Hotel – Beirut, Lebanon
O Monot serves up the city on a silver platter for its guests. This capital city is buzzing and selecting a boutique hotel as your base is a wise choice. You’ll want excellent service, attentive staff that can tell you some of the best places to shop, sightsee, and which cafes offer the best seating so you can people watch in style. You’ll find that here. Often putting Luxury in the name of a hotel scares away the seasoned traveler. It’s a case of if you must say it, then you’re not. This is not the case at O Monot Luxury Boutique Hotel. It lives up to its name, but remains humble by simply going by O Monot.
Flights of Wine – Portugal
One of the rarest places to find a good bottle of wine may be 38,000 feet in the air. TAP Air Portugal has flipped the script on that notion and is elevating the inflight wine experience. By harvesting some of the best wines in the country, the airline has created an inflight wine experience that gives you a taste of Portugal before ever touching down. Oenophiles rejoice. Portuguese wines have been around for centuries, and commercial exportation of the intoxicating beverage has been ongoing ever since 1703. The outflow of Port wines and others have been an integral part of how people have come to know, or think about, wines from this westernmost part of Europe while all along wine enthusiasts have been trekking to the various wine producing regions of Portugal for quite some time. TAP is expanding the Portuguese wine experience, starting upon takeoff and we are onboard with getting a taste of Portugal as soon as possible.
Letter from Africa – Johannesburg
Good day,
This trip has been everything we anticipated. We planned on vacationing in an authentic Zulu style camp and Shambala hit the nail on the head. Now we are only three hours from Johannesburg, set within a 10,000 hectare, Big Five reserve in the heart of the Waterberg Mountains. Standing in awe on our terrace, we see the hippos returning from the bush to wallow in the river. They look happier than pigs in…you know. It’s the perfect prompt for us to schedule a little self-care ourselves. Time to avert our gaze from the flowing river below and slip out of our thatched cottage to the spa. The streams from the river run through the camp, keeping us close to the flow of nature at all times. Our butler guides us to the spa and as we wend our way through the eight chalets, through his capable guidance, we are distracted by the luxurious comfort with which we are able to enjoy this authentic and holistic experience. The birdcalls echoing off the water bring us back to the present moment, being amidst this camp is a gift only few can give themselves and we are grateful to be here.
The spa is within our sites now. Inspired by its African bushveld surroundings and remarkable flora and fauna, the spa provided us with the perfect oasis. We know that tomorrow we will be back. After a day of game drives we will again indulge in what the spa specializes in offering; truly African therapies including its signature ‘Kalahari Facials’. After today’s Shambala Signature Journey massage, we already know what thetreatments will be for the next day. The Baobab Vitamin C Facial for me with its ultra-firming, anti-ageing approach, it’s also rich in organic Vitamin C and essential antioxidants. My cohort is diving face first into the Honey Bush Facial.
Honey Bush Facial which is a combination of effective African plant extracts and oils that nourish dull and dehydrated skin. Rejuvenated and ultra-hydrated, we are ready to take on the next adventure on offer, a bush picnic. Fret not, we will be accompanied by professional game rangers as we get romantic and fancy in the wild. Next time we promise to send more pictures.
Bahle,
Gina
The United Arab Emirates
Arriving in 2018 is the new Al Bait Sharjah, which translates to ‘The House’–a distinctly unique development which follows traditional Sharjah architecture built upon the original foundations of old houses that once belonged to the most esteemed families in the country. This retreat is set to raise the bar for luxury hotel accommodation in the UAE’s cultural city of Sharjah and will undoubtedly help to place the destination squarely on the travel map. The boutique property will be home to 53 luxury guestrooms and suites. The hotel facilities and amenities will include a luxury hammam and an array of dining offerings spotlighting local and international cuisine. Situated in the UAE’s most ambitious historical restoration project known as ‘Heart of Sharjah’, Al Bait Sharjah is one not to miss.
Baha Mar – Nassau, Bahamas
Grand Hyatt is the first part of this compound to open. Baha Mar will be comprised of three luxury brands, SLS, this one and a Rosewood property. The largest casino in the Caribbean has been built here, but the views to the pools, water features and the great outdoors are easily accessible with floor-to-ceiling glass walls and doors, making it seems far more spacious and less confining than other casinos. Everything you’d expect from this sort of hotel is here. The dining options range from noodle bars to Katsuya Japanese restaurant. The retail therapy is ot far from the gaming tables as casinos often do, but if high end luxury watches and jewelry aren’t your game, be sure to pop down to the shopping district for a breath of fresh air and fresh island collections, from clothing and accessories to fun finds for the entire family.
The casino may be at the heart of this resort complex but there’s plenty to do for families. The design was built as a destination unto itself. The right amount of splashy entertainment, water that turns into fire at night, a Nicklaus designed golf course, a range of culinary options, the first ESPA spa in the Caribbean and an explosion of art along the way. There are a variety of resorts to choose from in Nassau and Paradise Island and Baha Mar is betting you’ll fall in love with theirs and keep coming back. Although the common areas like the Casino and some of the Grand Hyatt pools are shared amongst guests at all three properties, each also has their own exclusive areas reserved only for their clientele. That concept alone should have visitors coming back or booking stays that are long enough to check-in to each hotel and check out their individual offerings. Casino aside, they are banking on you enjoying the three celebrated hotels and their collection of lounges as the concept is designed for the spectacular.
www.bahamar.com