Food: One of the Pleasures of Travel

Close to home or around the world, local dives to haute cuisine, one of the pleasures of travel is food. Memorable meals in faraway places make travel special. That said, experience shows that dining on the road runs the gamut from awesome to awful. Try these timely tips from a committed travel foodie to discover the best and avoid the rest at home and around the world.

Do your homework. Explore restaurants around the world at www.epicurious.com. The restaurant link at the top of the home page offers reviews from top chefs, food critics and savvy travelers. Check out Gourmet's Best American Restaurants and Bon Appetit's Most Romantic Dining lists. Surf over to www.dirona.com for a guide to over 750 award-winning restaurants in North America. Distinguished Restaurants of North American (DiRoNA) inspects restaurants anonymously and recognizes only restaurants exemplifying all aspects of culinary excellence. Enter a city name for a list of local DiRoNA winners. Tempt your taste buds. View their menus and signature dishes.

Feeling hungry? Continue on to www.opentable.com and click on a region or city. Discover special dining offers, 2004 Zagat award restaurants and the weekly Top Ten restaurants in the city. Earn 300 points for registering as a user (no charge) and 100 points each time you make a reservation at a member restaurant online. Bonus points of 1000 points are offered by many restaurants for early or late reservations. As few as 1000 points earns a $10.00 dining gift cheque and 10,000 points nets $100 in free dining at participating restaurants.

Cooking classes and culinary demonstrations are entertaining and educational food pursuits and a great way to make new friends while on the road. Gourmet cooks Ed and Jinny Fleishman host a weekly class called "Company's Coming" in their elegant Cleveland Park home in Washington DC. Class participants don aprons and chop, dice, and stir as they sip wine and share stories. When the meal is prepared, everyone moves to the dining room table and enjoys the fruits of their labor.

According to Jinny, out of town guests usually discover the class via the Internet. Search www.shawguides.com for recreational cooking schools worldwide ranging from a few hours to a week or just enter the search words "cooking classes" and your destination and look for tasty travel opportunities. Recipes make great souvenirs. Each time you prepare a recipe from a favorite restaurant or class you relive those pleasant travel moments.

A parting thought before you dine: Don't just dig in. Learn to use the five senses to get the most pleasure from any meal. Dining is about much more than simply eating food. Stop. Admire the blend of colors and visual presentation of the ingredients on your plate. Close your eyes and breathe the aromas of pungent herbs and spices. Take a small bite and note the creamy or crunchy texture or tart or tangy taste of the food in your mouth. Continue to eat slowly savoring every taste. That sound you hear is probably your purr of appreciation.