Travel – FoodWatcher

9 Travel-Friendly Gifts for Your Friend Who’s Always on the Go

As the holiday shopping season quickly approaches, we’re putting together gift guides to help you shop for the friends, coworkers, and family members in your life. We’ve covered the friend who’s an aspiring sommelier, the neighbor who loves to garden, and your coworker who’s always down for an old fashioned. Now, it’s time to shop for the person you know who’s always on the go.

Whether they’re always mid-flight, constantly planning road trips, or their packed schedule has them running in circles, here are nine items we think they’d love.

7 NYC Spots That Out-of-Town Guests Will Actually Like

Everyone knows the feeling of opening that text from a friend, family member, or acquaintance they haven’t spoken to in years: “Hey! I’m going to be in [insert your town or city] next week! Where should I go / what should I do???”

For some, receiving …

Everyone knows the feeling of opening that text from a friend, family member, or acquaintance they haven't spoken to in years: “Hey! I'm going to be in [insert your town or city] next week! Where should I go / what should I do???”

For some, receiving this kind of message is exciting—giving them an excuse to put on their metaphorical tour guide hat, scroll through the long list of places they have starred on Google or Apple Maps, and recommend a string of their favorite places. For others, it can be overwhelming, causing them to panic and momentarily forget their go-to spots, as if they've never left their apartment before.

I Don’t Cook—This Italian Pasta Class (Almost) Made Me Want to Start

Blame it on years in the service industry or my tendency to avoid things I’m not immediately good at, but I don’t cook. I know that’s probably not something you’d expect an editor at Food52 to admit, but I won’t lie to y’all. When it comes to dinner, I…

Blame it on years in the service industry or my tendency to avoid things I’m not immediately good at, but I don’t cook. I know that's probably not something you’d expect an editor at Food52 to admit, but I won’t lie to y’all. When it comes to dinner, I’m often at a restaurant, leaning on my friends who love cooking for others, or reheating a bowl of roasted vegetables over rice (sad, I know). While some find the act of cooking relaxing, rewarding, or fun, I find it stressful, irritating, and unappealing.

Let me be very clear though: I love food. I’m always thinking of my next meal, I love doing deep dives into different cuisines and flavor pairings, and searching for new dishes to try. I enjoy baking—something about following a recipe exactly, to an almost science, is fun for me—and I bartend on the weekends, so you can trust me with making a pie or stirring your cocktail. But if a pot roast needs to be braised, I am simply not the girl you want nearby (although you can count on me to sneak spoonfuls of whatever you’re making on the stove).

Our 52 Favorite Sights, Sips, Snacks & More in Lexington

This article—shared in partnership with our friends at VisitLex—is part of 52Cities, a column where we share editor-curated and community-loved recommendations for visiting our favorite places.

As a native Atlantan, I’m no stranger to visiting South…

This article—shared in partnership with our friends at VisitLex—is part of 52Cities, a column where we share editor-curated and community-loved recommendations for visiting our favorite places.

As a native Atlantan, I’m no stranger to visiting Southern cities—spring breaks spent in Florida beach towns, Girl Scouts trips to Savannah, an especially memorable New Year’s Eve in Nashville, and plenty of weekend getaways in the Carolinas. But up until recently, I’d never spent much time in Kentucky. Sure, there was the family pilgrimage to Mammoth Cave when I was a teenager, too cool to appreciate the wonders of eyeless fish (Google it) and the world’s largest underground cave system, but the Bluegrass State had yet to pull me in. After a recent trip to Lexington, all of that changed.

Knocking on Halmoni’s Door

I have vivid memories of visiting my grandmother’s house as a child. I know the way so well—the exact subway car to get off at so we’re closest to the exit stairs, the swirl ice cream machine we always pass where I beg my mom for a cone (“just this one time!”), the correct right turn to make (it’s the second one, not the first or the last). In my memories, we arrive at her gate, the one with giant lion-faced metal door knockers with rings in their mouths. I reach out quietly to grab one, knowing as soon as it creaks her dogs will start barking like mad.

I know tons of people have similar childhood memories of visiting their grandparents, whether it was a long, cross-country drive or a quick bike ride up the street. But my grandmother, who I saw every summer, lived on the other side of the world.

52 Nashville Restaurants, Bars & Shops We Love

This article is part of 52Cities, a column where we share editor-curated and community-loved recommendations for visiting our favorite places.

Nashville has it all: live music, great food, and an easy way of life that’s delightful to dip into for a …

This article is part of 52Cities, a column where we share editor-curated and community-loved recommendations for visiting our favorite places.

Nashville has it all: live music, great food, and an easy way of life that’s delightful to dip into for a weekend (or longer). While many tourists come here for the tunes and honky-tonks that make up so much of the local economy, the so-called Music City has also become a destination for incredible food over the last decade. While you could easily spend a week here eating nothing but hot chicken and barbecue, you can also find innovative, local-leaning restaurants, world-class bakeries, and thrilling cocktail bars. Balance all of that with thoughtfully curated home goods shops and a bookstore run by an award-winning novelist, and you have one of the country’s most exciting travel destinations, whether you’re bringing your family or heading out for a solo trip.

6 Destinations for Cheese Lovers Around the World

This article is a part of Cheese Week—seven days of recipes and stories, all cheese—presented by our friends at Proudly Wisconsin Cheese.

Loving cheese can have a big effect on how you live your life. Maybe your birthday wishlist gets overtaken by s…

This article is a part of Cheese Week—seven days of recipes and stories, all cheese—presented by our friends at Proudly Wisconsin Cheese.

Loving cheese can have a big effect on how you live your life. Maybe your birthday wishlist gets overtaken by specialty knives and fondue pots, or perhaps your grocery budget is monopolized by rare wedges from your local monger. You might order cheese fries as your entrée, or opt for the after-dinner snack board as dessert.

52 Places to Dine, Drink, Shop & Stay in Austin

This article is part of 52Cities, a column where we share editor-curated and community-loved recommendations for visiting our favorite places.
If you’ve spent any time in Austin, Texas, you’ve probably heard the city’s motto: “Keep Austin Weird.” It r…

This article is part of 52Cities, a column where we share editor-curated and community-loved recommendations for visiting our favorite places.

If you’ve spent any time in Austin, Texas, you’ve probably heard the city’s motto: “Keep Austin Weird.” It reflects the locals’ desire to hold on to the city’s rich tradition of creativity and artistic production, as evidenced by its famous murals, live music, and inventive food scene. While ravenous real estate development has slightly decreased the city’s weird factor over the past two decades, it’s still a place full of zany nooks and crannies (take, for example, the Cathedral of Junk). And it’s also the perfect place to spend a weekend (or longer) eating, drinking, and exploring.

12 Neighborhood Coffee Shops We’ll Always Come Back To

I’ve come a long way on my coffee journey since my Starbucks days. I would frequent the local drive-thru each morning like clockwork, unready to start the day until I had an iced latte with two shots of vanilla in my cup holder. Also a must: their saus…

I've come a long way on my coffee journey since my Starbucks days. I would frequent the local drive-thru each morning like clockwork, unready to start the day until I had an iced latte with two shots of vanilla in my cup holder. Also a must: their sausage, cheddar, and egg sandwich that was always so unbelievably hot, it'd burn my mouth no matter how patient I was.

Over the years, my taste in coffee has evolved—though I'll still lean on Starbucks when I'm in need of caffeine and it's the best available option. I even invested in a home espresso machine recently that has quickly become one of my most-prized, and most-used, kitchen possessions (it's a slightly more compact version of this one). While I love the luxury of sipping a freshly brewed cappuccino in my pajamas each morning while Good Morning America buzzes in the background, there's something extra special about discovering a neighborhood spot that not only serves up an excellent cup of coffee, but also has the type of atmosphere that makes you want to settle in and stay awhile.

The 52 Best Coffee Shops in NYC, According to Our Staff, Contributors & Community

I’ll be the first to admit that trying to decide anything—where to eat, where to shop, where to drink—in New York City is a difficult task because, well, there are just so many options. Choosing the best coffee shop, needless to say, is another one of …

I’ll be the first to admit that trying to decide anything—where to eat, where to shop, where to drink—in New York City is a difficult task because, well, there are just so many options. Choosing the best coffee shop, needless to say, is another one of those near-impossible endeavors, especially since there’s at least one (sometimes three) on any given block. Where’s the best brew, and where are the best pastries? Which places are great for a quick pit-stop, and which have the best seating for an afternoon of computer work?

While we recognize that this list represents just a small sample of the beloved coffee shops across all five boroughs, these 52 options—hand-picked by our staff, contributors, and community—provide a great starting point.