Moscow Mules in Beirut It’s 10:19 p.m. A woman honks her horn. (No reason.) A pack of young men, doubtlessly dreaming of conquests—or shawarma—guzzle beers outside of a store. In Mar Mikhael, a grimy district that has served as an enclave for Beirut’s pseudo-hipsters and garden-v … | Continue reading
Choripán in Punta Arenas At a quarter of eight in the morning, other cities might have been buzzing. At the end of March, Punta Arenas—the capital of Chile’s southernmost region—was still dark, and although teenagers in uniforms were heading to school, the city was quiet. In the … | Continue reading
When Ruslan disappeared unexpectedly from his hometown of Yalta, Crimea, in May 2014, his neighbors soon decided they knew where he had gone. Crimea had just been annexed from Ukraine by Russia, and the atmosphere was heady with passion, rumor, and propaganda. Ruslan, then 40, ha … | Continue reading
Inside Tehran’s massive Azadi Stadium, Iran’s biggest indoor sports arena, men and women carrying campaign banners and wearing purple to signify their support for the incumbent candidate, Hassan Rouhani, sat next to each other at a rally last week, just few days before the countr … | Continue reading
Sign up for R&K Insider, our collection of the most compelling happenings in food, politics, and travel from across the web. Happy Thursday, friends and readers. We do quite a bit of traveling here at R&K, and are always talking to friends and colleagues who are navigating from b … | Continue reading
Ginger Beer in Sydney I’ve been to maybe half-a-dozen tastings in my life. A flight of whiskies at a Scottish distillery; a beer sampler at a brewery in Sydney; and a couple of cellar-door wine evenings. Most of them have been shambolic affairs, although there’s a pattern to them … | Continue reading
Burek in Dubrovnik Ottawa, 1989. When we were children, my grandmother, Mariette Setton, would take the Voyageur bus from Montreal to stay with us. These trips happened about once a month, and I loved them. Grandma would take us all to the fast food joint of our choice, stuff us … | Continue reading
Bitter in Manchester In 1819, sword-bearing cavalry charged a gathering of 80,000 political reform protesters on St. Peter’s Field, Manchester, killing 15 and maiming hundreds more. The day, now commemorated as the Peterloo Massacre, would spur industrial unionism and inspire the … | Continue reading
Dragonfruit in Taiwan The heavy cloud of incense overwhelms me. I’m not used to the smell. Thin wafts of smoke draw out memories of household shrines, street-side temples, and our most recent visit about a year ago. “It is not good for you to breathe in,” my mother tells me, when … | Continue reading
Visciolata in Italy After sun-blasted days working the garlic harvest in a rural part of the Apennine Mountains in Le Marche, Italy, after hoeing bean plants or feeding pigs or husking barley or whatever we were doing that August, there was always visciolata. “Christof!” the farm … | Continue reading
Banana pancakes in North Sumatra Before I even knew what was on the menu for breakfast, the orangutan mother and her baby had started eating theirs. I could hear them moving, rustling. Their breakfast would consist of whatever was reachable among the thick, leafy branches over 10 … | Continue reading
A muffin in Laos We woke to the bang-clang of metal against metal. The tak bat had begun. My husband and I slipped out of bed and into shoes. We left the hotel room door open, just so, to the street, but prayed our small son would continue to sleep as the meditative procession of … | Continue reading
Suze in Paris I had ordered a meal of two appetizers. “First the pumpkin soup, then the warm goat cheese salad?” the potbellied waiter repeated back to me, genuinely looking for direction in this new land of first-course dinners. “Yes, that’s it,” I assured him. I sat in the encl … | Continue reading
Sign up for R&K Insider, our collection of the most compelling happenings in food, politics, and travel from across the web. Hello, dear readers! I’m back from vacation in Charleston, which was a grand old time. Mostly, I ate, my favorite pastime in the Holy City. My personal fav … | Continue reading
Sup ekor pedas in London As a traveler, I would consider myself pretty green. All of my jaunts rely on riding the coattails of the carefully-laid plans of others: a study-abroad program Italy, a romantic weekend in Paris with a paramour, and a family trip to Puerto Rico, to name … | Continue reading
Kalik Lager on North Bimini The first section of my favorite book is called Bimini. Either I never noticed or the word simply hadn’t registered, despite my having re-read the book roughly every year for the past two decades. This becomes relevant, I promise. I sat at a picnic tab … | Continue reading
Oyster omelets in Taipei “Is breakfast included?” I ask the Taiwanese concierge behind the desk of our hotel. “No,” he responds apologetically. Then, impressing us with his proficient English, “But there are many great places to get food nearby. Here.” He circles a green square o … | Continue reading
Tatransky Vietor in Slovakia Hiking through the Tatra Mountains is a welcome escape. A small distance from Poprad, Slovakia, is Popradske Pleso, a glacial mountain lake between the mountain ranges. The hike isn’t difficult, but after living in a city for the past few months, the … | Continue reading
Sandwiches in Palestine In an office in the heart of downtown Gaza City, it’s Thursday morning, the weekend is nearly here, and there is a plate of DIY breakfast sandwiches. I am in a co-working space and tech startup incubator that my husband oversees and where I occasionally vo … | Continue reading
Beer in Viareggio The place to be on Good Friday night in Viareggio, a small city on the Tuscan coast, is Birrificio degli Archi. Blocks back from the beach, it is the town’s only craft brewery. Blues band The Magic Bones is rocking the taproom, and a young and weird crowd spills … | Continue reading
Enchiladas in Mexico City Until an embarrassingly advanced age, I could not have told you what an enchilada was exactly. Thanks to the wildly popular local Tex-Mex take-out place down the street from my childhood home, I knew it as a shifty pile of meat and various ingredients, p … | Continue reading
TOUCHE, Taiwan— It’s late October but still balmy enough to have the car windows cracked open a good few inches, and the high-pitched song of the cicadas whirring madly in the dense brush comes drifting in on the breeze. There isn’t enough room in the car, so one of my cousins zi … | Continue reading
Pastis in Marseille On Wednesday evening, as I watched the debate between the two candidates for the French presidency, I felt a sense of déjà vu. I remembered feeling the same apprehension seven months ago in New York, pint in hand, when I sat down to watch Donald Trump and Hill … | Continue reading
Cava in Barcelona Many agree that Spain’s eating times take some getting used to. Breakfast at the break of dawn, lunch at 2:30 p.m. (or later), dinner at 10 p.m. (if you’re lucky). With some exceptions of course, these eating habits can baffle even the most seasoned travelers. T … | Continue reading
Coquitas in Capilla de Guadalupe We are driving around the quaint, cobblestoned streets of Capilla de Guadalupe, a tiny town in western Mexico. Around us, blue agave fields stretch out as far as I can see, and the sun is starting to dip behind the mountains. We both smile broadly … | Continue reading
Fish ball noodles in Johor Bahru “So Chris, you eat spicy?” my cousin Yu Ling asks my husband at 7 a.m., the minute he emerges from the guest room with his eyes still half-closed. “You eat fish balls?” Chris stands a while before nodding slowly. Now he’s finally awake. But he isn … | Continue reading
Negroni in Barcelona Of course I’d learned how to order a drink in both Catalan and Spanish, just in case. “Make me your best drink!” I shouted to the bartender over Beyoncé. I recognized the quizzical expression and tried again, this time louder, slower, and in Spanish. “I make … | Continue reading
Cemita Poblana in Puebla, Mexico We’d traveled to Puebla to partake of the mole poblano, and to gorge on freshly pressed corn tortillas filled with wondrous local goodies (huitlacoche, anyone?). We’d traveled to Puebla to try the chiles en nogada: stuffed poblano peppers bathed i … | Continue reading
Under the Counter in Grenada “Let’s take shots!” one of my hosts, Oddisa, said. We were at Patrick’s Local Homestyle, a well-known temple to Grenadian home cooking on the edge of the capital of St. George’s. Under multicolored neon lights, we were moaning and full after a 16-cour … | Continue reading
Jianbing in Flushing My eyes take in the food stalls as I walk though the dingy underground shopping mall. Dumplings, pork, and chives hugged in freshly kneaded dough bubble in a foamy pot. Tempting, but not what I’m looking for. Spicy wood ear mushrooms sprinkled with chili pepp … | Continue reading
Tsipouro in Sifnos Nothing says Sifnos better than a bottle of tsipouro a Greek anise -flavored liqueur similar to raki. I downed countless number of shots during a ten-day trip to this Cyclades island, and most of them make for great memories. My girlfriend Johanna and I had our … | Continue reading
Dal-pakwan in Mumbai It was a Sunday morning and I had to wake up at 7, but it was already 8:30 a.m. when I finally rubbed my eyes open. Like most weekend mornings, the many gin and tonics the night before were to blame. But I wasn’t planning to be up early on a Sunday […]The pos … | Continue reading
Bourbon in Belgrade Earlier this month, Serbian citizens went to the polls to elect their new president. Reigning prime minister Aleksandar Vucic was more than just a clear frontrunner: he was already the president-elect in all but name. The election itself was a mere formality, … | Continue reading
Paçe in Tirana Albania has a message for the world: after decades of war, dictatorship, and Ponzi schemes, we now have our shit together. This is especially the case when it comes to eating. Restaurants are open and full. Tirana has a lively, packed, and affordable selection of r … | Continue reading
Raspberry soda in Bombay “VS Naipaul once said that Bombay is a crowd…” I began to say, but G wasn’t listening to me. She was looking out of the taxi window to the sea and, farther away, to the Bombay skyline. It was the end of February and it was an unusually hot afternoon, and … | Continue reading
Sign up for R&K Insider, our collection of the most compelling happenings in food, politics, and travel from across the web. Happy Thursday, dear readers! Well, the James Beard Foundation announced their media awards on Tuesday. We were thrilled to learn that Roads & Kingdoms won … | Continue reading
Mexican-American food is a tradition that encompasses the dreams of Aztlán covered in delicious, yellow cheese. | Continue reading
Beer in Seoul The long, grassy square in front of Gwanghwamun gate was filled with people raising candles and waving signs. Some were sitting on the grass enjoying beer or soju and snacks. At the very front was a stage where rock and pop artists performed. “Alright, it’s a glorio … | Continue reading
Last night, The James Beard Foundation selected Roads & Kingdoms as their publication of the year. We simply could not be more honored and thrilled to be recognized by such a venerable organization. And now that we’ve got that adulting out of the way, holy shit, we won! We really … | Continue reading
Kvass in Riga Step this way, into the Fish Pavilion at the Riga Central Market in Latvia, where the stench of fish oil and smoked flesh fills the room to its vaulted ceilings and immediately manifests as a metallic tang in the back of my throat. Vendors in rubber aprons smack aro … | Continue reading
Fish broth in Barranquilla It’s Carnival in Barranquilla. There are marimondas, negritas Puloy, ITALgarabatos, monocucos, and many other traditional figures joyfully wandering in every street. There is dancing in all the ways the locals know: cumbia, mapalé, chandé, fandango, por … | Continue reading
Udupi cuisine’s democratizing journey from holy kitchens to Mumbai canteens. | Continue reading
Wine in Amman It is 5 p.m. in Amman, and I’m frantically dialing my bank in Pakistan to complain why a transfer hasn’t gone through. My Urdu seems accented and strange, as if I haven’t spent most of my life speaking the language. I rush out of the house. It’s a Thursday night, th … | Continue reading
Breakfast in Cyprus As the rosy-red flesh of tomatoes basked in the light streaming through the stone-and-timber window frame, I could sense Karen’s reluctance as she mentally prepared herself for that first bite. Less than 48 hours earlier we were in the U.K., slack jaws mechani … | Continue reading
TEMBO, Democratic Republic of Congo— As the truncated rat cooks in the fire, its body slowly roasting over the smoldering logs, 30-odd diggers stand around in the sweltering midday sun. Some break boulders at the bottom of a 50-foot pit in a dry riverbed, trying to access the gra … | Continue reading
South Africa’s largely peaceful transition from apartheid to democracy in 1994 was feted as a “miracle,” yet 23 years later, we are not Nelson Mandela’s “rainbow children”: race and class tensions bubble on the surface, often popping angrily into the nation’s eye like blobs of fa … | Continue reading
Carnitas in Mexico City The Mercado de Medellín feels like an open-air market stuffed inside an aircraft hangar. Whole baby sharks sit on ice, arranged artfully among freshly caught shrimp and starfish. Stall shelves are covered with neatly arranged apples, watermelon, plantains, … | Continue reading
Ruda in Ljubljana On our final night in Slovenia, our hosts asked us if we would like to try some of their ruda. It came in a clear, unlabelled glass bottle, with sprigs of grass and slices of lime inside. It was the color of mint-flavored Listerine. They said they’d made it them … | Continue reading