Comfort food is the rage in Brooklyn at the moment. The race is on between restaurants for the best friend chicken, biscuits and mac and cheese. Sick of waiting 30 minutes for tables at popular spots like Egg and Pies ‘n’ Thighs, I have become a loyal patron of The Brooklyn Star. [...]

A short train ride from New York to New Cannan, step across the road from the train station to the information office and check in. A short ride in a mini van to the Glasshouse and you are there. The idyliic hideaway that was designed by architect Philip Johnson for himself and partner [...]

As traditional and Italian as it’s namesake, this tiny lunchtime trattoria (open 12-3:30pm Monday-Saturday) hidden beyond more flashy and expensive restaurants has been servicing hungry locals and tourists alike for almost 60 years. And it hasn’t lost its way.
We arrive later than most at 2pm and are told the wait should be no [...]

Coming back to my Sydney desk from a long meeting, the link to www.gibbonexperience.org arrived in my inbox. Before I completed reading the site, all rationale for planning and research was forgotten. We had confirmation of the last two spots. Describing itself as an eco tourism forest conservation project or in my terms [...]

Photo by Peter Hunt
They’ve been shucking oysters and stacking shellfish over ice into platters of “fruits de mer” at Brasserie Terminus Nord since 1925. This Paris brasserie is still superb and the best news, it is bang opposite the Eurostar terminal.
The chic way to travel; arrive at Gare du Nord two hours ahead of departure [...]

This is the Mecca for any gelato or sorbet lover in Sydney.
Made fresh on-site, Messina whips up an ever changing raft of the most delectable flavours. It’s known to be the late-night drop-in spot for many a celebrity who’s in town shooting movies and promoting albums, so always keep an eye out for the [...]

Photo Courtesy of www.clippertrading.com
Burmese lacquerware is the real, organic, deal. The resin comes from the Thit-si tree, drip-drained like rubber, by cutting notches in the trunk. Lacquer is refined from that sap, and lacquerware is flexible and resistant to water and insects. It is painted on to a base either of horsehair or split bamboo, [...]

Photo by Peter Hunt
You take the highroad and I’ll take the low road and although I’ll doubtless be stuck behind a tractor, I’ll get to visit all the farm shops while you get bored on the motorway.
Farm shops selling their own and their neighbours’ local produce have become little businesses which add up to big [...]

Will Silencio take off as the Paris nightclub and place to be seen? In its favour; it is designed by US film director, David Lynch - and named after the creepy theatre in his 2001 spooky movie, Mulholland Drive. There is plenty of gold leaf on the subterranean walls, there are two very fast [...]

How often do you see 7sisters getting along never mind running an empire of metal craft? This quirky shop/gallery is the third store in ever so trendy area called Samchun-dong, an area full of museums, small galleries and billions of coffee shops and eateries.
Ah-won craft has been around for almost thirty years. As any other [...]