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A Well Deserved Best Chef in the Southwest Nod to Steve McHugh

In May 2014, my sister and I walked into a new restaurant in San Antonio called Cured and were blown away by dish after dish. Everything presented that meal was masterful from the selection of innovative charcuterie to the symphony of favors found in that ridiculously good pig’s head dish. “Crawfish Love Letter” was a tribute to the decade Cured’s chef Steve McHugh spent in New Orleans as chef de cuisine to John Besh. Even the mundane burger, a patty made with bacon and topped with smoked onion and homemade American cheese was one of the best burgers I’ve ever had. All delivered in a classic 1904 space in the burgeoning Pearl District (see my story on this emerging foodie neighborhood in The Washington Post). So I was delighted to read last week that McHugh is getting the acclaim he deserves, chosen as one of the semi-finalists by the James Beard Foundation as one of the Best Chefs in the Southwest. He’s the only nominee from San Antonio, which I find hard to believe, because it’s one of my favorite places to dine in America. Do yourself a favor this spring and book a room in the new Hotel Emma, housed in a former 19th-century brewery, and simply walk to dinner every night in the Pearl District to one of the 15 restaurants. You’ll thank me. 

 

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New Audubon Field Guide Apps

I first met David Bradbury a decade ago when he was playing a version of polo on mountain bikes in Burlington, Vermont. When I later had to write a story for The Boston Globe on hiking Vermont’s tallest peak, Mount Mansfield, I wisely chose David to take me to the summit. Of course, he chose the most challenging route, up the Hell Brook Trail. When he’s not hanging with his wife, Emily, my favorite PR maven in Vermont, or his young children, you can often find him making first tracks down Stowe in the early morning hours. So when I heard that David is on the board of a Vermont company called Green Mountain Digital, creating nature-based apps for Audubon Field Guides, I knew the product had to be good. So far, they have 30 apps categorized by geographic region (Texas, Florida, New England, etc…) and type of critter (birds, insects, butterflies, fish).  I checked out the Audubon Birds New England app and found the photographs and songs of the 370 birds to be of the highest quality. Just launched is the ORVIS Fly-Fishing Guide, with casting tips and detailed knot tying videos. The apps can be viewed on any iPhone, Google Droid, iPod Touch, or iPad. Makes for a nice Christmas gift.
 

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Greece Week with Heritage Tours

Just back from a dreamy week in Greece with New York-based Heritage Tours, the travel company best known for designing authentic custom-made itineraries to Spain, Morocco, and Turkey. Now they have their sights set on Greece and they invited a small group of travel consultants including ActiveTravels to experience the new product. Let’s just say Lisa and I were highly impressed. You can always book a Greek hotel on your own, but then you’ll miss out on the genuine Greek experience. Heritage has always been known for their unparalleled guiding and Greece was no exception. All the guides we met on this trip, especially to the ancient Greek sites at the Acropolis in Athens, the island of Delos, and Akrotiri on the island of Santorini were exceptional. We were introduced to stellar properties like the family-owned Poseidonion Grand Hotel on a gem of an island called Spetses and the Canaves Oia Suites built into the hillside of Oia, Santorini, beloved by a number of our clients. 
 
Yet, it was the genuine Greek experiences that created memories we won’t soon forget—dining in the courtyard of a home down the block from the Parthenon, a farm-to-table lunch at an actual farm in Mykonos, hiking at sunrise from Oia to Imerovigli on Santorini, wine-tasting at sunset overlooking the caldera in Santorini, a private boat ride from Mykonos to Delos and the island of Paros, biking along the shoreline of Spetses, and dining on tasty Greek salads, fresh octopus and fish at far too many wonderful restaurants. I’ll be spending this week highlighting my favorite activities in Greece. Please follow along! 
 
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My Top 5 Adventures in 2009, Biking the Shores of Keuka Lake

Known for its award-winning Rieslings, the Finger Lakes deserve its reputation as one of the best spots in America to go wine tasting. Yet, its resplendent beauty also lends itself well to adventure. At the southern end of Seneca Lake, we hiked alongside a handful of waterfalls in the famous gorge of Watkins Glen. The next morning, my wife and I kayaked through a cattail-laden marsh and saw countless herons, turtles, and a beaver. Talk about adventure—a 40-pound carp jumped out of the marsh and slammed against my arm as I shrieked. But my favorite part of the weeklong trip was a quiet bike ride along a peninsula that juts into Keuka Lake. Start your ride from Keuka College and follow East and West Bluff Roads as they pass the small waterfront cottages with cute names like Hide N’ Seek. There’s one killer hill on the 20-mile ride that takes you atop a bluff, before cruising downhill back to the college. Afterwards, we rewarded ourselves with a lobster roll and glass of semi-dry Riesling at Heron Hill’s outdoor café. We were fortunate to book the next two nights at the Black Sheep Inn in Hammondsport, on the northern tip of Keuka Lake. Owners Debbie Meritsky and Marc Rotman spent over 6 years refurbishing the rare octagonal-shaped house, which celebrated its 150th birthday in 2009. See my review of the wines at Everett Potter’s Travel Report.

 

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Think Big! A Tiny House Resort Offers New Activities This Summer in the Catskills

Last summer, Bob Malkin, owner of the SoHo retail store, Think Big!, unveiled a resort in South Cairo, New York, that features 9 Tiny Houses. Inspired by the Prairie-style cottages found at Canoe Bay in northwestern Wisconsin, each Tiny House offers a panorama of windows, queen size bed, full-size appliances and luxury bathrooms, as well as a private patio complete with outdoor dining table and seating, Weber grill and fire pit. Think Big! A Tiny House Resort is situated on 28 acres with over half a mile of water frontage and perched on a cliff overlooking the Catskill Creek, a year-round wonder of waterfalls and pristine swimming holes. Saturday morning yoga and kayaking are offered as well as the services of a personal chef who can prepare meals for guests using produce from the resort garden. New this year is a Wellness Tent, featuring massage services and a private cedar soaking tub; an Arts and Crafts Studio in an Airstream travel trailer, where kids and adults can work with an instructor to create one-of-a-kind vacation souvenirs; and an inground pool, heated to 92 degrees. The resort is also dog-friendly and features a dog park. Think Tiny! 

 
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Spain, DayTrip, Montreal, and More in May ActiveTravels Newsletter

We were picked up promptly at 9 am in Granada, Spain, by Damir, a driver and guide for a company we’ve been working with more and more in Europe, Daytrip. We could have rented our own car and made the 3-hour trek from Granada to Seville, but it’s so much more relaxing to have someone else drive, especially when you want to stop and visit another town along the way. Two hours later, after sitting in the back of a comfortable Mercedes sedan and peering out at the rolling hills and mountains of this bucolic region of Spain, we arrived in Ronda. Damir guided us around the town, walking along the edge of the famous gorge, touring the oldest bullring in Spain, the one Hemingway wrote about when he lived here (it’s also the town where Orson Welles retired and died), and the historic Moorish settlement at the bottom of the hill. After a lunch of tapas, we arrived in Seville around 4 pm. It ended up being one of the most relaxing days of our recent Spain trip. Daytrip is now expanding to Asia. It’s a wonderful way to connect the dots between destinations, while stopping at off-the-beaten track locales. 
 
To read more about our trip to Spain, a special deal on Relais and Chateaux properties, and what’s happening in Montreal this summer, please check out the latest ActiveTravels newsletter. Have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend! 
 
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Adventures in Madeira

Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I like to promote small outfitters from each of their respective countries. After all, who knows their region of the world better than a local? That said, I just received an email from Jhonathan Rodrigues, owner of Adventure Kingdom on the island of Madeira. 35 miles long and 13 miles wide, Madeira is best known for its mountainous interior, with Pico Ruivo rising 6100 feet in the center. Cliffs plummet to the sea from towering heights, ravines are cut into rough and hewn terrain to form more than 40 canyons. Indeed, it’s one of the best locales on Earth to go canyoneering. Adventure Kingdom leads guided jaunts to do just that, along with trekking deep into the heart of the island, and, for the less intrepid, walking along the “Levadas,” irrigation channels built hundreds of years ago, now laced with footpaths.

 

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