Category Archives for On the Ground.
First things first: I won’t be addressing the tragedy today surrounding MH17. It’s a horrific event and nobody in the world needs a snarky food and travel writer such as myself weighing in. Back to our regularly scheduled programming… Have you ever been to Japan to experience the Tanabata Star Festival? I haven’t, but I…
You have to be a pretty serious food geek to know who Dario Cecchini is. I first learned of him by reading Bill Buford’s excellent book Heat (Heat: An Amateur’s Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany) where Buford learns the secrets of butchering and more from…
Let’s be honest: if your hotel buffet doesn’t have a waffle iron, it’s not really trying. Whether self-serve or manned by a chef in a tall paper hat, that waffle iron is a godsend if the other options are tiny boxes of cereal and a cantaloupe/honeydew/watermelon medley that was frozen for a decade until being…
If you have any doubt that we’re living in a globalized world, look no further than Dominique Ansel’s “Cronut,” the croissant-doughnut hybrid that set the food world (and regular world, really) abuzz a little over a year ago in Ansel’s Manhattan Bakery. What’s a cronut? First of all, we need to get some internet in…
This has been, without question, the most successful week in Fly&Dine history. More people visited Fly&Dine than ever before and I am grateful for that. What did they come to read? Check out the stories that grabbed everyone’s attention this week: First, we addressed the question of gratuity while you travel in… Tipping at Hotels…
This is why I love running Fly&Dine! Earlier today I posted a story about tipping at hotels and, lo and behold, one of San Francisco’s top butlers took the time to weigh in with his perspective and it’s amazing. Instead of leaving it in the comments of the other post, I wanted everyone to see…
I’m always relieved when I go to a foreign country that hasn’t established a tipping standard like the US. I don’t have to carry around that anxiety of “Should I tip that person? How much? Is that enough? Too much?” Back here in America, though, I do have that anxiety. Respect is a big issue…
Have you signed up for the dining rewards programs through the various airlines? They’re a great way to earn miles without doing much of anything at all besides eating. Rewards Network operates the programs for both American and United and I was pleasantly surprised to get their emails today promising major mileage bonuses. United is…
Why wait for the whole World Cup tournament to end when I already know who the winner is? The winner of the World Cup is… ESPN. Just look at those ratings! Oh, you were expecting me to name a team? Hahahahahaha. Sorry, folks. This is clickbait at its finest. Here’s the week that…
Another week of flying and dining is coming to a close and that means it’s time to recap the week that was. This week, we learned about… Bill Cosby’s Favorite BBQ Spots in America I admonished you to… Vote Now For @PassengerChoice or Forever Hold Your Peace [sponsored] Revealed some exciting new menus… JetBlue Unveils…
Chocolate Fried Chicken. It’s a thing now, people, and if you’re traveling to LA any time soon, you can get your hands on some by swinging down near the Staples Center where you’ll find ChocoChicken, the brand new chocolate fried chicken concept from the guy behind Umami Burger. The chocolate’s in the batter but it…
Part of the life of the food writer is getting invited to really, really nice dinners. Honestly, besides the trips, it’s pretty much the best part of the job. Last Friday, I had the good fortune of being invited to an unbelievable meal at Mélisse in Santa Monica, CA where chef Josiah Citrin is carrying the…
Bill Cosby has been America’s favorite TV dad since 1984 and today, Father’s Day, he’s celebrating that fact with an “Ask Me Anything” Q&A over at Reddit. While most of the questions ask about his career or general advice, buried deep down on the page was this question: [–]Doctor-Propane 13 points an hour ago Hello…
Oh what a week it was back at the Fly&Dine Web Traffic Control Center. We started out the week asking for you to weigh in on what you’d like to see here on Fly&Dine with… Help Me Help You: A Call for Requests We then asked one of life’s greatest questions with… Would you go…
