✈️ Best Airlines + Best Eats = Unforgettable Journeys

If you’d like to eat a meal at the best restaurant in the world, you might as well fly there on the world’s best airline. But if you’re thinking of flying on Delta or American or United to dine in Paris or Rome or New York, think again.

The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy, made up of more than 1,100 international restaurant industry experts, including food writers and chefs, recently announced its annual list of the world’s top 50 restaurants. Here are the top five:

* Maido, Lima, Peru. Moving up from 5th a year ago, Maido is owned and run by chef Mitsuharu Tsumura, and serves Nikkei cuisine, “blending meticulous Japanese techniques with vibrant Peruvian ingredients to create a dining experience that is both culturally rich and innovatively modern,” according to the 50 Best organization.

* Asador Extebarri, Atxondo, Spain

* Quintonil, Mexico City, Mexico

* Diverxo, Madrid, Spain

* Alchemist, Copenhagen, Denmark

Paris has been known as the home of fine cuisine for centuries, but the French capital’s best showing is 8th place for Bruno Verjus. Lima actually has two restaurants in the top 10, with Kjolle at number nine, giving Lima more restaurants in the top 10 than Paris. What city had the most dining establishments on the list? That would be Bangkok, capital of Thailand, with six, led by Gaggan in 6th place.

The only American restaurant to make the top 50 was New York City’s Atomix, at number 12. Atomix did get the award for “Outstanding Hospitality” at the recent James Beard Awards. A London restaurant, Ikoyi, was the highest climber from last year, moving up 27 spots to number 15, featuring what 50 Best calls “category free cuisine.”

Speaking of the Beard Awards, which are reserved for American restaurants and chefs, a Minneapolis restaurant that serves French and American cuisine, Bûcheron, was named best new restaurant. You can see its simple but elegant dining room above. The Beard Award for best restaurant in the country went to Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, Colorado, specializing in flavors from northeastern Italy through a Colorado lens. The outstanding chef award went to Jungsik Yim, whose New York City restaurant, Jungsik, also holds three Michelin stars for his “New Korean” cuisine.

How to get to Lima? Many airlines fly there; my husband and I flew Delta when we visited the country in 2017 to hike the Salkantay Trail to the ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu. We only had a pair of short layovers in Lima, without an opportunity to sample the city’s dining scene. But if we were to go again, we might just fly with the best airline in the world.

At the Paris Air Show last week, the Skyfax World Airline Awards were announced, and the top spot goes to Qatar Airways. In the 26-year history of the award, the Middle Eastern airline has now won the top spot nine times. It was also named World’s Best Business Class and Best Business Class Airline Lounge. Here are the top five, with the cities in which they’re based:

* Qatar Airways, Doha, Qatar

* Singapore Airlines, Singapore

* Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong, China

* Emirates, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

* ANA All-Nippon Airways, Tokyo, Japan

Singapore Airlines, a five-time winner of the Best Airline award, consoled itself with its runner-up finish by snagging the awards for World’s Best Cabin Crew and World’s Best First Class.

The best North American airline in the competition was Air Canada, finishing 19th overall. No U.S.-based airline landed in the top 20. Other categories included World’s Best Low-Cost Airline (AirAsia, based in Malaysia), Best Regional Airline (Bangkok Airways, Thailand) and Cleanest Airline (EVA Air, Taiwan).

Wherever you want to go, there will be an airline to get you there, and quite likely more than one or two nice restaurants at your destination. Give us a call!

Sue Tindell

 

 🌟 Women on the Move: Celebrating All-Female Travel Adventures!

During my years in the travel business, I’ve met a lot of people and formed close friendships with many of my female colleagues. In fact, there’s a group of us who regularly meet up at conferences and retreats. Although I certainly enjoy traveling with my husband, being with my friends is very special.

            Women are traveling more and more in groups these days, even into space. On April 14, the first space flight with an all-female crew went up aboard a Blue Origin spacecraft, the New Shephard, The ten-minute flight to the edge of space marked the first time a spacecraft crewed entirely by women had launched since the Soviets sent cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova on a solo orbital mission in 1963. Among the six women on board the Blue Origin flight were singer Katy Perry and journalists Gayle King and Lauren Sanchez.

            Trips to space are beyond the reach of most women—at least for now—but many of them are still venturing out in groups that deliberately exclude men. Well, men go on trips together all the time, after all, to fishing camps and football games, and so an all-female trip is just fine, too. But these trips are much more than just overnight excursions. USA Today writer Kathleen Wong recently wrote about her recent all-women trip, hiking the trails near Moab, Utah.

            Wong contracted with Wildland Trekking to join two other women on the trek through the magnificent “red rocks” of Arches National Park. (Having hiked there myself, I could relate!) It was her first time for several things: camping in a tent, exploring the grandeur of Utah and doing it with three women she’d never met, including the guide.

            How did it go? Wong said being with like-minded women made it feel “comfortable, easy and supportive, even if we hadn’t crossed paths before.” Just as men enjoy the camaraderie of their trips, women do, too, says Viviana McGovern, CEO of Full Vida Therapy, who specializes in women’s mental health. “Women-only travel can create a uniquely safe and affirming space for those who join. Confidence often builds naturally when women are surrounded by others who encourage growth, risk-taking and self-trust. It can be quite a transformative experience.”

            All-women group travel is on the rise. A recent industry survey noted that 40% of women travelers “seek a sense of belonging” on their trips, and 71% aren’t afraid to go about it on their own, without waiting for anyone else. Wong writes that she was a little nervous at the start, having no previous experience with camping—she worried about being without a real bed, or running water—but said she found “an immediate and unspoken understanding among us where we didn’t have to be ‘on.’” Over dinner, the conversation ranged from relationships to families to talk about what being feminine meant to them. Wong considers the Moab trip to be one of her best, right up there with her first all-woman vacation, a surf retreat in Costa Rica two years earlier.

            The cruise industry has taken notice of the trend. Many cruise lines offer special packages for all-women groups, focusing on relaxation, activities and customized tours. Online groups like SheSetsSail and the Mermaid Society on Facebook offer safe and inclusive spaces for sharing tips, stories and planning adventures.

            Ready to get your galpals together for a trip? Give us a call, and we’ll get you out there!