Erbaluce

In Boston in early April without my better half, I was still determined to have at least one great dining experience. Lady Luck smiled me on this night. I was wandering around the Back Bay and into the Theater District when I noticed a promising sign, literally. Seeing the green and white Erbaluce sign adorning a typically attractive brick building just off Park Square, I walked over to peruse the menu posted outside. Although it was just past ten o'clock, a sign in the window indicated that the establishment closed at eleven. Perfect.

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Araxi

The Top Table Group boasts four multiple-award winning restaurants. Having enjoyed CinCin, West and Blue Water Cafe in Vancouver, it was only natural that we book a table at their remaining one, Araxi, when we finally made a return trip to Whistler.

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Creekbread

I've noticed a trend in restaurant ratings. Whenever a place uses high quality ingredients, whether organic or sustainable or fair trade, it seems people are not willing to pay the price premium, and, as a result, their ratings suffer. Despite this, Creekbread still has a reasonably high rating on Urbanspoon, which I think is telling.

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Southside Diner

We ate at the Southside Diner only twice during our Whistler vacation. Good thing, too, or we wouldn't have visited as many other restaurants.

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BrewHouse

When you are dining out, the entire experience is often as important as just the food. The Mark James restaurants certainly understand this. And the BrewHouse restaurant in Whistler Village North hits the mark in so many ways.

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Fuji Market

To hear Fuji Market Sushi described, you might think of a small takeout area in a largish supermarket. However, I like to think of it as just the opposite, a smallish grocery area in a restaurant.

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Steelhead Diner

Take a group of eleven people, including three children; a location in Seattle's tourist central, half a block from Pike Place Market; and a busy Saturday brunch time. You might think that disaster was inevitable. Accommodating large groups is often a challenge for even the best restaurants. However, the staff at the still popular Steelhead Diner, which opened a little over four years ago to critical acclaim, weren't even fazed. On this day, they were clearly firing on all cylinders.

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Rose Bakery

Hidden gem. Find it if you can.

40 rue des Martyrs
9ème arrondissement
Paris.

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Chez Marianne

This was my third visit to Chez Marianne, a kosher Middle Eastern deli-restaurant in Le Marais. I've stood in line for a delectable sandwich from their take-out window and also feasted on their sampler plates.

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Le Garde Robe

One of the things I love about Paris is its abundance of museums. On every visit to the City of Lights, I spend hours in the Musée d'Orsay. I've also had the pleasure of visiting Musée du Louvre, Musée Rodin, Musée de l'Orangerie, the Centre Pompidou, Musée du Vin and others.

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À L'Étoile d'Or

I met possibly the friendliest shopkeeper in Paris, if not the world. She is the proprietor of arguably the best candy shop in Paris, located in the 9me arrondissement near the Moulin Rouge. If you have ever in your life craved anything sweet, make the effort to find this place. You will not regret it.

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Léo le Lion

The name of this bistro, Léo le Lion, caught my eye as we were standing at the hotel desk one afternoon. Having an affinity for lions, I did some simple research and decided we would give it a shot.

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Rue Cler

Our hotel, situated in the 7me arrondissement, offered easy access to one the best market streets we've seen. Obviously, when a street this famous, it's going to be a huge tourist draw. Nevertheless, someone's got to be buying enough fresh seafood, meats and produce to keep the vendors in business, and it's likely not the visitors, who mostly stay in hotels and eat out at restaurants.

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Les Deux Magots

On our previous visits to Paris, we've seen and avoided this super popular restaurant, not only because we thought it was a tourist trap, but also because it was it was just so crowded.

Les Deux Magots, originally a gift shop established in 1812, was named after a popular play of the same name about two Chinese merchants. By 1885, it had become a bar frequented by literary icons such as Verlaine, Rimbaud and Mallarmé.

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L'Atlas

When you want Moroccan food, Paris is a good place to be. There are dozens of good restaurants marocaines, and L'Atlas, located on just off the Seine on the Boulevard St. Germain, is one of them. After a long day of walking, soon after it began to rain, we ducked inside the entrance into a relaxing refuge.

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Villefranche-Sur-Mer

This Italianesque village built on a cliff dangling over the sea will forever be seared in my mind.

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La Merenda

Dominique Le Stanc earned two Michelin stars when he was the chef of Le Chantecler restaurant in Nice. He quit to take over La Merenda. This restaurant came highly recommended from friends, and we had to give them a chance.

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Native to Nice

Though we've been to France a few times before, this was our first visit to the lovely seaside city of Nice, and to its fabulous museums, namely the Musée Matisse, the Musée Chagall, and the Musée des Beaux-Arts.

We were also thrilled to taste some of the local treats besides the famous salade niçoise.

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Wood-Fired Pizza at Galiano Inn

Although we regularly make pizza at home, we rarely go out for pizza. When we tried the pizza at the Galiano Inn, we were hooked. We ended up eating here three times during our vacation.

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eat@galiannoinn

On Galiano Island for few nights, we ventured to the Galiano Oceanfront Inn and Spa and their award-winning restaurant eat@galianoinn. Though we arrived a little late for our dinner reservation, we were asked to wait in the adjoining lounge a few minutes while they prepared our table. After we were seated, we understood why. They gave us a great table right at the window with a beautiful view.

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