Why Tastebuds Are My #1 Travel Guide

Let me put you on to something: The secret to transformative travel isn't packing your day full of guidebook attractions—it's in slowing down to enjoy the local food scene. Whenever I travel, I seek out places with vibrant agricultural communities, living artisanal practices, and farm-to-table restaurants. I find beauty in diverse culinary cultures because each is a unique expression of how people connect with their land. These relationships, developed over generations, hold wisdom about sustainable living that offers a soul-nourishing reprieve from our modern world.

Why Food-Focused Travel?

If you're tired of tourist traps and want to level up your travel game, let local food be your guide. Here's what I've discovered through centering my travels around traditional culinary experiences:

  1. Authentic Cultural Immersion: Nothing connects you to a place quite like shopping from a farmers market and breaking bread with locals.

  2. Sustainable Tourism: Supporting local farmers and artisans contributes directly to local agroeconomies.

  3. Unforgettable Memories: The tastes and smells of a place often become our most vivid travel memories.

Finding the Flavor: My Tips for Planning a Culinary Adventure

  • Research which crops and/or food preparation methods the region you’re visiting is known for

  • Seek out opportunities to learn from elders and tradition-keepers — their knowledge of local ingredients and cooking methods often reveals deeper cultural values and ecological understanding. For example, you could research opportunities to watch or participate in harvesting crops or artisanal food production

    • Hint: Airbnb Experiences often has hidden gems that you can’t find on Google

    • Pro tip: AI assistants can be surprisingly good at finding these hidden gems as well. Try asking an AI agent with web browsing capabilities, like Gemini, to help you find Culinary Tourism ideas or Slow Food experiences in your destination.

  • Check to see if the area you’re going to has a local farmers' market and plan your trip around when its open

  • Do a deep dive into the farmers market website to see if any of the vendors will be hosting events at their farm while you’re there

  • Use search terms like “Farm-To-Table Restaurants in (Your Destination)” to find chefs who actually know their farmers' names

  • Once you’ve reached your destination, you’re bound to discover more leads once you chat up locals at the market

    • (Pro Tip: If you run into a language barrier, try using ChatGPT’s “Read Aloud” function to voice what you want to say in a foreign language)

  • Search for cooking classes that include market tours for a full farm-to-table experience

  • Consider staying at agritourism properties that offer hands-on farming and cooking experiences

SOME OF My fav Restaurants Around the World

Here is a short list of restaurants where I’ve recently had meals so incredible that they became new core memories. These aren't just restaurants — they're portals into living food traditions. Each one tells a story about their relationship with food, from centuries-old preservation techniques to modern interpretations of ancient recipes. Here are some places that left an indelible mark on my soul.

  • Osteria de la Cornacchie (Petritoli, Italy) Plan to spend several hours on a Sunday at this cozy cellar establishment where house-cured meats hanging from the ceiling testify to generations of preserving traditions that allowed communities to thrive before refrigeration.

  • The Roundwood Stores (County Wicklow, Ireland) We stopped into this charming bakehouse south of Dublin and had THE best scone I’ve EVER had in my life.

  • Landrace (Bath, England) A celebration of heritage grains and local produce. After enjoying lunch of sugar snap peas with Corra Lynn cheese and homemade tagliatelle with asparagus in this airy cafe, we couldn't resist taking home cardamom buns and fresh blueberries from their scratch bakery & fruit stand downstairs.

  • Bibi (London, England) You will be in the best hands if you are able to snag one of the thirteen seats at Chef Chet’s kitchen counter.  Michelin-level execution of nourishing Indian homecooking made from scratch with the best bounty of the British coast and countryside. Charlie and I booked a layover in London just so that we could return to this special spot for our anniversary this year.

  • Sala de Despiece (Madrid, Spain) “Designed with the aesthetics of old-school market fish and meat cutting stalls in mind, everything on offer here is based around the best-available produce available on the day. Served up on wax-papered trays at communal tables, the tapas-leaning plates include its legendary Navarra peeled tomato with fried basil and olive oil.” - This is a direct quote from the Worlds50Best, and I couldn’t have said it any better. My mouth is watering just thinking of their Navarra peeled tomato.

  • Kamonegi (Seattle, Washington) We saddled up to the bar in this cute soba shop in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle and had our minds blown by their Foie tofu, tofu skin soba, and so many creative pickles! Kamonegi’s soba noodles are handmade daily in small batches in keeping with traditions that Chef Mutsuko Soma’s grandmother taught her back in Japan.

  • n/soto (Los Angeles, California) One of the country’s only female sushi chefs, Niki Nakayama is celebrated for marrying the the traditions of her Japanese heritage with her brilliant creative spark. I was wow’ed by the balance of flavors and attention to detail at this sister concept to her Michelin starred n/naka. I highly recommend the warm house made tofu, mochi flatbread with eggplant dip, ankimo with sumiso, and red snapper tataki.

  • Italian Kitagawa (Izunokuni, Japan) Chef Kitagawa recently left his position at a prestigious farm-to-table restaurant in Tokyo to open his own restaurant in Shizuoka so he can be closer to his farmers and fishermen. We were actually the first American visitors to this intimate 8-seat establishment where we delighted in a 10-course meal served single-handedly to us by Chef Kitagawa who also kept our glasses full and shared interesting stories of his life and details about each of the masterfully executed dishes that he set in front of us — without breaking a sweat!

  • Kuruha (Izunokuni, Japan) Creative kaiseki cuisine in a beautiful old converted residence where they demonstrate deep knowledge of Japanese culinary traditions and nature's rhythms with their monthly-rotating tasting menu.

  • Masque (Mumbai, India) We enjoyed some of the most creative mocktails made with the freshest fruits as a pairing to the finest meal that we enjoyed during our visit to India. Masque’s tasting menu is an exploration of Indian ingredients through a contemporary lens, and we were delighted to be invited into the kitchen midway through our meal to connect with the chefs as they artfully plated our entremet.

  • Cafe Kothi (Jaipur, India) After months in India, we were delighted to find such fresh salads on the menu of this darling boutique hotel. By reservation, they also serve candlelit thali dinner in a lush gardenscape — which was an unforgettable journey through regional flavors.

The Takeaway: More Than Just a Meal

Food-focused travel has given me more than just good meals. It's connected me with locals, taught me about different cultures, shown me how people relate to their land, and nourished my soul.

When we engage with people practicing ancestral cooking and farming methods, we tap into the soul of a place. These age-old practices offer valuable clues about sustainable ways to live in harmony with nature. They reveal how communities have developed deep ecological knowledge, adapting their culinary traditions to thrive in harmony with their environs and creating beautiful foodways unique to their culture.

Whether it's breaking bread in a centuries-old Italian cellar or sharing Chai tea after a kaleidoscopic thali meal in India, these experiences remind me that preparing and sharing food are universal acts that transcend time and place. As Thomas Moore observes in Care of the Soul, “The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.” By engaging in these fundamental acts—growing, cooking, and sharing food—far from home, we see them through fresh eyes. What seems ordinary in one place becomes remarkable in another, revealing both human creativity and the quiet wonders of daily life.

So on your next trip, let your taste buds guide you to these keepers of culinary tradition. You'll discover that food is not just physical sustenance, but a soul-enriching way to connect with nature and participate in the timeless wisdom of traditional foodways.

I’ll leave you with these outtakes from some of my recent market visits around the world!
You can click any of the images below to see the entire 90-second video on Instagram.

What about you? Have you ever planned a trip around food? What culinary discoveries have you made in your travels? I’m curious to hear your tasty tales in the comments below!