2006: The Year in Travel

01.01.07
russian tea room

What was your most memorable trip this year? Visiting a friend in North Carolina, I was pleasantly surprised by Asheville. This growing town, with its Art Deco architecture still intact, is a lovely escape in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Limitless bed and breakfasts await.
Your most memorable meal (not necessarily on the same trip)? White bread, Miracle Whip, and Thanksgiving-turkey leftovers. Oh...in a restaurant, hmm. That would have to be at Tabla in New York. It was a quick bite at the Bread Bar, but the Indian-spiced popcorn and pomegranate gin cocktail put me in a heavenly place.
What was the most exciting thing that happened close to home? The addition (even as a temporary experiment) of clean public toilets in Times Square has to be a highlight of the year for our tourists. But more so, I'd say the second coming of The Russian Tea Room (shown here) and the third coming of Le Cirque are a few decent reasons to visit New York.
Did you stay in, or visit, a hotel that particularly wowed you? Sadly, no. But I am looking forward to seeing the Regent in Bal Harbour, Florida; it is going to be a spectacular site when finished.
What place did you find overrated or disappointing? Bouley's Evolution in Miami (South Beach). I know people are raving about it down there, but I had a bad meal and think the place ought to venture away from the menu of its New York counterparts.
What was your worst (or funniest) travel experience? I was asked by a stranger sitting next to me on a plane if I'd share my favorite chocolate-chip cookie, which I get at a grocery-store bakery when visiting family in Florida. (I didn't.)

2007: RING IN THE NEW

penguins

What's going to be hot this year? Vancouver keeps blipping on my radar. Luckily, my family just relocated to Seattle, so I won't be far away on visits.
What is going to be the big-deal hotel opening? The Standard, in downtown Manhattan's famed, if frenetic, Meatpacking District.
Is there a restaurant or a chef whom everyone is watching? Now that Gordon Ramsay and Joel Robuchon have opened, we're all waiting for Alan Yau. And waiting and waiting. Rumor has it that the much-anticipated opening in Ian Schrager's Gramercy Park Hotel has fizzled. But let's not give up hope.
What trips do you have planned for 2007? Italy, with a week in Rome and a trek down to the Amalfi Coast. Maybe over to Capri for a dip in the Blue Grotto.
Where do you most want to go in the world that is still a dream away? Antartica. A few of my travel-hungry friends came back from there recently, and my photography-hungry self couldn't believe the pictures they took. It looks like they were in the middle of a National Geographic spread come to life. I'd love to go sledding with the penguins. (photo by Alan Emtage)
Where wouldn't you go even if you won an all-expenses-paid, first-class trip? Dubai. I'd go crazy in a place with that much construction going on all the time.

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