Issue:
July
2010

In this issue:

In Destinations: I traveled to Ottawa for the annual Tulip Festival only to find out that Mother Nature had other plans. While most of the tulip beds had been decimated by capricious weather, I found Ottawa itself a garden of delights, made even more so by the large wooden tulip flowers sited throughout the city. By Barbara  Penny Angelakis

In the Oeno File: The real Chablis is a white wine made from Chardonnay grapes in a French region almost 100 miles southeast of Paris. Chablis is almost as far north as wine-grapes will successfully grow. By Manos Angelakis

In Hotels & Resorts: Nestled in the heart of  Oxfordshire, Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons  is a hotel and restaurant held in such reverence by leading gastronomes, and hospitality connoisseurs, that is the only country house hotel in Great Britain to achieve and maintain two Michelin stars for 25 years. By Yvonne Yorke

In Restaurants: While the environment at Le Perigord is quite formal, it is also very congenial. After all, they are celebrating fine food and wine here.
By Marian Betancourt

In Restaurant Notes: As the financial hub of Southeast Asia, Singapore has a plethora of upscale restaurants for business lunches and dinners. Two “not-to-be-missed” restaurants are in this category by virtue of their rarity outside their home countries. By Buzzy Gordon

Additionally in Restaurants: Sanafir is one of those restaurants that you won’t easily forget. Located in downtown Vancouver, its menu and ambiance are unique and the restaurant’s décor evokes images of the Silk Road. By Melanie Votaw

In Spas: Next to the Rideau Centre shopping Mall, between Parliament Hill and the ByWard Market, the Holtz Spa has an unimposing street entrance easily missed on busy Rideau Street. But you know the old saying – you can’t tell a book by its cover – and so it is with the Holtz Health & Beauty Spa. By Barbara Penny Angelakis

Also in Destinations: I looked at the mountains, with widely scattered farmsteads clinging to steep slopes that start above the tree line and end somewhere far below in the watery depths. I wondered how the cows keep their footing on such a terrain. By Susan McKee

Additionally in Restaurant Notes: The culinary arts are alive and well in Ottawa. There are so many high quality dinning establishments that, like her more famous foodie sister cities of Quebec and Montreal, she should also be considered “destination gastronomic” when planning a getaway. By Barbara Penny Angelakis

Also in Hotels & Resorts: The four-star Affinia Shelburne sits on an unobtrusive stretch of Lexington Avenue in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan. Despite its central location, I was surprised by the quietness of the area, especially overnight. By Melanie Votaw

Also in Restaurants:  It happens, but not often, that in the world of culinary arts a long held traditional food style is revolutionized… and even less often when it is successful. CHADO a newly opened sushi restaurant in the Murray Hill section of Manhattan, is succeeding in sushi with a twist. By Barbara Penny  Angelakis