Planning guides: what is in season, which region to choose, and how to get there.
What to eat in Paris: croissants and viennoiserie, the jambon-beurre baguette, bistro classics like steak-frites and confit de canard, French cheese and wine, and macarons and éclairs - the dishes to order and where, across the day.
A flexible 3-day Paris food and wine itinerary: a market and a food tour, a market cooking class or pastry class with a wine tasting, then a Champagne day trip to Reims and Épernay. Suggestions, not a fixed schedule.
Tuscan dishes explained: bistecca alla fiorentina, the bread soups ribollita and pappa al pomodoro, pici and pappardelle al cinghiale, lampredotto, pecorino and cantucci with Vin Santo - the cucina povera classics and the Sangiovese wines to drink.
What is bistecca alla fiorentina? Florence's famous steak - a thick T-bone from Chianina cattle, grilled over embers, charred outside and rare within, seasoned only with salt, oil and rosemary, sold by weight and shared. How it's cooked, how to order it, and where to try it.
How a Florence cooking class works: make fresh pasta (pici, ravioli, pappardelle), often pizza, tiramisù or gelato, frequently after a Mercato Centrale or Sant'Ambrogio market shop, then eat it with Chianti. What you cook, city vs villa classes, and how to choose.
What to eat in Florence: bistecca alla fiorentina, lampredotto street sandwiches, ribollita and pappa al pomodoro, pappardelle al cinghiale, crostini di fegatini and cantucci with Vin Santo - the Tuscan dishes to order and where to eat.
A flexible Tuscan wine route from the Chianti hills through Montalcino (Brunello) and Montepulciano (Vino Nobile) into the Val d'Orcia, with Vernaccia around San Gimignano - how many days, where to base, and how to travel it. Suggestions, not a fixed schedule.
A flexible 3-day Florence food and wine itinerary: the Mercato Centrale and Sant'Ambrogio markets and a food tour, a pasta or gelato cooking class with a Tuscan wine tasting, then a Chianti vineyard day trip. Suggestions, not a fixed schedule.
A flexible 3-day Istria food and wine itinerary: hunt truffles near Motovun, taste Malvazija and Teran wines and award-winning olive oil in the hill towns, then eat fresh fish on the coast at Rovinj and Pula. Suggestions, not a fixed schedule.
What to eat on Hvar: gregada (the island white fish and potato stew), fresh grilled fish and shellfish, lamb and octopus peka, and Hvar's own Plavac Mali and Bogdanuša wines - the dishes to order and where to eat on the island.