Matt Skinner's top 10 destinations to wine and dine

 

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In the midst of helping my four-year-old write her wish list for Santa, I started thinking about a wish list of my own. Where would I begin, what would I include and how would I stop? Having given it a bit of thought, I’m confident there are two ways this could go. The first would be to play it safe, adding things like a new wheelbarrow, a Hawthorn premiership and a zero balance on my mortgage. The second option would be to unleash the full fury of the masochist within and embark on a mission so foolish it would subsequently require months’ worth of work in the gym in order to undo the damage.

Yes, mine would be a wish list constructed entirely around my stomach; a wish list of pure indulgence that comprised visits to the 10 most desirable food and drink destinations on the planet. What was I thinking? Had I gone mad? This list would involve an untold amount of air travel, of transiting through airports, of checking in and out of hotels, of extended periods of driving on the wrong side of the road, and that constant slightly sweaty, slightly stretched feeling of discomfort you get from being permanently full of food and wine. I was beginning to discover that wish lists could be dangerous things.
 
There are all kinds of attributes that make somewhere a destination, rather than simply just a place to visit. Quality of life would be right at the top, followed by public transport systems that run with military precision, to councils that favour bikes over cars. With these things in mind it’s no surprise that, great food and wine offerings aside, my top 10 food and wine destinations for the coming year also happen to include several of the world’s most liveable cities. And so, in no particular order – and provided Santa deems I’ve been good enough – these are the places I will be doing my utmost to visit in 2010.

Just two and a bit hours’ flight from Australia’s east coast, Wellington seems as good a place as any to kick things off. As a small and compact arts-focused city, the New Zealand capital is also home to an upbeat yet relaxed food and wine community. For starters, coffee is a religion in Wellington, with most of the city converging on either Floriditas or Caffe L’affare for their morning caffeine hit. That said, good coffee spots are in abundance in this city. Similarly, like most places in New Zealand, access to amazing produce is within arm’s reach. A walk through the weekly Waitangi Park Farmers Market drives this home, while a meal at Logan Brown, Ambeli or Arbitrageur Wine Room takes the experience to the next level. And finally, with Martinborough a stone’s throw from the city, wine too plays a big role. The Matterhorn and Vivo Wine Bar are regarded by those in the know as the city’s best spots for vinous rehydration.
 
Twenty-three hours’ flight from Wellington, the Italian city of Verona becomes a mecca for wine lovers each April during the world’s largest wine trade fair, Vinitaly. It’s four days of sniffing, swirling, slurping and spitting but there’s also an abundance of great food nearby. Make a pit stop at Il Fornaio Pasticceria for your morning pastry and coffee, snack on lardo and Soave at Osteria del Bugiardo, lunch at Bottega del Vino and dine after dark at Il Desco, Al Pompiere or Osteria All’Oste Scuro. And then, if you still have room, the stamina and the inclination for a late-night drink, the bars that line Piazza delle Erbe hum until the wee small hours.

The next stop on the list is Hong Kong, which is no place for the faint-hearted or the cash-strapped. Hong Kong is big, brash and built for eating and drinking. And that’s exactly why it makes my list.

Go to Hong Kong to eat roast goose at Yung Kee; come to drink at Aqua Spirit, an exciting bar/restaurant-with-a-view; queue and beg for yum cha at Luk Yu Tea House; and then make a beeline for dinner at l’Atelier de Joël Robuchon where a 2000-plus wine list is sure to blow the mind and the budget.

Back in Europe, the hype surrounding Berlin has been growing for several years. Gentrification has spawned a city rich with weird and wonderful architecture, a metropolis brimming with young designers and cutting-edge cafes and restaurants. Germans know and demand good food and wine, which means there is little room for pretenders. Be sure to check out Bandol sur Mer, Borchardt and the Michelin-starred Facil for some of Berlin’s best eating, while the beer garden at Prater and the wine list at Rutz Weinbar rank as two of the best respectively. The icing on the cake is Europe’s safest and most efficient public transport system that will deliver you from A to B and back without a hitch.

With Berlin out of the way, there are plenty of reasons to visit Amsterdam – sex, drugs and Van Gogh – but not for good food and wine. Well, not until recently anyway. Amsterdam’s food and drink culture has come a long way in a short time. Ethnic diversity (almost a third of all residents are non-western immigrants) coupled with a globally aware, forward-thinking approach has resulted in a steady growth in good eating and drinking venues. A focus on organics has also played a role in the quality of produce being offered. The Michelin-starred Yamazato, the virtual kitchen garden of De Kas, the consistently good La Rive, De Witte Uyl and Balthazar’s Keuken, plus the mouth-watering wine list at Marius are must-dos for visitors.

Breaking the journey from Amsterdam to Australia, Tokyo is a 24-hour pulsating metropolis where a jet-setting generation of young people are constantly pushing the boundaries of an already dynamic city. But it’s also a big city that does the simple things very well – exemplary service, good ideas, courteous residents, very efficient public transport and a low crime rate, to name a few. Regularly touted as one of the most exciting food and wine destinations in the world, Tokyo is like an ice-cream shop for food and wine lovers – the major decisions being which flavours to go for, how many scoops you’ll have and where you’ll start licking. As good a place as any is Aoyagi for the amazing food of Hirohisa Koyama, while Kikunoi, Aronia de Takazawa and Arbace are just a few of the many names worth adding to your list.

Next on my list is Montreal, Canada’s cultural heart and a French-speaking city that’s known for its love of good food, wine, fashion, music and art – all of which bode well for a vibrant food scene. As food goes, the accent here is decidedly Quebec – a kind of French meets Canadian hybrid that results in heartier textures and flavours than those you’d expect to find in France. Great produce is in abundance, and more restaurants are bending over backwards to champion it. Aix Cuisine de Terroir, Toqué and Chez l’Épicier are three good examples. World-class wine lists are on the rise in Montreal too, the best of which includes Decca77, Aszu, and again, Toqué. Burgundy lovers will be keen to know that about an hour from the city they will find Bistro à Champlain, home to one of the world’s largest collections of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.

Back to Europe and, with just over half a million residents, there’s no doubting Copenhagen’s reputation as a food and wine hot spot. Whichever way you look at it – intelligent and beautiful design/intelligent and beautiful people – it all looks good. As a raft of cool new food and drink venues emerges in the rapidly evolving meat-packing district, mainstays such as Era Ora with its simple authentic Italian food, the great wine lists of Sankt Gertruds Kloster and Godt, the stripped-back minimalism of Søren K and, of course, the achingly hip and excellent Noma are all worth the flight from Australia.

No visit to Europe would be complete without a visit to Spain. But increasingly, when you mention Barcelona in food circles it’s met with something along the lines of “Yeah, Barcelona’s good, but have you been to Madrid?” Sadly, not. Tired of playing second fiddle to Barcelona, Madrid is busy getting nipped and tucked in a bid to attract a new generation of travellers. From elegant outdoor spaces to the kind of creative flair more often associated with Barcelona, the real reason you come to Madrid – the reason that Madrileños exist – is to eat and drink. For centuries, hard-core gourmets have flocked to El Ventorrillo for textbook paella, Ribeira do Miño for the freshest fish, El Almendro for meat, Oreja de Oro for the wobbly bits of pigs, Casa Mingo for cider, La Santiaguesa for pastries, and Mercado de San Miguel for the freshest produce. I’m happy to say I’ll be definitely joining them in 2010.

And last but by no means least – boasting more than 200 theatres, 75 museums and a late-night cafe, bar or eatery on almost every corner – few cities around the world can claim to be as much fun as Buenos Aires. Like most Latin cities, a working day in BA kicks off about 10am, incorporates a two-hour lunch, with dinner rarely getting underway much before 9.30pm. Wine lovers should head straight to the 647 Dinner Club or La Cabrera where world-class meat takes centre stage alongside some of the city’s most famed wine lists. Elsewhere, La Cupertina does the best empanadas in the city, La Cholas the finest traditional northern Argentinean food, Tancat the greatest tapas, the suburb of La Boca on Sundays for choripan (Argentinean hot dogs) and Volta  for the tastiest dulce de leche ice-cream. Best of all, the 40,000 taxis cruising the city streets mean less time worrying about driving on the wrong side of the road, and more time to ponder that slightly sweaty, slightly stretched feeling of discomfort from too much food and wine. Be careful what you wish for!       

PHOTOGRAPHY DE KAS/JET VAN FASTENHOUT

This article was published in the December/January 2009 issue of Gourmet Traveller WINE.