Soup Dumplings at Dumpling Shack in Old Spitalfields Market 

You gotta get the soup dumplings and the spicy dan dan beef noodles at Dumpling Shack in Spitalfields Market when in East London. Opinions on this place converged; enough people with different tastes, budgets and lifestyles recommended it to designate a statistically significant sample size. So I popped over for lunch before my train to…

Breakfast at Brick Lane Beigel Bake

“Wanna meet for a bagel on Brick Lane? Big cultural experience.” An innocent enough message before a night full of misunderstandings that might have gone differently had I overthought a bit less and just gone for the bagel plan. But j’avais la flemme [insert shoulder raise and pursed French lips sputtering to express general annoyance…

Lunch and Wine at the very hip Bright in Hackney

For a few years there, I kind of forgot about London. It just hadn’t really been on my radar. I didn’t have anything against the city, but nothing drew me there either. “London? Meh…” would be my official stance, as I’d list the many other place I would rather live in or visit. That stance…

Cooking Moroccan with Chef Laila

Ten strangers from around the world stand around a one long table in the courtyard of a riad near the Bahia Palace in Marrakech. In the center of the table, next to me, is Chef Laila, who’s been cooking Moroccan food professionally for over 30 years. Her sous-chef? Another local chef by the name of…

A Sunset Dinner at Nomad in Marrakesch

On the penultimate day of our week spent in Marrakech, we decided to have a “douchebag day,” our endearing term for the kind of program that brings together all the glitz & glamor of the city’s luxury travel scene. A day spent drinking frozé poolside at Nikki Beach to contrast with the tour of the…

Lamb Tagia and Méchoui at Chez Lamine

If I could pick just one restaurant in Marrakech to return to and recommend to foodie friends, it would be Chez Lamine in the souk Ablouh Kessabine, just off Jemaa el Fnaa. Chez Lamine is the uncontested OG of Méchoui Alley, founded by the late N’guyer Haj Mustapha, revered for his quality-first approach to everything…

A Chicken Pastilla at Pâtisserie & Jus AL Jaouda

Situated northeast of Jemaa el Fna in the Marrakech medina is a very popular pastry and juice shop called Pâtisserie & Jus AL Jaouda (or Al Jawda, according to TripAdvisor). Within a half-mile radius of this bakery you’ll see boys and girls snacking on their ginormous milles-feuilles, which is quite clearly their flagship product and…

Chicken Tagine in the Berber Town of Imlil

A pre-booked day trip with a Berber guide named Said had us touring a female-owned argan oil cooperative, hiking in the Atlas Mountains and riding one-humped dromedaries out in the Agafay Desert. Somewhere along the way we visited our guide’s parents’ house in Imlil, where we enjoyed mint tea (expertly poured from a height) while…