Eleven Madison Park is unabashedly candid about striving to be the best restaurant in the world. Instead of producing an off-putting earnestness the restaurant proclaims greatness, as if it is merely waiting for the recognition it knows it deserves.
This was one of those weekend where a planed getaway to the lower Drakensberg quickly morphed into a series of unfortunate events. Sometimes even a seasoned traveller needs to be reminded that sometimes nothing goes according to plan and you have to let go of all expectations in order to enjoy the moment. Once I did that, this weekend turned into exactly what I needed.
With a limited number of free hours in Lima, I had to be highly selective about how to spend my time and this being Peru, food was my first priority. In the past few years, Lima has become a culinary juggernaut and local chefs creatively play with diverse cuisines and experiment with local indigenous ingredients.
For urbanites looking for a back to the land experience Babylonstoren is the place to decamp and unwind for a weekend. A working farm and wine estate, Babylonstoren is an unpretentious place where you can collect eggs for your breakfast or chill with a glass of wine and a good book in the garden. The farm is easily reached by car from Cape Town and while it would make a lovely day trip, I suggest booking a room at the hotel to take full advantage of all of the farm activities.
Places that are fantastically bizarre and give in to the eccentricities of their creators are always top destinations during my travels. I stumbled across The Orient Hotel because of the reputation of the onsite restaurant, the Mosaic, and from the website I knew this hotel would be delightfully strange in the best possible way.
One of the best views in the Stellenbosch winelands has to be from the Jordan Restaurant dining room, but when the dishes start coming out of the kitchen, all attention turns to the magnificent food. This is not a restaurant where the view is meant to distract from middling food, but one where the views of wine farms and farmland convey the provenance of what you are eating.