Travel 
Burning in China: hot pot reigns supreme in Sichuan(2)
Sichuan is famous for its giant pandas and for its spicy food. One of better-known dishes of the region is Sichuan hot-pot. To welcome the summer English teachers, two of the program coordinators, both Chengdu residents, generously treat us to dinner at a hot-pot restaurant
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Drinking (Tea) with the Natives
Skip Britain’s stuffy hotel teas, and follow the people to the real thing
By Elizabeth Valerio
Every London guidebook has a section devoted to afternoon tea. The authors gush about the pastries at Harrods, the finely-cut sandwiches at the Brown Hotel, and the delicate scones served with clotted cream at Kensington Gardens. Is this what Londoners do in the afternoons? Sit, decked out in Chanel, prim and proper, on [...]
On the Trail of Nopales and Nata
One woman’s quest for true Mexican sabor
By Sarah Wolff
“You like carnitas?” asked Mario-Alberto, my taxi driver.
“Yes,” I lied.
“You like barbacoa?”
“Yes,” I lied again. I only had a vague notion of what those dishes were (carne means meat, so carnitas must be meaty?)
While Mario-Alberto changed the topic to how to pick up girls in English, I dwelt on my fabrications. I was [...]
Milan’s Aperitivo Hour
Dipping and nibbling, Italian style
By Jenna Weiner
MILAN, Italy — In a kingdom where fashion is king and wispy models its princesses, the all-you-can-eat buffet is the last kind of dining experience you’d expect to find. Yet the two coexist in blissful harmony, for Milan is the home of the aperitivo—a tradition that raises the buffet [...]