Food-focused getaways are certainly having a moment in the spotlight, with culinary and gastro-tourism trends booming as travellers choose their destination around where they’ll eat, what and how. Making life a little easier is More Cravings by Marriott Bonvoy™, Marriott International’s dedicated online dining platform in Europe, Middle East and Africa, which features over 1,110 dining venues, and allows guests to browse menus, filter restaurants according to taste, and make a booking all in one place. So, where will your tastebuds take you first?!
1. SPAGO BY WOLFGANG PUCK
World-renowned chef and restaurateur Wolfgang Puck, brings the Beverly Hills success story of Spago to Budapest, a Michelin Guide-restaurant at Matild Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel and the first European outpost of Puck’s flagship restaurant. Set within a contemporary space designed by award-winning MKV Design London, Spago serves up a menu centred around seasonal Californian cuisine with Hungarian and global infusions.
Puck’s farm-to-table philosophy is ever-present, with dishes that will take you through chilled gazpacho and heirloom salad with burrata cheese from the Green Market; Goulash soup and Hungarian buffalo steak tartare from Pasture; grilled octopus and premium Sturgeon Oscietra caviar from Marine, to Spago classics, such as Tuscan kale and goats cheese pizza, and wiener schnitzel. A table on the year-round terrace is always one of the hottest tickets in town, but if you prefer dining in quieter comfort, you can book the Private Dining Room, located in a secluded corner of Spago.
2. ENA SEVILLA
Step off the streets of Seville and into Hotel Alfonso XIII, a Luxury Collection Hotel, where the scent of orange blossom awaits you as you stroll through an urban orchard - it could only be Ena Sevilla. With Colombian Exec Chef Felipe Arango at the helm, the menu revolves around ‘Medias Raciones’, a Spanish tradition where ‘half portions’ are served in the centre of the table to invite sharing and camaraderie. Inside, the décor is all sumptuous blues and golds with chandeliers and frescoes, while the outdoor terrace is the perfect al fresco day-to-night spot, as the city fizzes with energy beyond.
The smaller plates bring you everything from marinated razor clams, quail paté and Almadraba’s red tuna belly for Preserves, to Iberian cold cuts, Andalusian and Spanish cheeses, and on to traditional salmorejo with quail egg and tomato jelly, fried sea bass with roasted aubergine, Angus entrecôte steak with roasted artichokes, seafood casserole, and macerated chicken wings with home-made bbq sauce. There are few greater culinary pleasures in life than sipping a sundowner on the terrace or enjoying a digestif at Ena’s bar. But don’t take our word for it - go and see for yourself!
3. MARÉ SOCIAL
The creative brainchild of two-starred Portuguese Michelin chef Henrique Sa Pessoa, Maré Social is one of the newest restaurant’s on Cairo’s burgeoning culinary scene, located at The Westin Cairo Golf Resort & Spa, Katameya Dunes. Pessoa’s gastronomic modus operandi was to bring modern Portuguese food to the city’s culinary connoisseurs whilst offering an upscale casual dining experience. Now, following in Pessoa’s footsteps, chef Nelson Amorim helms the restaurant, continuing to create recipes that reflect Portugal’s rich cultural heritage. The name of the restaurant, Maré Social, perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the restaurant in bringing people together to enjoy good food and good entertainment.
The interiors are designed with four distinct areas, each bringing its own individual vibe: a small, cozy dining room in the style of a taberna, with low lighting; a lively bar and lounge area; the distinctive porticos and tapas bar with an open kitchen; and a beautiful outdoor terrace that wraps around the venue, with views of the golf course rolling out from the tables. So, what’s on the menu? Amorim and his team serve up seafood and shellfish, creatively plated tapas, petiscos (snacks), bar bites and perfectly cooked steak. A few dishes you really must try include Peixinhos da Horta crispy green beans with tartare sauce, Portuguese gazpacho with red berries and goats cheese, grilled octopus with potatoes and olive oil, and salted black cod with chickpea vinaigrette and sun-dried tomatoes.
4. THE GRITTI TERRACE
While Venice might be best known for its arts, culture and canals, it also has a thriving culinary scene. The Gritti Terrace at Gritti Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel, helps raise the bar for restaurants with a stellar reputation, focusing on seasonal ingredients and Venetian traditions under the masterful eye of exec chef Alberto Fol. Featuring light bites, the menu is an ode to Italian cuisine, starting with small plates, such as beef carpaccio with Parmesan cheese and baby artichokes, Gillardeau oysters, or three kinds of traditional Venetian cicchetti (snacks). If you’re more in the mood for burgers, try the Piedmontese beef cheeseburger with caramelised onions. Naturally, all culinary roads lead to the pasta course, and the spaghettone pasta ‘monograno felicetti’ with garlic, Amberjack and chives, or mezze Maniche pasta with roasted eggplant cream and burrata from Andria will sate you accordingly.
If your wish is for fish, try the grilled squid with Belgian salad and pizzaiola sauce, or if you’ve got meat on your mind, dive into the Milanese veal chop with Arugula salad, cherry tomatoes and Parmesan cheese. As for dessert, trust us when we say save space for the mango carpaccio marinated in spices and yuzu sorbet. The setting is pretty spectacular too, with a terrace stretching along the waterfront of Venice’s Grand Canal, with views over Punta della Dogana and the Santa Maria della Salute Basilica. It’s the perfect spot for unwinding with a seasonal Bellini as you watch the city’s legendary gondolas glide by.