Table Topics: Becoming a Better Food Trip Traveler

Shortly after I checked into my airport hotel, I headed out for a rendezvous in New Delhi. It was my first time in India and my travel buddy, an experienced traveler and San Diego foodie, had made reservations for dinner at the Spice Route, considered one of the premier restaurants in India. She ordered the sumptuous Chef’s Tasting Menu while I opted for the Shrimp Kerala Curry and an appetizer. The waiter admonished that we couldn’t split her meal. He knew what was coming!

My entree and side dish came quickly. Her dishes kept coming and coming in a parade of gorgeous and unique dishes. It was a lush experience but marred by the leftovers we couldn’t take away – there was no place to refrigerate them in our lodging. (Read more about dining experiences across Rajasthan in this post from the trip.) I learned something valuable that evening – to order consciously and carefully. It’s a lesson I’m still trying to perfect.

New Delhi, Spice Route, dinner aside a lush mural

Along for the Ride – Food Trip Journalism

Over the past few decades, I’ve had the honor to cover many restaurants and food scenes at home and across the United States. Food trips were a given while I was a member of the International Food and Wine Writers Association. My responsibility was to taste and document in word and picture every meal and food emporium, sometimes visiting more than four different restaurants in a day. Managing it was a wonderful conundrum – how to maintain my health and stamina! The pressure to give each a beginner’s eye and fresh palate, then find outlets to publish my discoveries, including from this blog and social media, was considerable. While I adored the camaraderie and opportunity to experience every culture and bite, the empath in me witnessed more going on.

The night I visited the Hot and Hot Fish Club in Birmingham, Alabama, James Beard award-winning chef, Chris Hastings took precious time out of his very busy night to explain how he blends Southern, French, and California styles into the dishes that filled our table. Near the end of the meal, I walked through the restaurant and saw how hard the waitstaff and cooks were working. I passed plates of fruit-embellished cakes, each with berries carefully arranged. One prep cook leaned over, her shoulders hunched, as she added a dollop of cream with exacting concentration.

Mural of Anthony Bourdain at Ski Inn in Bombay Beach, CA. The site where he made their patty melt famous.

When I returned to our ten-top table, I found dishes ajar in various stages of deconstruction, a few bites here and there, the rest left to be carted away. It was far more food than we could or should consume. One could argue that the abundance was part of the job, that the restaurant was getting great coverage from the journalists. If I were more callous, perhaps I wouldn’t have given it another thought, but I left feeling unsettled. The waste bothered me, especially knowing how much effort and resources had been put into our meal. I soon began focusing on other aspects of travel writing and began looking to better manage dining options in my travels.

Most travelers don’t have the same concerns, but it’s still too easy to over-order, especially in the United States, where dishes are hyper-sized more often than not. Perhaps the trend towards diet drugs that squelch appetites will lead to more focus on presentation and greater portion control. It might make it easier to become a sustainable food trip adventurer. If you’re interested in what other trends are peaking, consider this article from Voyagers Du Monde. The Tripwellgal blog is not AI-driven, but there’s a place for that kind of coverage, as in their Guide to Being a Food Tourist. 

A highlight of a San Diego food trip: Dining on the dock at Tuna Harbor. Saturday mornings is fish market day where fishermen feature their catch.

Tips for Becoming a Better Food Trip Traveler

• Favor smaller meals. When I’m traveling, breakfast is more often than not a quick coffee, with fruit and a pastry or nuts. I look forward to a bigger meal midday when prices are better and restaurants are less crowded. Plus, having a later and smaller dinner often leads to better sleep. The strategy helps extend travel budgets as well.
• Look for where locals are eating and ask for suggestions. Glance at travel sites like TripAdvisor or Klook overseas for recommendations. Be adventurous and observant. Ask for recommendations from shop workers and not just the hotel concierge who may have another agenda like a relative in the restaurant business! In Hong Kong, I followed a crowd into a restaurant and had one of my best and most affordable meals. It left more money for souvenirs, too. On a Kyoto side street, while my sister and I were looking for a dinner place. We watched business people coming and going out of a nondescript storefront restaurant. Following them led to one of our most vibrant and fascinating meals in Japan. We sat at a crowded counter, next to office workers vigorously slurping noodles and downing glasses of Sapporo beer, and learned to point to different dishes for our meal. Not fine dining, but a delicious experience in a locally run establishment. It was fun getting out of the tourist bubble too.

Chef Rob Ruz at the KWOK NOAA pop up featuring rock fish.

Beyond the Table with New Ingredients: Art and Compassion

• Support Meals with a Cause. Ever wonder where chefs get their inspiration for new menu items? Each restaurant has its own method, but when it comes to learning about sustainable seafood in San Diego, the new KWOK Family Innovation Kitchen at Scripps Institution of Oceanography has been sponsoring sea-to-kitchen connections between fisheries scientists and the campus research community. Recent  ‘Get to NOAA Fish Pop-Up,’ classes in the newly completed demonstration kitchen at the Scripps Marine Conservation and Technology Facility have been led by Chef Rob Ruiz. He has featured locally landed rockfish and local mackerels at the last two events. Questions flowed from an audience full of other chefs and restaurant owners as they stepped forward to sample the dishes. The featured seafood will certainly inspire future menu items.
• In San Diego, Vanguard Culture has been serving a blend of art and dining in their Artist at the Table series. Recently, Visionary artist Ben Guerrette created an unforgettable immersive experience along with chef Flor Franco, and Baja Food Wines founder, Fernando Gaxiola. Vanguard has been gathering creatives from across disciplines with one simple intention: to help them connect, uplift one another, and build something meaningful together. The decade of classes and events has built connections driven by empathy and innovation. If you plan a food trip in San Diego, be sure to tap into the Vanguard Culture events. Your ticket helps propel their mission.

Dan’s diner in upstate New York, voted the best on the East Coast. Discovered on a drive by – Trust your instincts!

• Put Servings of Emapthy and Compassion on Your Itinerary. Making our shared humanity, the commonality of our need for sustenance, the heart of any food trip itinerary, can lead to unforgettable meals. Nothing builds memories more than sharing a meal with others, whether it’s a conversation during a quick meal at a bar or diner, slipping into a luxury banquette with friends, or standing at a noodle vendor’s cart on a street flush with the sounds of other languages and new aromas.
• To make a food trip less wasteful, and hopefully more sustainable, yes, we need to pay attention to ingredients, but we also need to expand our criteria to include the people who call the places we visit home. Is our meal helping them feed their families? Are they being paid living wages as part of distant corporate interests, and what are our responsibilities as travelers if they are? As the world moves through uncertain times, and we move through the world, compassion and generosity are the only things we can guarantee.