A charcuterie and Verdeca tasting with
Giovanni Aiello, a winemaker in Puglia.
Far left: Jacqui and her son, Bobby, enjoying
a day by the pool at Masseria Torre Maizza.
Jacqui recently served as a judge in Parents
magazine’s inaugural family travel awards,
where she ranked top travel experiences,
including Disney Cruise Line and the Fairmont
Scottsdale Princess. For more on the
program, go to parents.com/travelawards.14 TRAVEL+LEISURE | SEPTEMBER 2019
LETTER rom e i or
COURTESY OF JACQUELINE GIFFORD
FROM MY TRAVELS
In June, I hit up the Food & Wine
Classic in Aspen, Colorado, for
an epic long weekend of eating
and drinking. I sampled some
outstanding wine (Nellcôte,
Penfolds, d’Arenberg) and stayed
at the St. Regis (st-regis.marriott.
com; doubles from $499), which
has a fantastic spa. My flight
home was a bit of a production:
I got stranded in Dallas because
of severe storms and ended up
bedding down at the Ritz-Carlton
(ritzcarlton.com; doubles from
$400). If one must be stuck in
Dallas and miss Father’s Day
(sorry again, Rob), the Ritz is a
nice place to do penance. I made
it up to the family with a July
trip to Italy—specifically Puglia,
where Bobby fell in love with
the saltwater kids’ pool at
Borgo Egnazia (borgoegnazia.
com; doubles from $1,064),
and Rob and I fell in love
with the pizzas at Masseria
Torre Maizza, a Rocco Forte
Resort (rocco fortehotels.com;
doubles from $875).
n a January trip to the Turks
and Caicos, I went with
friends to Da Conch Shack
(daconch shack.com; entrées $15–$30),
an open-air restaurant overlooking the
shore on Providenciales. This is not one
of those secret hideaways—it’s one of
the most popular spots on Provo. With
good reason. Tourists and locals alike
come to load up on hearty beach food
and enjoy the sunshine at the colorful
picnic tables. Our plan was to have a
rum punch or two, and maybe a plate
of fries, since we had already eaten at
the resort. But then we ordered the jerk
chicken wings, because we wanted to
see how much kick they had. And then
the johnnycakes, because we needed
some carbs to balance the rum punches.
And why not the fresh conch ceviche? It
tasted of salt, citrus, and the sea. Some
tacos, a bowl of conch chowder, and
more fries followed. Three hours later,
we left, very happy and very full, with a
souvenir T-shirt or two.
For me, the best meals are often
unplanned, and certainly unrushed.
You get caught up in the company
and the scene and the food, and then,
suddenly, an afternoon is gone, but
who cares? You’ve tasted something
you couldn’t have anywhere else.
In this issue, we celebrate the
elemental pleasures of food and wine,and how they connect us to a place.
Ray Isle spends a long weekend in
northern California’s Sonoma Valley,
where forward-thinking vintners
are producing some outstanding
Chardonnay. Peter J. Frank visits
Modena, Italy, where world-famous
chef Massimo Bottura is expanding
his empire with a high-end inn. Heidi
Mitchell convinces an old friend to
join her on a river cruise in Bordeaux,
France, where bike rides past centuries-
old castles and onboard wine tastings
give the duo time to reconnect. And I
traveled to foodie classic Blackberry
Farm, in the foothills of Tennessee’s
Great Smoky Mountains, as well as
its new sister hotel, Blackberry
Mountain, to see how this uniquely
American experiment in fine dining
is evolving with the times.
Also in this issue, we introduce
World’s Best Restaurants—a first-time
partnership with Food & Wine.
Together, our two brands sent one
critic, James Beard Award winner
Besha Rodell, around the world to
seek out dining establishments that
deliver not only superior cooking but
also a deep sense of place. Over four
months, Besha logged more than
100,000 miles for us—she still has jet
lag. Travel to one of the 30 locations
she chose, or all of them: I guarantee
once there, you will want to sit, eat,
and stay awhile.