hospitality

Herring festival in The Hague

Despite its name, Flag Day (Vlaggetjesdag) in Scheveningen – a seaside resort close to The Hague – is actually more about fresh herring. Fishmongers bring in the first catch of the year in June, the hollandse nieuwe, and mark the start of the herring season with festivities, marching bands, wearing traditional costumes, and even an auction of the first vat of fish to raise money for charity. Don’t miss the chance to share a jenever (gin) with a Scheveninger, who will tell you how this year’s herring compares with last year’s.
Olivia

Flatbread heaven in Bosnia and Herzegovina

On the road from Sarajevo to Mostar, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, there is a small bakery in the town of Ostrožac called Pekara Centar. There, for less than a euro, you can enjoy lepinja with kajmak – a charred traditional flatbread made in a stone oven and filled with a rich, creamy spread from a local dairy. The bakery is on one of the most picturesque roads through the Neretva River canyon, making this delicious bite even more special.
AG

Catch of the day in Bavaria

In the beautiful surrounds of Chiemsee, southern Germany, my partner and I enjoyed a lunch of fresh fish at the family-run Chiemseefischerei Stephan, just west of the lake. With just a couple of options available on each daily menu, we didn’t have to faff around with a complicated order, and instead enjoyed the simplicity of the fish, rich potatoes, crisp salad and local Bavarian weissbier in the modern wood-panelled room. There was also Chiemsee sushi on the menu. I remember stepping out of the restaurant afterwards into the bright sunshine, hand in hand with my partner, mountains in the distance, and thinking: could life get any better?
Ellen

A mountainous feast in Kosovo

After scaling Kosovo’s highest peak, Gjeravica, Gacaferi Guest House provides delicious home-cooked food in an idyllic setting surrounded by mountains and shepherds herding flocks. Expect delicious byrek (savoury pastry), fergesë (Albanian red peppers and feta cheese), speca në ajkë (fermented peppers with yoghurt), and homemade cheese – all cooked over a wood fire and washed down with local rakia.
Ross Cameron

A brilliant kitchen garden in the Czech Republic

In the off-the-beaten-path Klatovy region of the Czech Republic’s south-west, I spent a few days driving around rolling countryside, climbing lookout towers and cooling off in rivers while looking out for kingfishers. The food scene was surprisingly excellent, with the highlight being Hospůdka U Štěpána, a fantastic restaurant near Sušice. A huge kitchen garden provides most of the produce, accompanying the wide range of different steaks from self-reared charolais beef. Fried courgette flowers followed by striploin in chimichurri sauce were some highlights in our August visit, along with the rustic vibe and more than fair price.
Enrico

My favourite pizza in Rome

Having tested a few pizza-piazza combinations in Rome, we enjoyed a pizza from Antico Forno Roscioli sitting on the kerb in Piazza Navona. It’s a 500-metre walk from the 19th-century bakery to the 15th-century public space (built atop the first-century Circus Agonalis). It’s the best pizza in Rome (in my humble view) and a relatively uncrowded and spectacular baroque spectacle of a square (oval?).
Daniel Becker

Gourmet cycling in the Netherlands

We caught the train to Groningen in the Netherlands and spent five days cycling its extensive paths. Every night we indulged in a four-course, fine-dining experience. Ginger soup or fried polenta with wasabi, local beef or salmon tartare followed by organic Dutch cheeses, and a liquorice sorbet with blackberry creams. Perfect after a 30-mile cycle ride, and a constant source of conversation.
Sophie

Jazz and open-air dining in rural France

We stumbled across the biodynamic vineyard La Guinguette du Domaine Gayrard in Virac, north-east of Toulouse, and found that not only did it produce some lovely wines but it also hosted a guinguette (open air dining from a simple menu with live music) during the summer months. We booked for dinner and were blown away. This gastronomic triumph was complimented by the most beautiful surroundings: we sat outside, looking over the vineyards as mellow jazz was played and the chef cooked our meal from a trailer. A truly unexpected gourmet experience.
Rachael

Honest hospitality in northern Italy

At Ca’Ordano in the hills of Monferrato, the tasting was simple but unforgettable. A glass of nebbiolo red wine came first with a simple plate of local salami and cheeses. Then, agnolotti pasta filled with roast beef, perfectly paired with a rich monferrato rosso. The visit was small-scale and personal, with no fuss or ceremony, just honest hospitality and food rooted in terroir – they’d hate me for calling it that, but it is what it is: a quiet, undiscovered corner of Piedmont with true flavours among the rolling hills.
Mariateresa Boffo

Winning tip: the old Crete ways are the best

In the hills west of Rethymno there is Atsipopoulo village, famous for Ta Souvlakia tou Gagani, a lovely restaurant sitting in a beautiful church courtyard. But a tiny restaurant called O Manolis, sitting in a less-illustrious location (the seating occupies empty parking spaces off the main street), embodies everything good about rural Crete. Deliciousness beyond description is produced in that restaurant and served with genuine Greek warmth. With no menu, Manolis serves whatever is harvested that day from his garden, declaring confidently it’s the greatest in Europe, or what he hunts and forages from the hills in the old Cretan way.
Rory Ferguson