High and Low: A Taste of Two Napolis

On this culinary tour of central Naples, we’ll go off the beaten path by visiting two wildly contrasting neighborhoods, Vomero and the Spanish Quarter. In both we’ll stop into the places – from artisanal producers to street food vendors and more – that locals go to for the quintessential taste of the city, one that was developed over millennia and, on this walk, distilled into a single day of eating and exploring.

The CB 2023 Gift Guide

Since we’re a company built around the idea that, when traveling, the stomach serves as the best compass, it’s no surprise that we believe that culinary experiences are the best kind of gift. And while we would be very happy to see you and your loved ones on one of our culinary walks or trips (you can purchase gift certificates here) we also want to use our annual gift guide to showcase some of our favorite products and treasures across our cities. From serious kitchen tools to adorably frivolous snacks and knick knacks, our correspondents, guides and editors have recommended a range of items that they eat, use or just love – often made by people they know. While we can’t guarantee to cover every personality with our gift suggestions, we can promise a relatively short list of highly selective, quality products that are affiliate-link free and Culinary Backstreets-approved.

Palermo

First Stop: Katie Parla’s Palermo

Editor’s note: In the latest installment of our recurring First Stop feature, we asked food writer Katie Parla about her favorite bites and food memories in Palermo. Katie is a Rome-based food and beverage writer, culinary guide, and bestselling cookbook author whose family emigrated to the United States from Palermo. Katie’s work explores the food, culture, and history that shape Italy and its cuisine. Her new book, Food of the Italian Islands, is a deep dive into the food of Sicily, Sardinia, and beyond.

Tokyo

First Stop: Ivan Orkin’s Tokyo

Whenever I come back to Japan, I crave eggs. We go straight to our buddy's house and his wife almost always makes us a bowl of rice with a raw egg on top of it. And that's often my kick-off to being back. There are definitely restaurants where you can get that, but the eggs here are so incredibly delicious that I just crave them [by themselves], with some seaweed sprinkled on top and a little good soy sauce. It is, for me, one of my all-time comfort dishes. We almost always start our days at the FamilyMart, which is one of the convenience store chains near where I stay when I'm visiting. My wife and I have an egg salad sandwich about every other day for the whole trip. For $1.75, they are shockingly delicious.

Naples

First Stop: Anya von Bremzen’s Naples

Editor’s note: Anya von Bremzen is the winner of three James Beard awards, a contributing writer at AFAR magazine and the author of six cookbooks. Her forthcoming book National Dish: Around the World in Search of Food, History, and the Meaning of Home, she explores the connections between place and identity in six food capitals around the world, including our beloved Naples. We asked her about her favorite places to visit every time she’s back in the city. Naples IS pizza. It’s where pizza was invented in the 18th century, meaning it’s where flatbread first met tomato and cheese and both met the domed Neapolitan oven.

Athens

CB Book Club: Carolina Doriti’s “Salt of the Earth”

Editor’s note: Longtime CB contributor Carolina Doriti was born in Athens, where she grew up in a family with a long culinary tradition. Having studied arts management, she pursued a career as a curator but quickly set her museum work aside to follow her true passion: cooking! Since then, along with her work as CB’s Athens bureau chief, Carolina has been working as a chef, restaurant consultant and food stylist. She is also the Culinary Producer of My Greek Table, a TV series on Greek gastronomy, broadcast on PBS across the US. She has appeared on various cooking shows on Greek and Spanish TV and gives cooking classes and workshops in Athens. Salt of the Earth is her first cookbook.

Palermo

Introducing Palermo: Through the Eyes of Our Local Team

To properly introduce Palermo, CB’s newest location, we turned to our local experts: correspondent and photographer Francesco Cipriano and walk leader Maria Luisa. In celebration of the launch, we spoke with them about Palermo’s gastronomic scene, the special Sicilian relationship with food, and their favorite places in the city. Francesco is a writer and photographer born in New York to a family of Sicilian immigrants who then moved to Switzerland before finally returning to Sicily – the place, he says, that feels the most like home. Maria Luisa is a native Sicilian and a professional culinary guide. She got her culinary start from her grandmother, who taught her how to knead dough to make bread, how to forage for wild plants and how to appreciate a good glass of wine.