John Oseid

There are handfuls of designated wine routes around the world that wine lovers and the curious can follow for hours by car. And then there are some that are out of this world. The drive from Salta to the wine town of Cafayate in northwest Argentina takes more than two hours on a single lane highway and you wish it wouldn’t stop as you meander through the stunning red, purple and pastel cliffs of the Quebrada de las Conchas, or, the Gorge of Shells, within the Calchaquí Valleys. Herewith is wh...

These days, Mendoza is a known commodity world-wide for its fine wines and dramatic setting facing the Andes. As visitors journey to the Argentine city and province of the same name, they will find that the 700-square-mile Uco Valley to the southwest of the city is now overflowing with many of the region’s most dynamic and mod wineries and lodges.
Particularly with many professional and newly-minted hobby vintners arriving from abroad in recent years, the Uco Valley scene is still changing ra...

Having climbed in status over recent decades to rank among the Napa Valleys of the world as a top wine territory, Argentina’s Mendoza province, within the wider Cuyo region, is of late ever more accessible as a destination in and of itself.
A booming enotourism arena needs ample lodging, of course, and happily plenty of fine hotels and resorts have sprouted in this far western region with a breathtaking Andes backdrop. Herewith a primer on where to start your quest in this area that produces ...

Kentucky is, of course, famously known as the Bluegrass State for that rich meadow grass which has long provided dandy pasture home to the state’s equine inhabitants. Right now at the fine Speed Art Museum, visitors to Louisville can gain a deeper appreciation of Kentucky’s thoroughbred history and traditions through a brilliant exhibition devoted to the works of painters who documented horse life in the Bluegrass regions just beyond the Ohio River city.
With some one hundred paintings gather...

With new hotels, restaurants, museums and the urban return of a handful of bourbon makers, downtown Louisville’s Main Street and its famous stretch called Whiskey Row have been barreling back strong of late.
Last month, in a big further leap forward toward bringing ever more activity back to the once forlorn strip of Whiskey Row’s brick and cast iron Renaissance Revival treasures, the Hotel Distil officially opened with a huge bash that brought out the city’s swells.
As the name clearly indic...

On the ground floor, an enormous and solid chunk of black Orizaba marble from Mexico has been transformed by Manolo Valdés into the sculpture Reina Mariana. In the lobby, La Ronda (1993) is an enormous oil on canvas by Guillermo Roux that draws the attention of every guest. More on these visual treasures below.
These days, many fine hotels double as art galleries. The Palacio Duhau—Park Hyatt Buenos Aires is just such one, with its historic neo-classical main villa alone being a work of archi...

Never ones to rest on their laurels, purveyors of that quartet of delights that reign supreme in Brussels—that is, cheese and chocolate, beer and fries—continue to develop their delicious commodities. Here are a handful of top producers in the Belgian capital who open their doors to the public, some of them located in parts of the city that were until recently much off the beaten path. And with the city gaining ever more pedestrian zones, you can enjoy walking off your calories going from one...

Not the biggest of European cities, Brussels certainly punches above its weight in all things culinary and in its food scenes, from street to haute. While you’re discovering some of the city’s latest taste sensations, it’s a breeze in this compact city to sample some of its current major art happenings as well, all of which means that you can satiate not just your body, but your soul.
Anyone who has spent even half a day in Brussels has discovered the Maison Dandoy and its buttery, brown suga...

It’s cold, dark and gorgeously eerie up here on the Nordkapp clifftop, a good 1,000 feet above the Barents Sea. You are some three-hundred miles above the Arctic Circle, at the northern tip of Europe as you explore Norway’s near-top of the world.
If half the adventure is getting there as they say, then you’ve already won those stakes. You don’t often hear about convoys these days, let alone join one. But now’s your chance to follow the blinking red lights of a big plow that scrapes its way up...

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. We mean, of course, that it’s Northern Lights time. It’s time to get yourself up to Alta in Norway’s Finnmark County, way up at the top of that long, slim country. Yes, it’s bloody cold and dark these days, but buck up and you’ll be rewarded with witnessing one of the most remarkable natural displays on the planet, all hues of greens, yellows, pinks and purples dancing in the sky.
Like much of northern Norway, Alta was scorched by the Nazis. Today, th...

When you see the waterfront Casetta restaurant with its wonderful views over Lake Maggiore, expect your first thought to be: Why is that cute little thing not my house? Wonderfully placed as it is, the rustic Casetta is just a tiny bit of all that you’ll discover and enjoy at Hotel Eden Roc in the Italian-speaking Ticino canton of Switzerland.
For newcomers to the Eden Roc: Yes, those are real palm trees that you see on the lakefront of this Tschuggen Hotel Group property that is also a membe...

In recent years, Houston has gained a reputation as one of the nation’s top and most diverse culinary cities. With the addition of the new Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston to the ranks of city’s top hotels (see recent Forbes story), guests at the property can easily Uber it to various districts in this huge metropolis in order to sample some innovative newcomers. Here’s part two of a rundown on prime culinary experiences that you can enjoy in the nation's fourth-largest city.
Burly, bearded C...

In case you missed the news, Houston in recent years has gained a reputation as one of the nation’s top and most diverse culinary cities. With the addition of the new Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston to the ranks of city’s top hotels (see recent Forbes story), guests at the property can easily Uber it to various districts in this enormous metropolis in order to sample some innovative newcomers, as well as visit some quirky and clever retail establishments. Here’s part one of a rundown on some...

How many hotels have you ever stayed in with their own two-story Rolls-Royce showroom, and an in-house Bentley and Bugatti dealership? Ever since it opened in the spring of last year in Houston’s upscale Uptown/Galleria neighborhood, the Post Oak Hotel at Uptown has made a big splash with dramatic elements such as those Instagram-popular cars and a lobby chandelier draped in Swarovski crystal.
However, for all that bling, the Preferred Hotels & Resorts Legends Collection member also happens t...

Lord Norman Foster and Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Two giants of their respective métiers. With the new Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia at Comcast Center, the British architect and Alsatian chef together have produced a new landmark hotel and dining scene in downtown Philly.
Last year on its debut, the Foster + Partners-designed Comcast Technology Center changed Philadelphia’s skyline dramatically in one fell swoop. Sitting atop this tallest structure in the city, the Four Seasons early last w...