Besides determining what to see and what to do when travelling, one of the other integral elements of a great itinerary is where to eat.
Experiencing the food and dining culture of a city is a great way to really get to the heart of a destination or ‘belly’ in this instance and mix with locals and take those taste buds on a journey outside of the norm.
Referrals from friends is always a good start but with the food scene in a thriving metropolis like New York changing daily with the opening and closing of restaurants it can sometimes be difficult to keep up to date with what is hip, cool, trending and what famous eateries are still worth visiting.
Thankfully there are some great phone apps and blogs, which make tailoring your food, experience a whole lot easier. First things first, for the real foodie – what’s in the news?
eater.com is a site featuring the latest news on the food scene including new restaurants, chefs’ antics and features 38 Essential Restaurants in 24 cities, plus Heater Maps which tell you what is new and trending at the moment. In addition the same is available for the drinking scene. The Cocktail Heatmap a favourite, where you get to see the latest bars to drink at.
Dining reviews and recommendations at your finger tips –Dine is a free phone app worth downloading before your travels.
It curates the best restaurants by talking to chefs, editors and using social media to find the best of the best. Currently it has more than 4,000 restaurants in eight cities.
You can filter by cuisine, neighbourhoods and notable chefs.
Andrew Steinthal (left) and Chris Stang (right), cofounders of the Infatuation. Image Source: Business Insider
Your personal dining concierge – The Infatuation is another worthy site that features restaurant guides for six cities, restaurant reviews, music playlists plus ‘Friday Fives’ that showcases celebrity favourites.
However the key feature of this site is Text Rex where you sign up to get personalized restaurant recommendations instantly via text message. Infatuation staff not a dinosaur powers this service.
You can text the most obscure requests, for example going on a third date need an outdoor restaurant that caters for vegans and they will respond within minutes with multi recommendations.
Text Rex is also offering an access code for you to give your friends to grant them immediate access to Text Rex. All they have to do is sign up here, enter the code 25722, and they’ll jump to the top of the list.
Sometimes a night in your hotel is just what you feel like but the room service menu is not really catering to your cravings or seems a waste to eat from when you know so many great restaurants surround you. Seamless is the answer and is available in more than 600 cities in USA.
Seamless lets you order food online from restaurants in the neighbourhood that will deliver to your door.
The dining options are endless be sure you don’t ‘waste’ any dining opportunities on your next travels, as far as what will happen to your ‘waist’ measurements after experiencing so many culinary delights, well that is another story.