How apropos: Low-key luxe Anguilla gets top-notch dining to match its flawless beaches at a place named after the iconic kitchen appliance. (They've got the same billionaire owner.) Set on serene two-mile-long Rendezvous Bay, the 93-room whitewashed CuisinArt resort recently unveiled two new farm-to-table restaurants. Italia offers, you guessed it, classic Italian dining (think caprese salad and tiramisu) and Tokyo Bay dishes up Japanese fare such as just-caught sashimi. Herbs, fruits, and vegetables for both restaurants are drawn from the resort's half-acre hydroponic farm—a Caribbean first. A tasting menu of culinary experiences are also available, such as cooking classes, sommelier-led wine and rum tastings, and private chef's table dinners. The cherry (tomato) on top? Bowls of the fresh, succulent orbs are offered to guests upon arrival.
Tokyo Bay photo courtesy of CuisinArt Golf Resort
Fans of Pacific Northwest cuisine should set their GPS for British Columbia's Vancouver Island. A two-hour ferry ride from Seattle or Vancouver, the island is a natural wonderland of old-growth rainforest, mountains, glaciers, fjords—and home to two dining standouts. Chef Robin Jackson conjures up awards at the Sooke Harbor House, a 28-room hideaway on the island's southern tip. His locally foraged, seasonal dishes include chanterelle mushroom soup with butter-poached hedgehog mushrooms and pan-fried Hecate Strait halibut served with nasturtiums and toasted walnuts. At the 75-room Wickaninnish Inn in the ruggedly gorgeous west coast town of Tofino, The Pointe Restaurant offers 240-degree views over Chesterman Beach and sense-of-place dishes like salmon served with caramelized eggplant, glazed beach oyster, sesame, ginger, and seaweed.
Photo courtesy of Sooke Harbor House
Australia's verdant southernmost state has an outsize culinary reputation—and art scene, thanks to Hobart's MONA—that belies its diminutive size. Wine bar/restaurant Garagistes is the capital city's hottest newcomer, offering a carnivore's dream menu of communal feasts that include fried pigs' ears, wagyu tartare, and house-smoked eel, with pretty much everything baked, cured, or pickled in-house. In Launceston, the much-lauded Stillwater showcases influences from Europe and Southeast Asia, with a distinctly Australian spin: The fish of the day might be served with shitake mushroom, lemongrass, and ginger, or a slow-braised local rabbit might be found inside a house-made raviolo sopped with brown butter, sage, and lemon.
Stillwater photo by Chris Crerar
Famously rivaling the French Riviera in high-octane nightlife and see-and-be-seen scene, this hyper-glam isle's world-class wining and dining is more of a well-kept secret. Jetsetters dine poolside at Hotel St Barth's Isle de France on a menu that globetrots between the Mediterranean (fresh burrata, proscuitto) and Southeast Asia (Kobe beef with ginger tempura), while at Le Gaïc—re-opening October 26 in the Hotel Le Toiny following a full renovation—talented chef Stephane Mazieres reinvents French staples like foie gras by pairing it with tropical notes such as passion fruit and quince or sprinkling it liberally with black truffles. At the legendary Eden Rock, the new On the Rocks with Jean-Georges shows off Vongerichten's brand of Pan-Asian-inspired genius with dishes like seared shrimp with egg noodles in spicy herbal soup.
Photo courtesy of Eden Rock Hotel
Food might not be uppermost on the minds of the party-hard pretty young things that flock to this idyllic Cycladian island every summer, but Mykonos is still a world-class palate-pleaser. Start the evening at Katerina's (Agion Anargiron 8, Mykonos Town, +30 2289 023084), the iconic cocktail bar in Little Venice whose tiny terrace affords aria-worthy ocean views. Stroll to a late dinner at cozy, artsy Avra which does a superb line in simple, rustic meze like fried feta wrapped in pastry with sesame seeds and rose petal jam. Then hit the scene—and maybe a few family-style omakase shared plates—at Matsuhisa Mykonos at the Belvedere Hotel, an outpost of Nobu that's a magnet for celebrities, heirs and heiresses and assorted boldfaced names.
Photo courtesy of Avra
It's easy to work up an appetite in Capri: If the precipitous streets don't do the trick, the daily schedule of swimming, socializing, and shopping will. Life is extra dolce when you pull up a chair at Fontelina, a lunchtime bar and waterside seafood restaurant that attracts the rosé-sipping nouveau-aristo set. For al fresco fare later in the day, nothing beats the leafy terrace at Villa Verde, known for having the island's best thin-crust Neopolitan-style pizzas, or the romance of da Paolino¸ where a fragrant canopy of lemon trees add atmosphere to fresh-caught seafood and antipasti.
Photo courtesy of Villa Verde
New Zealand's luxury lodges have set the global benchmark for exceptional boutique accommodation—plus stellar kitchens to match their swank settings. Near Queenstown, oenophiles and gastronomes alike flock to Blanket Bay to dine on local delicacies like Canterbury Quail and Milford Sound crayfish, washed down with the Central Otago region's distinctive, full-bodied pinot noirs. Just an hour's drive away Whare Kea Lodge sits beside Lake Wanaka with stirring views of the snow-capped Southern Alps and offers five-course menus from English chef James Stapley, whose dedication to free-range meats, foraged ingredients, and organic heirloom vegetable varieties jibes perfectly with the pristine setting. At stylish Christchurch area estate Otahuna Lodge, dinnertime degustation menus showcase produce from the proprietor's own gardens, orchard, and livestock.
Photo courtesy of Blanket Bay
While it's certainly no challenge to find five-star dining on the tropical island of Penang, this one-time British Colonial stronghold off Malaysia's northwest coast is most loved for its sublime street food. Hawker stalls peddle Chinese and Malay staples such as char kuay teow (stir-fried noodles with seafood, egg and Chinese sausage), rojak (a popular sour and spicy salad), ikan bakar (grilled fish wrapped in banana leaf) and the island's most famous dish, asam laksa, a sour, sweet and spicy fish-based noodle soup. Head to Gurney Drive in Georgetown, a seaside esplanade famous for its huge array of delicious hawker food, grab a plastic seat, a Technicolor plate, some chopsticks, and tuck in.
Photo courtesy of Charles Haynes via Flickr
Sicily, Italy While Tuscany, Rome, and Milan get most of the amore when it comes to eating in Italy, the island of Sicily is a culinary gem, particularly Taormina, a small-but-perfectly-formed village on the island's east coast. (Sicilian cuisine is distinctive thanks to Arabic influenced ingredients like eggplant, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and citrus fruits.) Dine on seafood still briny from the Ionian Sea at Gambero Rosso (Via Naumachie 11, +39 942 2 48 63), a regular haunt of fashion superstar Stefano Gabbana, or mangia at Casa Grugno where simple dishes—pasta with almonds, tomato, and chili flakes; spaghetti with fava beans and fresh ricotta—turn sublime. For dessert, sample what might be the world's best cannoli at Pasticceria Minotauro (Corso Umberto 8, +39 942 629 898), a sweet store with thrilling nighttime views of the lava-spouting Mount Etna volcano.
Photo courtesy of Casa Grugno
Thanks largely to boutique hotel player Forty1 North, which opened on the Newport marina in 2010, this once culinary-challenged resort town is morphing into a gourmet destination for both the super-yacht crowd and weekenders seeking upscale New England fare with cockle-warming views (and fresh cockles). Well-heeled couples chow down dockside on retro bites like Oysters Rockefeller, crab cocktails, and thick lobster bisque at The Grill, the property's al fresco restaurant kitted out with modern decor, while Christie's is the less fancy option, a fun, 1960s-inspired family-friendly joint dishing up crowd-pleasing snacks like fish tacos, oyster po'boys, and clam chowder.
Photo courtesy of Forty 1 North
Beach body? Forget about it. Not with these food scenes worth crossing an ocean for.