Hot travel trends for foodies in 2018

Cycle around the park on one of FICO’s fleet of bicycles learning about farming, breeding and what goes into making the likes of Parma ham, pasta, balsamic vinegar and Parmesan cheese, then stop at your choice of over 40 restaurants offering authentic Italian food from all corners of the country before stocking up at one of its many shops and the onsite farmers’ market. eatalyworld.it

Nashville

Nashville, Tennessee, might say “country music” more than munching but Music City’s food scene is definitely worth singing about too. British Airways’ introduction of direct flights this May between Heathrow and North America’s most melodious city means both music fans and gourmets will be able to reach its red-hot gastro scene more rapidly than ever before.

Savour Southern classics like “hot chicken” at addresses like Prince’s or “meat and three” at Arnold’s Country Kitchen, or explore some of the city’s most progressive beacons of contemporary cooking, such as celebrated local restaurant, City House. And let’s not forget those classy local tipples, bourbon and whiskey. ba.com

Bogotá

Following hot on Lima’s heels as Latin America’s new foodie must-visit, the Colombian capital, Bogotá, has a scorching culinary scene that definitely warrants further exploration in 2018. The high-altitude capital is even home to a neighbourhood called Zona G where the G stands for gastronomy. Couple this with a more stable political situation, increasing pride in local ingredients and a wave of local chefs returning from overseas and you have the ingredients for a simmering gourmet revolution.

Colombia is one of the world’s most biodiverse countries (there are more animal and plant species here than in all but three other nations) and local chefs such as Leonor Espinosa are showing that reinventing local cuisine using unusual native ingredients (in Espinosa’s case at her Ristorante Leo) is drawing in a new following among both local and international diners. What’s more the Latin America leg of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards will return to the city next September for its annual prize-giving. colombia.travel

Braemar

In 2018, contemporary art gallery owners, Iwan and Manuela Wirth, will re-open Braemar’s The Fife Arms hotel, hoping to do for this small Scottish town what they did for Bruton, in Somerset (pictured): introduce some international art crowd cool to an often overlooked but spectacular pocket of the world (Check out our foodie guide to Fife here).

Under the expertise of Moxon Architects, the hotel’s Arts & Crafts structure is being reimagined, sympathetically, for the 21^st century. Details are, as yet, thin on the ground but rumour has it that designer Russell Sage has been recruited to deck out the bedrooms and ex-Tresanton whizz Federica Bertolini has been drafted in as GM. As with the couple’s previous projects, expect food to form an intrinsic part of the new venture. thefifearms.com

Miami

Florida’s growing foodie credentials will get another boost this coming year with news that, after the runaway success of the first Time Out Market, in Lisbon, a second version is being rolled out in Miami in 2018. Drawing on the company’s legion of local experts, the concept is a curated food hall, bringing the best of what the city has to offer, in culinary terms, together under one roof.

Housed in a slick new building in Miami’s vibey Art Deco district, Time Out Market Miami will have 17 kitchens, three bars, an art space, a demo kitchen and communal tables for sampling all the food on offer. The line-up of collaborators reads like a roll call of the city’s best chefs and restaurateurs with the likes of Jose Mendin, Matthew Sherman and a second outpost of popular taqueria Coyo Taco already signed up. timeoutmarket.com/miami

Not only that but one of America’s most celebrated chefs, Thomas Keller (owner of The French Laundry in Napa Valley and Per Se in New York) is set to open a restaurant in the city in 2018.

Although Keller won’t be behind the stoves all the time, this will be his first concept restaurant, set within the recently renovated Surf Club on Miami Beach (now a glitzy Four Seasons hotel). Word has it that the restaurant will channel the bygone glamour of the resort originally opened by Harvey Firestone in the 1930s, in the height of Jazz Age cool, and frequented by the likes of Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. thomaskeller.com

Seville

Mimo’s food and tapas tours are already one of the best ways to delve into the gastro scenes of San Sebastián, Seville and Mallorca. In the last of those destinations cookery workshops can also be added on while the San Sebastian hub is also home to a custom-built cookery school. Next year will herald the opening of a second dedicated cookery school, this time in the Andalucian capital.

The Mimo Sevilla Cooking School will be set poolside in the shady, tropical gardens of the city’s landmark hotel, the Neo-Mujedar Hotel Alfonso XIII. Classes in the high-tech kitchen, replete with wood-fired oven, will be led by expert local chefs and include a range of Spanish cooking styles, as well as tapas workshops, wine and food pairing events and sherry tastings. At the end of the lesson, students will be able to enjoy the fruits of their labours with a leisurely lunch at an al fresco table. mimofood.com

Lyon

Home to the likes of three-star Michelin chef, Paul Bocuse, the UNESCO World Heritage city of Lyon is already the de facto gourmet capital of France. In 2018 that status gets official recognition, however, with the naming of Lyon as International City of Gastronomy.

In addition, the city’s elegant 12^th century former hospital, the Grand Hôtel-Dieu on Presqu’ile, will become a temple to the flavours, styles and pleasures of the culinary arts, housing a sensory museum, restaurants, exhibition spaces and an Inter Continental hotel all dedicated to putting gastronomy centre-stage. grand-hotel-dieu.com

Cognac

Master mixologist Tony Conigliaro is the undisputed king of the London cocktail scene, with Bar Termini, Untitled and 69 Colebrooke Row among his super-successful range of watering holes. For his latest venture, however (this time in conjunction with business partner, Guillaume Le Dorner) he has crossed the channel to the French town of Cognac.

In 2017 the pair opened Bar Luciole, set overlooking the banks of the River Charente, serving a location-appropriate and exhaustive range of Cognacs as well as a Cognac-focused cocktail list and a short menu of bar food. But we can’t wait until next year when a new restaurant will be unveiled alongside the Bar and five bedrooms will be added just a short staggering distance away. bar-luciole.com

Galway

In 2018 the spotlight will most certainly shine on the burgeoning food scene of County Galway, on Ireland’s west coast. One of two regions (along with North Brabant in The Netherlands) to be awarded European Region of Gastronomy status, the accolade is a fitting tribute since Galway has been at the helm of Ireland’s gourmet revolution – the city is home to two of Ireland’s Michelin-starred restaurants, Anair and Loam, plus newly anointed Bib Gourmand, Kai Café + Restaurant, and the annual Galway Food Festival has done a great job at flagging up the county’s local, artisan and seasonal produce.

Another reason to visit in 2018 is October’s Food On The Edge symposium, when some of the brightest stars of the stove (including Magnus Nilsson, Albert Adria, Elena Arzak and Massimo Bottura) will descend on the city to talk food. ireland.com

Copenhagen

Destination diners will be beating a path to Noma for the latest iteration of René Redzepi’s trailblazing Copenhagen restaurant. When it reopens in 2018, decamped to a new location on the edges of the freewheeling Christiana district, Noma 2.0 will extend across seven restored buildings and, as well as a dining room, will play host to an urban farm for the ultimate farm-to-fork experience.

The restaurant will also turn completely vegetarian each spring and summer in order to make the most of the season’s bounty. noma.dk

Germany

Here at olive we’ve long known there’s more to German cuisine than bratwurst and beer. If your interest has recently been piqued by Lucy Gillmore’s account of visiting the island of island of Sylt (September 2017), however, you’ll be pleased to hear that 2018 is the German National Tourist Board’s self-proclaimed year of Culinary Germany.

As in Italy, German cuisine stays true to its regional traditions, whether it’s the Rhineland’s special onion tart (zwiebelkuchen) eaten during the wine harvest or feathery potato dumplings from Thuringia known as klosse. With 13 wine growing regions, 30 foodie-inspired, scenic drives and everything from Michelin-starred restaurants to food trucks on the streets of Berlin, this is the year to hit those “strasses” and unfurl your napkins. germany.travel

Words | Aoife O’Riordain

Photographs | Getty, FICO Eataly World, CityHouse, Bar Luciole, Mimo Seville, Roth Bar & Grill, The Surf Club, Ellie Edwards