Hi, I’m Tod and I love to travel.  The bug bit early when I spent 4 weeks in Germany and Austria with fellow high school German classmates and our German professor the summer after graduation. We lived individually with a Bavarian family for a week in Munich and backpacked through the Black Forest while staying at hostels.  From that point on, I couldn’t get enough. I have been fortunate enough to visit virtually every U.S. state, as well as travel into at least parts of every continent except Antarctica.

My joys in travel run to experiencing countries’ cultures through their history, art and language and visiting the sights and destinations that bring the place alive.  From my early days of staying in pensions nearest the train station and buying Eurail passes to maximize my travel throughout Europe on my all too brief week or two away, as the years have passed, I have been able to graduate to being able to stay at boutique hotels and dine at fine establishments.  But the love of adventure and exploration still permeates every trip. It’s a passion that has led to a lifelong wanderlust!

My tastes in food in early adulthood were simple.  I had not grown up with any exposure to fine dining.  When traveling in Europe, a bratwurst with mustard, a plate of pasta in a piazza, a breakfast of chocolate with churros or a heaping wiener schnitzel with sauerkraut were my yardsticks of culinary pleasure.

Then I met my wife Letizia.  She is a true Italian from Florence, and she loves to travel and to cook.  She runs her own luxury travel company, A&H Private Luxury Travel, with expertise in customized trip planning, onsite concierge services and more recently special culinary experience weeks in Italy with cooking lessons, some led by Michelin Star chefs.  Several years ago, she also earned a Chef Diploma herself from a New York cooking school.

Letizia opened my eyes as to how to experience cultures through food and meeting the local people.  We now plan trips with an eye on where we will eat, with a focus on farm-to-table restaurants, tasting menus to sample the chef’s best creations, trying to weave Michelin Star restaurants into our itineraries and attend events or festivals or explore local markets where we can interact with the residents.

My wife is a native Italian speaker who also knows French, and her language skills open two of the most exhilarating countries on earth for deeper exploration and understanding.  Her culinary background lets us share with you the tastes of the local food and the produce of its local markets from a chef’s perspective, how the foods come together in the menus, and the artistry of presentation on the plate.

Put the two of us together and you have an amalgam of approaches to visiting every new destination that we want to share with our readers.  Most fundamentally, we hope to help you learn how to eat healthy while traveling, enjoying the bounty of local produce from markets and choosing restaurants whose chefs are committed to bringing the finest locally-sourced fare to their tables, with healthy dining choices filling their menus.

We hope to bring you some fresh and exciting ideas about where to dine, suggesting what tasteful detours to take and where to find them.  We’ll also give you ideas on what to see and experience, and the best ways to get a sense of place as you travel, including how to meet the locals in local festivals and events that capture the spirit of the people.  We hope you will join us in this savory blend of food and travel as you put together your own exciting plans!

Let us stoke your travel fires and give you some tips on destinations to add to your list of places and restaurants to visit.

Consider whether these are the types of things you like to do – or would like to do — on your travels:

• Explore the historic mosques and treasures of Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, then head over to the Asian side of the Bosporus to sample your way through a striking open-air market and savor strong, freshly made Turkish coffee.

• Learn how to cook what you eat at the hands of a starred Michelin Chef while staying along the magnificent Amalfi Coast, along with visits to the ruins at Pompeii and taking an excursion to the spectacular island of Capri, all as part of one of Letizia’s special culinary tours.

• Amble through the Old Town of Nice, then sample Nicois specialties in the bustling Cours Selaya market, take a swim in the gorgeous waters of the Mediterranean, then head up to the Cimiex district to visit the stunning Chagall and Matisse museums.

• Look for unique finds in London’s Portobello Road market in lovely Notting Hill, then sit down at a fabulous Michelin Star dining experience at The Ledbury restaurant.

• Plan a trip to St Lucia at the stunning Sugar Beach resort nestled amidst the Pitons, and time your visit to coincide with the annual Creole Festival to enjoy bountiful food, music and culture surrounded by happy locals.

• Wander the beautiful Marais district of Paris, visiting the Picasso Museum, dining at exceptional Michelin star restaurants, shopping at some of the city’s best boutiques and staying at a charming boutique hotel right in the heart of the neighborhood.

If you’d like to fill your days with sensory experiences like these, join us in helping you discover how best to merge the best cultural and dining experiences into your itinerary, and make the most of each vacation you take!

Tod & Letizia