Meritage the Restaurant at the Boston Harbor Hotel

Two Boston properties –– the Boston Harbor Hotel and the Revere –– are bringing the hotel dining experience to a whole new level. Here what to expect when you check in:

BOSTON HARBOR HOTEL

The Buzz This classic property encompasses all the elements that go along with a luxe hotel stay, from its sophisticated lobby through its well-appointed rooms through its responsive customer service.

The Location Situated majestically on the famed Boston Harbor, this refurbished grand dame is well-situated for strolling along the water and admiring the views, as well as walking to Chinatown and Little Italy’s must-visit pastry shops.

The Meal Chef Daniel Bruce –– creator of the nearly quarter-century-old Boston Wine Festival –– presides over his signature restaurant, Meritage. The seasonal menu spotlights locally-sourced products and emphasizes wine pairings: The menu is divided into such categories as Sparklers, Light Whites and Fruity Reds, to help guide you to the right wine choice. We received additional help with our pairings from sommelier Nick Daddona

If the culinary experience weren’t enough, the elegant dining room’s huge windows provide gorgeous harbor views.

Bells & Whistles The Boston Harbor is home to a full-service gym and spa featuring a pool, Jacuzzi and welcome amenities (Icy cold towel and fresh lemon-water anyone?).

The Emerald Lounge at the Revere; photo by Eric Levin

REVERE

The Buzz Across town (and worlds apart), the boutique-style Revere hotel sets an immediate contemporary tone with its striking lobby, replete with modern art, copper-toned metallic wall and a circular ramp to the front desk.

The Location Located just a few blocks from the Boston Common and the tony Beacon Hill neighborhood, the Revere  is an excellent spot to explore the city on foot.

The Meal The Revere’s restaurant, The Rustic Kitchen, is a stylish Italian trattoria with a robust Mediterranean menu of homemade pastas and brick oven pizzas, as well as inventive salads and zesty sandwiches. With an open pasta-making station and wood-burning oven, the bistro nicely mixes modern with the traditional.

As the the home of the locally produced The Cooking Show, the Revere attracts a crowd every Friday night for the taping of the series in a special soundstage. The restaurant also sports a spacious bar, with a seasonal selection of cocktails made with housemade infused vodkas. We enjoyed the pear, blueberry and apple cinnamon creations –– beware the friendly bartenders encouraging you to try them all.

Speaking of cocktails, the hotel is also home to The Emerald Lounge, a massive 6,000 square-foot hotspot that is jumping on the weekends with club-goers. Revere hotel guests get the VIP treatment, and can skip to the front of the line. Don’t forget to check out the “secret” Ruby lounge behind the main bar.

Bells & Whistles The guest rooms reflect the modernist vibe, with spacious desks, flat screen TVs, free Wi-Fi and plenty of electrical outlets.

Photo by Dan Meyers

At the Baltimore Museum of Art, a pair of small dozing lions guard a side entrance. The Roman-temple-style building, designed by architect John Russell Pope – he of the Jefferson Memorial and the National Gallery — looms behind a grand entrance flanked by two, more superior, lions. My daughter works as an art conservator here, so a recent visit focused on this museum, which celebrates its 100th anniversary next year.

Founded in 1914, with only one painting, the Museum now contains more than 90,000 works, from 1400-year-old mosaics to Rodin bronzes, from a towering Tiffany window, African art, and European paintings to  Early American furniture. Its chief glory, however, is the Cone Collection,  donated by two sisters.

Starting in 1906. the sisters  Etta and Claribel Cone, early patrons and friends of Matisse, made annual trips to Europe to buy the latest paintings, sculpture, drawings and prints.  “The pictures covered every available inch of wall space,” wrote an impressed young nephew, “even in the bathrooms.  They bought only what they really wanted and they loved all that they owned.” Thanks to their passion, the BMA now is said to own the largest collection of Matisses in the world.

A cabinet in the replica of their apartment contains drawers with postcards, linens, towels, jewellery, keys and boxes. We paused to rest on one of the two green velvet couches, before venturing out, refreshed, to rooms filled with Impressionist masterpieces.

Elsewhere in the museum, we were also encouraged to rest on Violetta and Swimmer, two large mauve and pink Franz West sculptures on display in the newly-renovated Contemporary Art Gallery.

Photo by Christine Downie

In the two sculpture gardens, we reveled in twentieth-century works by Calder,  Moore, Nevelson, and Miro, lurking among the fountains and azaleas. Lucky visitors may even see a small rabbit or two scudding by — they like to frolic under Barry Flanagan’s Boxing Hare on an Anvil. Or, have your picture taken reclining on Scott Burton’s  Rock Chair.

After a feast of art for the soul, we adjourned to the outdoor terrace of Gertrude’s, for the Crab Cake du Jour. This suave restaurant, named after the owner’s grandmother, overlooks the gardens and specializes in Chesapeake cooking.

Chef John Shields, ‘the Culinary Ambassador of the Ba,y’ has hosted PBS shows and written a cookbook filled with “crabformation,” local history, tall tales, anecdotes, jokes – it’s a literary as well as culinary treat, with recipes from all the people who have settled this fertile land: from Native American, Polish, Italian and Virginian African Americans.

Lucky Baltimoreans also enjoy the Walters Art Museum near Mount Vernon Square, which Henry James called the most perfect square in North America. Upon his death in 1931, Henry Walters bequeathed the vast collection he and his father had built, and the palazzo-styled building that housed it, to the mayor and city council of Baltimore “for the benefit of the public.” The Museum opened its doors for the first time in 1934, with works of art spanning 5,000 years and five continents, including the entire contents of a Roman palace! Collections of Egyptian art, Ethiopian icons, medieval armor, illuminated manuscripts, and Faberge Easter eggs all lie in wait for the dedicated explorer.

An extra treat for Chinese blue-and-white junkies is the Asian collection in the adjacent Hackermann House. This period -furnished townhouse of an 1850s merchant contains the oldest surviving wooden Buddha in the world (7th c.) There are objects from Chinese graves, intricate snuff bottles, and  sinister samurai armors.  After  savoring the glories of the Orient, you risk a stiff neck admiring the carved ceilings and swirling staircase.

From high art to jaw-dropping hijinks: the American Visionary Art Museum offers folksy and offbeat works that have flowed from the souls and imaginations of self-taught and outsider artists. A 55-foot whirligig in the main outdoor plaza offers a quick hint of what’s to come inside, while a meticulous model of the Lusitania, built from thousands of toothpicks, continues the adventure.

And if that isn’t quirky enough, intrepid museumgoers can also suss out the Museum of Dentistry — hmmm, more toothpicks? — as well as a Tattoo Museum, where you can get a custom-designed  tattoo on site.

]]> http://www.thecitytraveler.com/2013/05/baltimore-artful-adventures/feed/ 0 http://www.thecitytraveler.com/2013/05/syracuse-rival-to-athens/ http://www.thecitytraveler.com/2013/05/syracuse-rival-to-athens/#comments Tue, 14 May 2013 14:00:29 +0000 Suzanne and Andrew Edwards http://www.thecitytraveler.com/?p=10912 The name Syracuse is synonymous with antiquity, its syllables encapsulating the heart of ancient Greece, yet it nestles in the south east corner of Sicily, on the Ionian coastline. Straddling an islet known as Ortygia and the mainland beyond, Syracuse is a golden destination. Its honeycomb stone reflects the brilliance of Sicilian light, but the city’s true eternal glow comes from its living relationship with the past. Few places have so beautifully enfolded their ancient heritage, both artistically and literally. The Siracusa of modern-day Sicily truly owes its roots to Magna Grecia, that expansion of Greek city-states beyond the confines of the Greek archipelago. -->

Piazza Duomo; images by Suzanne and Andrew Edwards

The name Syracuse is synonymous with antiquity, its syllables encapsulating the heart of ancient Greece, yet it nestles in the southeast corner of Sicily, on the Ionian coastline.

Straddling an islet known as Ortygia and the mainland beyond, Syracuse is a golden destination. Its honeycomb stone reflects the brilliance of Sicilian light, but the city’s true eternal glow comes from its living relationship with the past. Few places have so beautifully enfolded their ancient heritage, both artistically and literally. The Siracusa of modern-day Sicily truly owes its roots to Magna Grecia, that expansion of Greek city-states beyond the confines of the Greek archipelago.

At its height, Syracuse rivaled Athens in terms of power and cultural dominance. It attracted the greats of Greek letters and thought, from Pindar the poet, and Aeschylus the playwright, to the pioneering proto-scientist of Eureka fame, Archimedes. Such intellectual rigor wasn’t always reflected in the quality of its rulers, but the combination of tyrannical power and educational achievement gave rise to some superlative manifestations of civic construction.

Architectural Harmony

The best place to start any walking tour is the grand drawing room, otherwise known as Piazza Duomo. The cathedral, or duomo, that gives the square its name, is the town’s supreme example of harmonious architectural fusion. History is littered with the clash of religions and the hydra-like hybrids that result from subsequent building reuse – the Cordoban Mezquita and Charles V’s palace in the Alhambra are two notable examples. Few redesigns have had such uplifting results as the Syracusan duomo. The pillars of a Grecian temple have been beautifully and unobtrusively housed within Christianity’s outer shell.

Ear of Dionysius

At the far end of the square is the Church of Santa Lucia, an attractive edifice, but truly remarkable for the painting over its altar, The Burial of St. Lucy, by none other than Michelangelo Merisi, more commonly known as Caravaggio. The massive canvas has Caravaggio’s characteristic chiaroscuro, the play of light and shadow that so strikingly fits this Sicilian setting. Nevertheless, the work seems to betray something of his brief stop while on the run following a duel gone murderously wrong in Rome –– the background is sketchy and lacks the definite touch seen in some of his other work.

Inspired by Myth

The alleyway leading down from the church finishes above the circular pond known as the Fonte di Aretusa, Arethusa’s Fountain. Like so much of Syracuse, its origins belong to myth, the clue being found in the name Arethusa. Legend recites the eponymous nymph escaping from the river god Alpheus via an underground water source that surfaced on the island of Ortygia, at this very spot. From Virgil to Ovid and Shelley to Coleridge, poets have not been able to free themselves from Arethusa’s advances.

Beyond the spring is the Castel Maniace, a fortress built by Frederick II (Wonder of the World) and enhanced by the Aragonese and Bourbon Spanish. The castle represents the furthest point on the island of Ortygia. The Ancients stopped at Neapolis, their New Town. The remains are more prosaically enfolded by ring roads than the intricate precincts of Ortygia but, once again, the Syracusans have managed to allow their ruins space to bask under the millennial sun, surrounded yet unbowed by modernity.

Theatrical Gem

Syracuse’s magnificent Greek theater saw Aeschylan premieres and, true to its roots, is still home to seasonal performances of the Classics. It also provides a remarkable backdrop for the arias of some of Italy’s finest opera composers, performed by the likes of Andrea Bocelli.

A literal stone’s throw from the rocky upper circle is the quarry complex that contributed its mineral wealth to all these feats of antiquity. Known as the Latomie, the quarries were used as a prison, where thousands died agonizing deaths. The Latomie also bear the marks of the workmen and slaves who hacked the rock from the cliff faces. The so-called Ear of Dionysius is one such location. Originally carved out as a water storage area, it was then used to corral political prisoners. The painter, Caravaggio, coined the term, Ear of Dionysius, as his artistic eye was convinced of the lobe-like shape of the entrance. The acoustic funneling effects of the cave were, supposedly, used by the tyrant Dionysius as a way of eavesdropping on potential conspiracy.

From this brutal zenith, Syracuse declined over the centuries, to such an extent that Patrick Brydone on his 18th century travels struggled to find accommodation. Washington Irving, the writer of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, was similarly disillusioned. Modern Syracuse has finally awoken to its potential, embracing the past with a respectful eye on antiquity’s relationship to the future.

Toronto’s Bata Shoe Museum offers just the right fit for anyone who thinks of Manolo Blahnik as a modern master or always wondered about the origins of go-go boots.

As a Toronto native, I had always passed by the museum with a considerable degree of curiosity,  but had never visited the striking contemporary building by Raymond Moriyama.

Recently, I stepped inside to educate myself further about my all-time, favorite accessory.

A glass “wedge” of sorts frames the entrance through which you can see the small gift shop and ticket desk.  For anyone with a thing for shoes, there’s an open area with all sorts of footwear, a mirror and a sign, reading: “Try them on…you know you want to!” Of course, I did.

Photos by Ramona Zacharias

Moving on to the semi-permanent exhibit “All About Shoes: Footwear Through the Ages,” I perused through some 4,500 years of shoe history. On display are everything from chestnut crushing clogs, sabatons and button boots, to astronaut shoes, glass slippers and haute couture pumps.

Upstairs is the museum’s “Star Turns” exhibit, where I got to ogle autographed shoes from the likes of actor Pierce Brosnan and tennis great Roger Federer, along with a shoe belonging to Canadian cancer activist and amputee Terry Fox; a pair of boots worn by movie and music icon Judy Garland; and even socks favored by Napoleon Bonaparte.

I also checked out the semi-permanent, “Beauty, Identity, Pride: Native North American Footwear,” featuring “discovery drawers” with samples of different types of fur used to make moccasins and information on the use of pigments in the American Southwest.

My visit happened to coincide with the final day of the museum’s temporary exhibition, “Roger Vivier: Process to Perfection,” showcasing stunning pumps and high-heeled boots by the designer who started his career in the 1950’s with Christian Dior.

The exhibition is now closed, making room for “Out of the Box: The Rise of Sneaker Culture,” which runs from April 25, 2013, through March 30, 2014, but the Vivier materials are still accessible via podcasts on the museum’s website. “Out of the Box” promises to be the the first exhibition in North America to examine the history of sneaker culture.

Although I left my little children at home, the Bata offers regular weekend events that will surely keep your kids more entertained than a typical trip to the shoe store.

Every Saturday and Sunday, there are crafts and activities for children ages five to 12. April’s craft of the month is shoe magnets; each child receives a bag of supplies on admission. The museum’s four, relatively compact floors of exhibits are also quite reasonable for a little one’s short attention span.

As for me, I love a quirky attraction, and am so happy I finally tried on the Bata for size.

In 1956, only five years after Scottsdale, Arizona was incorporated, architect Edward Varney won a commission to design the Hotel Valley Ho, a sister property to the Westward Ho in nearby Phoenix.

Known for his minimalist style, Varney is today recognized for his brilliant designs of Arizona State University’s Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, the Motorola Building in Scottsdale, and the Phoenix Municipal Building,. By the time he earned the Valley Ho gig, he had become one of the highest-paid architects in Arizona.

When designing the Valley Ho, he refused to mar the exterior of the property by installing above-ground power poles, like the rest of the neighborhood, and instead constructed underground tunnels for the electrical wires, and threaded all the plumbing lines through the tunnels as well.

Varney also strengthened the hotel’s sub-structure for future vertical growth, rather than swallowing more land around the property as was the custom in the wide-open desert environment.

The finished structure was quite distinctive. combining both modern and Southwestern styles, and the Valley Ho was the first hotel in Scottsdale to offer central air-conditioning and to open year-round, enabling the city to begin developing as a 12-month resort destination (although with heavily reduced rates in the summer).

The property’s signature element was a set of 350-pound, Native American-themed, concrete panels that hung off the balconies around the lobby, a strange, inexplicable, design motif. They are still there.

Despite Scottsdale’s small population of only 2,000 residents living within just one-square-mile, and no nightlife to speak of, the hotel’s well-connected owners, Robert and Evelyn Foehl, invited their celebrity friends from Hollywood to vacation in Scottsdale, and party in their new hotel.

Within a short time, guests like Bing Crosby, Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh and Zsa Zsa Gabor were flying out for boozy weekends by the pool, or desert hiking and horseback riding on one of the nearby ranches. The actors Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood had their 1957 wedding reception in the hotel, and in 1958 two wings were added to the property to accommodate the winter crowds.

Photos courtesy Hotel Valley Ho

Decades later, after the hotel changed owners multiple times (even becoming a Ramada property for several years) and underwent horrendous interior decorating changes, the Valley Ho was purchased by MSR Properties, a Scottsdale firm, who then hired Westroc, a hotel management company, to run the property.  Westroc’s corporate minds were actually into historic preservation, aiming to return the property to its original mid-century style.

In 2004, construction began on an $80 million restoration project, managed by Kitchell Construction, the same company who had originally built the property. The Valley Ho reopened in 2005 with most of its original architecture intact, adding the ZuZu lounge and a fully equipped spa to appeal to both out-of-town guests and local residents. In addition, Varney’s predestined seven-story tower, opened in 2008, was constructed on its original 1956 footprint.

The Valley Ho has been listed on Scottsdale’s Historic Register since 2002, and is the only remaining historically significant, intact post-World War II resort in Scottsdale, and most likely in all of Arizona.

The property is within walking distance of Scottsdale’s Old Town restaurant and art gallery district, and offers large, retro-style rooms, tennis courts, a swimming pool, and an outdoor dining patio on eight manicured acres.

If you walk through the hotel’s lobby, or sit at the bar in the colorful ZuZu Lounge, listening to classic fifties’ tunes coming from the ceiling speakers, you will swear that you’re in the previous century.

But enter the inner bowels of the abandoned Marine A grain elevator — dating from 1925, it’s among the largest of Buffalo‘s 14 extant concrete behemoths — and the little that is bucolic disappears entirely.

Cavernous corridors reach as far as the eye can see. Up above, a similar but more conical volume, stretches some 140 feet. Take a step, and the echo reverbs for about nine seconds.

This is Rick Smith’s turf and he’s had big plans for it ever since acquiring four such structures (for about $40,000 each) from ConAgra seven years ago.

Since much of the infrastructure left behind was too decayed for new industrial uses, he says he “started playing around with notions of design, theater, and innovation.

Marine A is an example. Hundreds of ping pong balls drift in mid-air suspended on nylon cord  from the ceiling. An installation by an art student at the University of Buffalo, “it has something to do with the clusters of violent crimes in various areas of the United States,” says Smith.

Mostly, it looks pretty.

In the middle of the final silo, another student from the university, has installed a stingray-shaped concrete form covered in fabric and pierced by several holes.

To see it from all aspects means clamoring into a neighboring chamber where dangling pieces of machinery loom in darkened corners. Their sharp claws lunge, eager to snatch at skirt corners, their rusted railings rise, ready to snag pants legs.

Back here, it’s airless and eerily silent — a perfect setting for the trombone quartet that Smith once arranged to entertain a sold-out crowd.

“For me, this is all about finding ways to activate the space,” he says. “And about getting these kids to stay here and to see that there’s opportunities for them here.”

One thing he’s not that interested in: preservation. “It’s great to have these vestiges and to keep them intact,” he says. “But to limit them to a ‘this has to be a museum’ concept would be counterproductive. It wouldn’t be the highest and best use.”

A local character who owns Rigidized Metals, a steel fabricator not far from here, Smith sports a full mustache, drives a ’73 Oldsmobile he calls “Big Green,” and is seldom seen without a cowboy hat. The elevators’ history means a lot to him, it’s easy to see.

“At their height during the 1920s, the elevators stored 29 million sacks of flour,” he says. “That’s more than those of the next largest concentrations, in Minneapolis and Kansas City, combined.”

But it’s the possibility of the new that speaks to him most.

Recently, when he discovered a beehive on the site, he challenged graduate students at the university’s school of architecture to come up with a solution. Their answer: “Elevator B,” a 22-foot tower of stainless steel (supplied by Rigidized) shaped to echo the hexagonal form of a honeycomb cell.

To step into the narrow structure, “you have to copy the motion of entering the grain elevators,” points out Courtney Creenan, who co-designed and built the piece with Scott Selin. Only, in this case, when a visitor peers up, she’s greeted by a cypress vitrine swarming with the relocated bees.

While 20 or 30 curiosity-seekers may stop by each weekend, Smith says much of what he calls “Silo City” is reserved for special events, thanks to insurance concerns. Next up: the second annual “City of Night” in August, which present evening audio-visual performances at the site. There’s even talk of a “mustache museum” and rock-climbing.

“The magnitude of this campus is huge,” Smith says. “I’m trying to take clues from what the site wants to become. It’s taken me six years to get my arms around the place,” he continues. ” At first, I was, like, ‘I can fix this, and we then can do that’. Now, I’m not in any hurry.”

The scene at Portsmouth Book & Bar; photo by Christopher Klein

Could ale cure the ails of independent bookstores? Given the crowd that filled the newly-opened Portsmouth Book & Bar on a recent Saturday afternoon, it’s certainly possible.

As the winter sun gushed through the tall picture windows of the bookstore-taproom hybrid in Portsmouth, N.H., dozens of customers lounged on sofas, held court at a cozy six-seat bar, and huddled around tables imbibing books and glasses of beer and wine.

While cafes have become common appendages as bookstores try to fend off the Amazon and e-book assault, Book & Bar, which opened in December, adds a new dimension with beer, wine, gourmet sandwiches, small plates and pastries.

Brew lovers can go upscale with one of the local craft beers on tap or slum with a can of Narragansett, the sudsy equivalent of a trashy romance novel.

There are about a dozen choices on the wine list, and caffeine fiends will still find coffee, espresso, cappuccino and coffeehouse chatter.

The menu of high-quality used books for sale, many of them for less than the price of a beer, is even more impressive. Thousands of tomes are organized in sections from graphic novels to math, New England to Eastern philosophy.

The renovated, 2,800-square-foot space, located in the city’s old granite Custom House just a block from Market Square, retains the building’s 19th-century grandeur with lofty coffered ceilings and classical columns.

The result is a very literary atmosphere for enjoying a drink, a meal and a good read.

Good luck ordering that on Amazon.

Kermit Carpenter and alter ego with his famous pie; photo courtesy of Kermit’s Key West Lime Shoppe

There’s more to Key West, Fla., than living in Margaritaville, that mythical party place celebrated in the Jimmy Buffett song and now franchised in restaurant and casino form.

The southernmost city in the continental U.S. boasts a vibrant local dining scene, with everything from food trucks to fine dining –– all with a relaxed, island vibe.

During a recent visit, I found a seafood haven, where fresh-caught products abound –– I could have eaten a different fish taco every day for weeks, but then I wouldn’t have had room for the famous Key West pink shrimp. Of course, I had to save room for another local favorite –– Key lime pie.

Here are some of my favorites spots, on and off bustling Duval Street, the city’s main drag.

French Connection Upon arriving, I made a beeline for La Creperie, an authentic Brittany-style restaurant owned by French natives Yolande Findlay and Sylvie Le Nouail. I could have lingered all day on the breezy front porch, enjoying my sweet breakfast red velvet crepe, with homemade raspberry chocolate ganache, fresh strawberries, almonds and English custard ice cream. Equally tempting are the savory crepes, omelets, salads and galettes –– warm pressed sandwiches on ciabatta.

Sunny Mediterranean Azur, a Mediterranean restaurant whose menu reflects chef-owners Michael Mosi and Drew Wenzel’s global travels, is worth seeking out. Situated a few blocks from Duval Street, the place serves dishes like charred octopus and braised lamb on a shady terrace or in a dining room whose cobalt blue walls evoke the Greek islands.

Hot Spot, North of Havana For the next best thing to hopping over to Cuba, I stopped by El Siboney, a Cuban-American mainstay for nearly 30 years. The casual spot is known for its filling “Cuban mix” sandwich (pork, beef, ham and cheese), as well as irresistible sides like the crispy fried yucca with garlic dipping sauce.

Fish tacos from Garbo’s Grill; photo courtesy of restaurant

You’ll Want to Be Alone Blink and you will miss Garbo’s Grill, an unassuming silver cart situated near the harbor. Absolutely worth a lunch stop, Garbo’s has a surprisingly extensive menu for such a small footprint. Don’t miss the fresh fish and shrimp tacos, burritos and quesadillas cooked to order. Seating is limited to a few tiny outdoor tables, so you may have to grab and go.

Did Someone Say Pie? I couldn’t leave Key West without sampling its most famous sweet treat. With practically every cafe and restaurant touting the “best” Key lime pie on the island –– and many establishments having similar names –– it’s difficult to choose where to sample. But you can’t go wrong at Key West Key Lime Pie Co. and The Key Lime and Coconut Factory.

I also spent some quality time at Kermit’s Key West Key Lime Shoppe, a bright green-and-yellow establishment with two locations that’s been featured on the Food Network. Here you’re likely to run into the shop’s colorful owner, Kermit Carpenter, who will guide you to a range of Key Lime products, from the traditional pie to cookies to chutney to olive oil.

Cupcakes work, too For an equally satisfying sugar fix, I made it a point to stop by Key West Cakes, where gorgeous cupcakes in an array of tantalizing flavor combinations await. Think flavors of red velvet, lemon and chocolate, paired with fillings, such as guava, raspberry and passion fruit.

Take it from me: If you make Key West Cakes a stop on your daily bike ride through town, you will see the extra calories melt away –– as long as you’re in Margaritaville.

Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur; photo by Robert DiGiacomo

I had heard the horror stories about trying to find a decent meal in Iceland, incredible tales of a land of $50 pizzas, no green vegetables and mayonnaise as a food group.

So I knew better than to go to Reykjavik just for the food. Yet I managed to eat well during a New Year’s visit –– and mostly without breaking the bank.

Among street food options, there are few sandwiches more satisfying on a chilly day than a $2.50 lamb hot dog from Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur, a local landmark with a perpetual line situated near the Reykjavik harbor

Naturally, I asked for mine slathered in mustard, crispy, chopped fried onions and –– yes –– mayo.

Lobster soup at The Sea Baron; photo by Robert DiGiacomo

Nearby is another local institution, Sægreifinn or The Sea Baron, a rustic restaurant specializing in lobster soup and grilled fish kebabs, that wouldn’t look out of place in New England.

The soup, filled with chunks of succulent lobster meat floating in a buttery bisque, can cure anyone’s troubles, and the cod and salmon tasted like they just belly-flopped on the dock to deliver themselves to the grill.

Still, hot dogs and soup don’t add up to a complete diet, so over several dinners, I checked out the mid- and upper-range of Rekyjavik’s dining scene.

At the cozy Geysir Bistro & Bar, I sampled a trio of fishy delicacies –– traditional Icelandic shark, dried fish and pickled herring, three-ways.

Dill’s pine cone centerpiece as amuse bouche; photo courtesy of Joseph Bernstein

Once proved quite enough with the shark, so pungent that it came in a glass jar with a lid. The chewy dried fish washed down nicely with a local Gull beer. But the herring –– particularly with dill –– won me over. Simple fish and chips also satisfied, while the tab –– about $100 for two with drinks –– didn’t hurt my wallet too much, either.

Situated nearby, the splashy Fish Market came highly recommended for its pan-Asian style menu reminiscent of the Buddakan restaurants in Philadelphia, New York and Atlantic City. Fish Market has the added cachet of being run by one of Iceland’s best-known female chefs, Hrefna Rósa Sætran. I enjoyed the novelty of having such food in Iceland –– think dishes like rock shrimp tempura in a zesty melon-jalapeno dressing and satay-style blueling fish in a coconut-creamed barley –– but didn’t love the slightly pretentious service nor the jangly ambiance.

But the meal that really made me reconsider Icelandic’s food reputation turned out to be an extravagant, five-course celebration of modern Nordic cuisine at Dill, where even the centerpiece contributed to the meal.

Herring with rye bread “ice cream” and rye crumble; photo courtesy of Joseph Bernstein

The locavore-style restaurant, which is tucked away in the Nordic House on the edge of the downtown, requires a little effort to reach, and a bit of an investment. The five-course tasting, with a beer and wine pairing, clocked in at $150 a person.

A meal of similar quality in the States would likely cost more, and perhaps wouldn’t be as imaginative: The proceedings started with an amuse bouche from the chef consisting of a pine cone lined with slices of dried lamb and crackers, and moved forward through creative dishes, such as bone marrow soup with carmelized onions and a poached egg, and herring with rye bread “ice cream” and rye crumble.

By the time I worked my way through expertly prepared courses featuring local cod and beef, I knew that Icelandic cuisine had gotten a bum rap. And that I would find a way to return, as long as I could request the mayo on the side.

Launched in 1879, the traditional letter press print shop got its start with a handbill for a lecture by the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, the brother of Uncle Tom’s Cabin author Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Starting in the early 20^th century, then-owner Will T. Hatch began to make a name for himself as the top Southern printer for all manner of entertainment posters.

The shop would go on to produce iconic posters for Hank Williams, Bill Monroe and Johnny Cash and other future country music legends, and continued to do so for contemporary performers such as Garth Brooks and Wynnona .

By the late ’70s, however, the traditional Hatch look went out of style, putting the business in jeopardy. Gaylord Entertainment acquired Hatch, which is now owned and operated by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Today, the handmade look that was considered passe in the ’80s has become hip, and Hatch is flourishing once again. Among Hatch’s recent high-profile commissions is a just-released U.S. stamp to mark the 150^th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Images courtesy of Hatch Show Print

The time-staking process is much the same as when Hatch opened its doors in the late 19th century: Workers ink hand-carved wooden blocks and metal photo plates, pressing them to paper to form an image. Posters with more than one color require separate wooden blocks or type for each color and generally go through the press once for each different color.

Later this year, Hatch will move for the eighth time in its 133-year-long history to what it hopes will be a permanent home within the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

According to Hatch manager, Jim Sherraden, it will remain “a working print shop, complete with splattered ink.”