April 2006

Features

• Pots de Crème with Chocolate, Chile & Espresso

• Saving the Serengeti on $1,500 a Day

  Tanzania's luxe new Grumeti Reserves provides safe passage to millions of migrating animals. Peter Kaminsky ogles wildebeest and "ellies."

• Simply Pépin

  Even French chefs can play cowboy, Jacques Pépin learns in Aspen at a family lunch of pan-fried trout and griddled corn cakes.

• Hottest New Imports

  From a star French baker making incredible baguettes in L.A. to a fantastic Brazilian cachaça, here are the best new arrivals in the U.S. from abroad.

• Champion Cheese

• Europe's New Design Capital

  Helsinki is making news with brash designs that eschew blond-wood clichés. After all, why shouldn't a dresser drawer double as a suitcase?

• 7 California Ingredients You Must Taste Now

  Three decades ago, goat cheese and arugula helped define California cuisine; today, spot prawns and Big Heart artichokes do. Here, two top chefs share recipes for the new ingredients keeping California cuisine fresh.

• A Cook's Vietnam Journal

  With two luxury resorts as her base, F&W Test Kitchen Supervisor Marcia Kiesel sets out to find the most delicious home cooking in Nha Trang— a magical place from her past—and takes a lesson with Madame Phai.

• A Dreamy Escape for Cooks

  There's a reason so many travelers head to the glorious countryside outside Edinburgh, and it's not just the golf at Gleneagles. Writer Jay Rayner learns why when he takes a class with Nick Nairn at the celebrity chef's fabulous cooking school.

• A Guide to Fresh Cheese

  F&W's Grace Parisi experiments with soft fresh cheeses, from quark to mascarpone.

• Agatha Ruiz de la Prada

  With an exuberant style that evokes Andy Warhol and Pedro Almodóvar, Spanish designer Agatha Ruiz de la Prada puts fuchsia hearts, flowers and dots on everything from dresses and teacups to restaurants and wine labels. Here's how she lives, eats and entertains.

• Vino's New Venue: Wine Bar + Music Hall

• Why Italian Women Don't Get Fat

  Melissa Kelly, the chef at Italian-inspired Primo in Maine, tells how to stay slim—and eat cannoli too—in a terrific new cookbook.

• Wine Country's Best New Restaurant

  There's an opulent, ambitious newcomer in Healdsburg, California, a little Sonoma town once known for its laid-back vibe and excellent taquerias. Dodging the Champagne and caviar cart, writer Benjamin Wallace settles into his seat to explore the luxe Cyrus experience.

• The Best New Spanish Wines

• The Millionaire's Guide to Buying the Napa Dream

  Ever fantasize about owning a piece of Napa Valley? There's more to it than just writing a (very big) check for a winery. To truly fit in, newcomers have to learn the Valley's particular set of rules and mores. (No. 1: Don't flaunt your wealth.) Here's almost everything else a napa newbie needs to know.

• The Moonlighter's Society

  These young talents work at some of California's best wineries. Late at night, though, they hole up in rented cellars and mini warehouses to pursue their own wine visions. Senior editor Ray Isle drops by as they meet for a delicious (and rare) lunch together.