Experiencing Jsix’s chef Christian Graves’s kitchen for BlackBook

Monday BlackBook published a feature article I wrote:

Jsix’s Christian Graves Gives Us His ‘Chef’s Kitchen Experience’

I had plans to head to San Diego this June for my brother’s wedding rather than work. Either it was coincidence or I mentioned my plans online though, as I received an e-mail from Hotel Solamar and Jsix’s publicist inviting me to stay there and participate in Christian Graves’s “Chef’s Kitchen Experience.” (“Inviting me” is a euphemism for “it was free.”) When I mentioned I was traveling with my wife and 6-month-old daughter, thankfully the publicist didn’t wince; if she had I would’ve felt awful about having them sleep on a bench in Balboa Park while I enjoyed the restaurant and hotel.

I knew Christian was an excellent chef and that he and this trip to a local farm that supplies his kitchen would make worthy subjects for an article for BlackBook. And I realize I’m committing a journalism faux pas here, but I want to like the subjects of my articles (then again, I mostly cover travel, not terrorism). When possible I want to encourage readers to give their business to talented people who are nice. Hopefully Christian’s warm personality came through in my piece.

My favorite example didn’t make it into the final version though. When I asked him why he became a chef, he answered that he found something special about being able to cook for two people who were leaving their infant daughter behind for the first time and watching them enjoy themselves and stare into each other’s eyes.

You can watch Christian plot out our meal here:

Four family friendly hotels stay hip: My latest piece for Air Canada’s enRoute

Resorts with teen programs that the 13- to 18-year-old set might actually enjoy was the subject for my latest piece in Air Canada’s in-flight magazine, enRoute:

• Download a .pdf of the article here.
• Read the article on enRoute’s website here.

I got the idea for the article after a visit to the Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach in January (you can read an account of my trip at UpTake). It’d been a while since facilities for teens were something I cared about–and it’ll be a while before they’re a factor in my vacation plans again–so clearly I wouldn’t have had this idea for an article if I hadn’t been on the press trip and seen that resorts were offering activities for teens that surpassed sticking them with a glorified counselor and their way uncool younger siblings (not that being seen with my little brother was ever a drag).

Where travel bloggers hang out in New York City

Originally this post was for Gridskipper, but my editor there is relocating to Paris for a month today (in a related story, I hate him), so I figured I’d post it here.

Want to see where the sages of online travel advice hang out in New York City? This weekend 300 travel bloggers are convening for the 2010 Travel Blog Exchange conference (with bloggers holding meetings, clearly the revolution is over and the squares have survived). But give new media credit: TBEX ’10′s official schedule and meetups show nary an Olive Garden, Planet Hollywood or Hard Rock Cafe. Check below the fold for the lineup.

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enRoute’s articles, including mine, now appearing on MSN’s Canadian travel site

EnRoute, Air Canada’s in-flight magazine, has a new partnership with MSN Canada in which articles from the magazine now will appear on MSN Canada’s travel section. A couple of mine (Freebies Around the Globe, which I co wrote, and 4 Great Gardens Around the World) are slated to appear there soon.

Look for them at http://travel.ca.msn.com/. The stories will be rotated frequently, so they may not appear on the site now.

Four spots to catch the World Cup: My latest for Air Canada’s enRoute

Going to be in Buenos Aires, London, New York City, or Toronto during the World Cup? Check out the games at one of these soccer-themed bars I profiled in the June issue of enRoute, Air Canada’s in-flight magazine.

• Download a .pdf of the article here.
• Read the article on enRoute’s website here.

And if you’re heading to South Africa, the article’s sidebar highlights three retreats hosting World Cup teams (safe bet you won’t be getting into any of them until the tournament is over–or the team has left in disgrace).