For years, since my Samantha Brown Passport to Europe Days, I had wanted to visit The Church restaurant in Dublin, Ireland. However, despite having visited Dublin numerous times, I had never made it to The Church. So, on our trip in February 2022, I made dinner reservations for a Monday evening. This is my review of The Church and some tips and tricks for those planning a visit!
The gorgeous interior.
On my big family vacation to Italy last November, we ended with a bang by having a grand wine and food pairing dinner at the famous Roscioli on our last night! For those unfamiliar, Roscioli is a Roman restaurant group that is very, very popular. Roscioli has several spots in central Rome, including the famous Roscioli Salumeria con Cucina, Antico Forno, and Rimessa Roscioli, which is where we had our wine dinner. Rimessa Roscioli is the “food and wine experience” branch of the Roscioli family. Its located not far from Campo de’ Fiori and offers a la carte dining as well as a number of wine and food tasting experiences. We opted for their Wine and Food Pairing dinner, which is held daily at 17:00 and 20:00 daily. We made reservations online easily in advance and were pretty excited for our big last night out!
The set up for our Wine & Food Pairing Dinner at Rimessa Roscioli.
Since we were a group of eight, we dined in Rimessa’s basement wine cellar, which is a sizeable private wine cellar with a large table right in the middle. It was totally private. We were promptly seated on arrival and the table was all set for our tasting.
Dan and I spent five nights at the Vuyani Safari Lodge in South Africa with our friends in April 2022. This was our second stay at Vuyani (first back in 2015), and we had a lovely time. This is my detailed review of Vuyani for those considering it for safari! In short, I highly recommend it, but of course there are pros and cons. Keep reading for all of the information!
On safari!
If you’ve ever planned a day at the Vatican, I’m sure you are very familiar with the mediocre food options in the area. Why the mediocre food? The Vatican is full of tourists, not locals returning for meals in the area, so, similar to Venice, there is not much incentive to produce excellent food. In other words, quantity over quality, and high prices to boot. I paid 5 euro for a Coke Light in 2008 … In any case, when for my family’s lunch break between visiting Vatican City and the Colosseum (yes, HUGE day, read about it here), I was determined to find a good, sit down restaurant for a break.
Yep, big day. Two hard hitters in 12 hours.
If you follow me on Instagram, you know that Dan and I went to South Africa with our friends Pryor and Bryan in April 2022. We started on a safari and ended with a few lovely days in Cape Town. This was Dan and my second visit, and I really wanted to eat at one of Luke Dale Roberts’ restaurants, particularly South Africa’s (possibly) most famous restaurant, The Test Kitchen. We missed it our first trip to Cape Town, because we waited too late to make a reservation. Unfortunately, The Test Kitchen has permanently closed, but Roberts and his wife have opened up a new venture in Cape Town: TKK Fledglings. I made a reservation months in advance, LOL.
Here we are in Cape Town in 2022!
TKK Fledglings is a “learning kitchen,” where people without no specific knowledge of the hospitality industry train on site while working at the restaurant and earning a salary. Pretty cool idea. While I was a little concerned that TKK Fledglings, as a result, would not be at the level of service I desired, but my concerns were 100% unfounded. Our experience was amazing: the service was impeccable, the food fantastic, and the interior gorgeous. I think it was our favorite meal. The prices were reasonable, as well.
TTK Fledglings.
