Best Places to Go Presents... |
The Best Places to Eat in 2025 |
Food has become fundamental to how we travel, from where we're inspired to go next to how we plan our days when we get there. It's a prism through which we understand destinations—not just by dining at restaurants but by exploring edible landscapes and learning about culinary heritage. We are willing to travel farther than ever for a dish, a flavor—or an impossible-to-get restaurant reservation—but we're also seeking out the diasporic chefs reframing what it means to eat "local"; queuing up for unfussy street stalls; and driving past celebrated wine trails for less trammelled ones.
All of which makes us very excited to be launching our debut Best Places to Eat list, our global guide to the destinations to travel to in the year ahead—entirely for the food. Selected by our editors across the world, these are the places with, yes, exciting restaurant openings, but also those with rich culinary traditions that are experiencing a shift or revival. On this inaugural list, we share the 10 spots that best exemplify how we're thinking about food and travel in 2025—and where we are seriously excited to go and eat...—Arati Menon and Megan Spurrell |
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Go for: locavore dining at its best, some of the best pastries in Europe, and meals under the Northern Lights
The tiny Norwegian archipelago of Lofoten is distinctive and dramatic—with spiky mountains rising from the Norwegian Sea, craggy shorelines frequented by moose and white-tailed eagle, and turquoise bays primed for swimming in the midnight sun. It is this unique, wild landscape that dictates another increasingly big draw for travelers. With its cod-rich waters, nutrient- and salt-rich grass that fattens its sheep, and incredible local producers crafting everything from specialty cheese to seaweed salt, Lofoten is laden with culinary riches.
Cod, in particular, holds a mythic place in Lofoten's history and culture, evident in the fishing shacks that dot the land and the drying lines strung out in the Nordic air—so it's not surprising that locals know how to cook it really well. There's plenty of it on the menu at old favorite Børsen Spiseri in the historic town of Svolvær, a seafood restaurant with stockfish (dried cod) as a specialty. There's also a floating sauna for after, with exceptional views over the harbor. Lofoten takes the kilometer zero philosophy seriously; almost everything on your plate is hyperlocal: at Holmen, a fairy-tale shoreside hotel on the island of Moskenes, local cod and halibut, along with grouse and lamb, dictate daily menus. When weather allows it, Holmen offers guided foraging trips to guests—and the herbs and wild berries picked make it back onto the plates. At Villa Lofoten, a hotel set amidst a huddle of newly renovated traditional cabins in the small community of Kvalnes, an old barn is now home to a restaurant with views out onto the ocean. Opened in June 2024, its menu draws from ingredients grown on-site for dishes like delicately sweet Norwegian flatbread with butter made of truffle seaweed, sautĂ©ed fresh plaice served with baked root vegetables, and ice cream with fresh Arctic rowan leaves... —Arati Menon and David Moralejo |
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Go for: the let-your-hair-down era of great dining, in a city best known for its tasting menus
Over the past decade, a trophy case of fine-dining restaurants has cemented Peru's capital as a food lover's mecca—steadily climbing lists like The World's 50 Best Restaurants since 2013 to, in recent years, predictably dominating such lists. There's Central, with an exquisite tasting menu designed around obscure ingredients found at various elevations throughout Peru, from an Andean river algae to Amazonian piranha heads, and its light-filled sister restaurant Kjolle, with its non-alcholic tasting menu of fermented tubers and herbs; Maido, where delicate nigiri and punchy tiraditos of raw seafood honor the legacy of nikkei (Japanese-Peruvian) cuisine; and Mayta, a contemporary celebration of endemic ingredients, both on the plate and in the cocktail glass. And that's just for starters.
The thing is, most Peruvians haven't eaten at these restaurants, and probably never will—which makes it especially exciting that a leveling effect is happening. The newest generation of must-visit restaurants is more accessible—in terms of price, the ease of getting a table, and the overall vibe. Equally, unfussy street stands and homestyle restaurants, always beloved but never quite awarded, are getting their moment in the spotlight. Across the board, the melting pot that is the Peruvian culinary canon is proudly showing its roots...—Megan Spurrell |
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Go for: a new era for a bold traditional brew—and food pairings that are better than ever
Drive into Goa any time from spring to late summer and one of the first things that reaches your nose will be the funky smell of the slowly fermenting juice of cashew apples. This is when the sweet, juice-filled fruit is harvested and its juice is set to ferment in traditional pot stills where it transforms into feni, a true spirit of the land. Classified as a country liquor, feni has been traditionally brewed in homes and local distilleries, and consumed by Goans as an everyday tipple for centuries—either straight up or with a splash of Limca and a slit green chili, beside chili-basted fried fish.
But things are changing for the homegrown spirit, with a whole slate of local brewers, bartenders, and chefs becoming self-appointed ambassadors for it. Among the biggest champions is Hansel Vaz, a former geologist and founder of Cazulo Premium Feni, who has worked with single-minded determination to find a larger audience for Goan feni. Vaz created the first feni distillery experience in the world with the launch of the Fazenda Cazulo set in a cashew farm in South Goa's Cuelim, where tours of the feni cellar and tastings are available. The tour also includes a Floating Feni Experience where guests can try a range of feni cocktails and Goan snacks while sitting on a long picnic table set up in a shallow river. Other heritage distillers like Solomon Diniz of Tinto have also been taking their generational feni business to new audiences through guided tours of their farms and interactive stalls at food festivals to show just how fun feni can be. Brands like Aani Ek have launched a set of fenis flavored with locally grown spices like cumin, cinnamon, and chili... —Diya Kohli |
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Go for: a dining destination growing as diverse as the nation's capital itself
Until recently, power dining in Washington, DC, pretty much meant one thing: clubby steakhouses near the Capitol Building or White House, where legislators and lobbyists put their heads together (or butted them) over meat- and martini-fueled lunches. No more. To be sure, diners can still play spot-the-politico at Cafe Milano or The Capital Grille. But thanks to new eateries from nationally renowned chefs, plus a diverse, homegrown restaurant scene that's better than ever, DC power dining is no longer defined by the people eating there, but by the power of the food itself. Today's political heavy hitters are just as likely to twirl tagliatelle at Officina or spoon paella at Spanish showstopper Del Mar in the trendy Wharf district. And that's just to start.
A short distance from the Wharf, chef Kwame Onwuachi (also of New York City's top-rated Tatiana) helms DĹŤgon, 2024's most anticipated restaurant, which opened in September. The sleek dining room inside the Salamander Washington DC hotel offers a tailored menu of Afro-Caribbean dishes woven with thoughtful ingredients and historical touchstones. Warm coco bread is ready to be smeared with sweet malted sorghum butter. Berbere roasted chicken, perched on fragrant jollof rice, arrives juicy and well-spiced, topped with a heap of bright herbs. DĹŤgon joins the ranks of other high-end gems. Reserve well in advance for Albi, where award-winning chef Michael Rafidi turns out intensely flavorful eastern Mediterranean cooking, like mezze plates, coal-fired mushroom hummus, and elevated kebabs, from a fiery open kitchen. Downtown, Moon Rabbit offers a modern take on traditional Vietnamese flavors; the lemongrass-marinated Wagyu wrapped in perilla leaves is one favorite. Even dedicated carnivores will be wooed by the sophisticated, hyperseasonal vegetarian-plus-oysters cooking at Oyster Oyster... —Lisa Ruland |
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