I'm always a little surprised by the number of requests I receive for recommendations and at length have decided to share something of my 'virtual moleskine' here. I'd like to think of this brief list of some of my favourite places as highly curated rather than being a comprehensive 'guide'. These are places I have not only enjoyed, but would visit and in many cases have visited, again and again.
Italy
Da Enzo, Trastevere, Rome
Rome
EAT
Da Enzo
Ristorante Piperno
Armando al Pantheon
Roscioli
Piatto Romano
Pasticceria Regoli
Still hungry? The Eater Guide to Rome
SHOP
Mercati - Piazza San Cosimato, Campo de' Fiori, Circo Massimo and Testaccio
Funari (via dei Pastini, 121, Pantheon)
Society Limonata
LEARN latteria studio
STAY 'Il Sole a Trastevere' (contact: ilsoleatrastevere@gmail.com)

Antica Osteria del Mirasole, San Giovanni in Persiceto (left); 'Il Quadrilatero' (right)
BOLOGNA (& Beyond)
EAT
All'Osteria Bottega (via S. Caterina, 51, Bologna)
Il Gelatauro
Antica Osteria del Mirasole (S. Giovanni in Persiceto)
Grassilli Ristorante (via dal Luzzo, 3, Bologna)
COFFEE Caffe Terzi
VISIT
Chiesa Santo Maria della Vita
Piazza del Nettuno
Palazzo Re Enzo
Archiginnasio
WALK around 'Il Quadrilatero' neighbourhood
SHOP
La Salumeria da Bruno e Franco
Antica Aguzzeria del Cavallo (via Drapperie, 12/b, Bologna)
Drogheria Gilberto
Monterosso al Mare
'Odds & Ends' (from around Liguria, Umbria and Lazio)
Cinque Terre (Liguria)
EAT Il Bocconcino (Monterosso al Mare)
Orvieto (Umbria)
EAT Trattoria la Palomba (16 Via Cipriano Menente, Orvieto)
VISIT Catthedrale di S. Maria Assunta
SHOP
Michelangeli (via Gualverio Michaelangeli, 3B, Orvieto)
L'Orvietan
LUBRIANO (LAZIO)
STAY in a 3 bedroom old stone house overlooking Civita di Bagnoregio (contact: alicekiandra.adams@gmail.com)
EAT Il Vecchio Mulino (Via G. Marconi, 25, Lubriano)
The Breakfast Table, Masseria Potenti, Mandura, Puglia
PUGLIA (Taranto and BARI)
Manduria
STAY / EAT Masseria Potenti
GRottaglie
SHOP
Ceramiche Nicola Fasano (via F. Crispi, 6, Grottaglie)
Bottega Vestita (via S. Sofia, 23, Grottaglie)
BARI
VISIT Bari Vecchia (for the ladies making orecchiette in the street)
EAT
PerBacco (via Abbrescia, 99, Bari)
Panificio Fiore (Strada Palazzo di Citta', 38, Bari)
Panificio el Focacciaro (via Cognetti, 43, Bari)

Cattedrale di Otranto (left); "Trattoria Le Zie", Lecce (right)
PUGLIA (SALENTO and Valle D'ITRIA)
Lecce
EAT Trattoria Le Zie (Via Colonnello Archimede Costadura, 19)
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 'Walking Tour of Lecce' http://www.infolecce.it/
OTRANTO
EAT Laltro Baffo
VISIT Cattedrale di Otranto
OSTUNI
EAT Osteria Piazzetta Cattedrale
ALBEROBELLO
SEE i trulli
Amalfi
EAT La Caravella
NAPLES
EAT Gino Sorbillo
Quattro Canti, Palermo, Sicily
Sicily (east / Central)
PALERMO
STAY BB22 Palace
EAT Osteria Mercede
SHOP
Mercati di Ballaro and del Capo
Marchese Roberto
LEARN Palermo Street Food
SEE Quattro Canti and Teatro Massimo
TRAPANI / ERICE
EAT
Al Solito Posto
Maria Grammatico (pasticceria)
VALLELUNGA PRATAMENO
LEARN Anna Tasca Lanza
Antico Mercato di Ortigia, Siracusa, Sicily
Sicily (West)
TAORMINA
STAY Villa Carlotta
EAT Roberto Il Mago dei Cannoli
ORTIGIA (SIRACUSA)
EAT
Don Camillo
Taberna Sveva
SHOP Antico Mercato
NOTO / RAGUSA
STAY Notia Rooms
FRANCE
Racines, Passage de Panoramas, 2E, Paris
Paris
STAY Hotel Grand Amour www.hotelamourparis.fr/en/
EAT
Racines
Clown Bar
Le Servan
Le Comptoir de la Gastronomie
Du Pain e des Idees
10 Belles Bread
Pierre Herme
L'As du Fallafel (32-34 Rue des Rosiers, 75004 Paris)
SHOP
Maison de Vacances
Astier de Villatte
Roses Costes
Marche Raspail (biologique - les dimanches)
Greece
Diporto, (Psyrri), Athens
Athens
STAY Coco-Mat Hotel Athens (Kolonaki) www.cocomatathens.com/
EAT
Diporto (cnr Sokratos and Theatrou, Athens)
Cafe Avissinia (Monastiraki)
Mavro Provato (Pangrati)
SHOP
Varvakios Agora (Athens Central Market) Athinas (Psyrri)
Monastiraki Flea Market
Emporio, Santorini
PAROS & ANtiparos (CYCLADES)
EAT
Kafeneio - Palia Agora, (Naoussa, Paros)
Levantis (Parikia, Paros)
The Beach House (Apantima, Antiparos)
DRINK Sommaripa Consolato (bar) (Naoussa, Paros)
VISIT Agia Irini (beach) (Paros) / Soros (beach) (Antiparos)
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED guided walks / trekking tours www.paroshikes.com
SHOP The Antique Store (Naoussa, Paros)
SANTORINI (CYCLADES)
EAT
Taverna Roza (Vourvoulos)
to Psaraki (Vlychada)
DRINK Gaia Wines
SHOP Atlantis Books
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Caldera sailing tours (Barbarossa Sailing)
LEARN Tomato Industrial Museum
Australia
Carriageworks Farmers Market, Sydney
SydnEY (& SURROUNDS)
EAT
The Apollo
Fratelli Paradiso
Billy Kwong
Lankan Filling Station
Da Orazio
Paper Bird
Two Chaps
Chin Chin
Pizza Madre
Stanbuli
GELATO Ciccone & Sons Gelateria
BREAD Iggy’s
COFFEE Paramount Coffee Project
SHOP
Carriageworks Farmers Market
Fish Butchery
Potts Point Bookshop
Madame Truffles
Milk and Honey, Mullumbimby, New South Wales
Music: "Rainy Sun", The Owl (freemusicarchive.org) CC BY-NC-ND
Melbourne & Greater Victoria
STAY
Marge's Cottage (Poowong)
The White Room
EAT / DRINK
Marion
Pellegrini's
Tipo 00
Tivoli Road Bakery
LEARN
Italy on my Mind (Paola Bacchia)
SHOP
Costante Imports
Paperback Bookshop
Phillip & Lea
Creative Sun room no. 121, Hotel Hotel, New Acton
Canberra, ACT
STAY Hotel Hotel
* Note: As of 1 March 2018 Hotel Hotel has been sold to Ovolvo Group
‘Capelli d’angelo with calamari, garlic + wild fennel’, The Agrarian Eatery, New Norfolk
Tasmania (Hobart and Beyond)
STAY
Ridgeline
MACq 01 Hotel
The Bae
EAT
Templo
Pigeon Whole Bakers
Ti ama
Small Fry
EAT / LEARN The Agrarian Kitchen Eatery / School www.theagrariankitchen.com/
SHOP
The Drill Hall (antiques)
Farm Gate Market
Bruny Island Cheese Co.
SE ASIA
Central Market, Hoi An, Vietnam
VietnAM
HOI AN
EAT
Nu Eatery
Miss Ly
Vy's Market
COFFEE / JUICE Cocobox
SHOP Central Market
LEARN
Morning Glory Cooking School
Red Bridge Cooking School
Grasshopper Adventures