The perfect strawberry does exist. Photo courtesy of Oishii.
Japanese goods are cult favorites for a reason: they re high-quality, reliable, and spark joy. We rounded up a few products we ve been buying to satisfy our Japanese cravings until we can travel there again.
What would you pay to try the best strawberry in the world? Michelin-starred chefs are pining over these sumptuous berries by New-Jersey based Oishii, the first indoor strawberry grow farm in America. Using seeds from the rare, juicy strawberries found seasonally in the fields of the Japanese Alps, the farm uses a vertical growing method with zero pesticides and a climate control to perfectly replicate the light rain, cool breeze, and bright sun of a Japanese winter day. The berries are popping up on dessert menus at several restaurants around NYC, including Japanese restaurants who present them unadulterated, like sashimi. If you want to create your own berry feast at home, Oishii delivers around NYC and is
Wellness and Wonders in the Mexican Caribbean by Team Fathom A full sensory experience at Palmaïa – The House of AïA. All photos courtesy of Quintana Roo Tourism Board.
If you were to invent a dreamy vacation destination, the recipe might look like this:
Start with equal parts lush jungles, soft-sand beaches, meandering lagoons, and clear blue seas. Add a sophisticated ancient culture, rich in ritual and tradition; a tasty local cuisine influenced by locals, explorers, and even pirates; stay-a-while accommodations, from tents under stars to luxury villas; a wealth of activities to excite the body and mind; and welcoming citizens proud to share their homeland and you’ll end up with the Mexican Caribbean.
Photo courtesy of Kittawa Lodge on King Island.
It will be a while before Australia opens its borders to the rest of the world (they know how to play it safe Down Under), but when the country comes back, it will be with gusto. We salute the hotels that opened this year under the shadow of the pandemic, as well as a few from late 2019 that never got a fair shot once they opened. When you do finally make it there, here are more than a few excuses to stay a while and explore its extremes.
Don t miss all our picks for the World s Best New Hotels in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. In the United States, we ve broken down our favorite new hotels by region: the Northeast, the South, and the West.
Photo courtesy of Marataba.
We could say a lot of things about 2020 but most of them would not be very nice. However, one half-glass-full way to think about the year is to consider it as one (very long) season of teachable moments. Slowing down brought important things into sharp relief the precarious state of the environment, the reliable awesomeness of the natural world, the power of people who band together for a cause.
Though much of the world slowed way down and was even brought to a standstill at times, beautiful new hotels did manage to open some of them paying particularly close attention to their environment, community, impact, and trying to do business differently. Those companies deserve extra attention, and we ve highlighted the feel-good factors that stand out to us.