The strawberries have arrived at the Greenmarket, which means it’s officially summer in our book. And with summer comes summer adventures — to the hills of North Carolina, the wine regions of Portugal, the mural-painted blocks of San Francisco and beyond. Here’s where our editors are traveling.
VIDEO: Knife & Fork, in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, is one of Lauren Wilson’s favorite spots.
Lauren Wilson: North Carolina
I’ll be trying my hands at a very different kind of publishing this summer while heading back home to the hills of North Carolina for a letterpress class at Penland School of Crafts. My favorite spot around is Knife & Fork (above), who just opened their new Spoon bar (the first craft cocktail bar in the county) upstairs from the restaurant. But more than anything else, I’m looking forward to hopping in the swimming hole at Green Toe Ground Farm in Celo, NC. They host live music, a hog roast and the “farm olympics” — complete with competitive hay bale-rolling and water pale-lifting — every July 4. Living in Brooklyn, I’ve not been training as I should (if only I could call Brooklyn Grange my “gym”), but hopefully I’ll have enough leg strength to not face plant during the manure pile long jump.
Amy Zavatto: Scotland, Sicily, Shelter Island and beyond
I’ve got a few exciting treks on the docket this summer, for both work and fun, with Scotland, Chablis, France, and Sicily on the top of the potentially mind-blowing list. In July, I’ll make my annual trek down to New Orleans for the ultimate in boozy immersion, Tales of the Cocktail, where I’ll be doing a two-day signing of my book Architecture of the Cocktail, thank you very much (!). Also working on a day trek or three to Philly to see what’s going on there and Massachusetts to visit some good friends who left NYC to start a hop farm. But for the most part: my little place in Greenport and visiting my Dad in Shelter Island is where I can be found from May to September. And that’s really all I need, anyway. It’s shaping up to be a pretty action-packed season.
Caroline Lange: Charlestown, RI
My younger brother Nick graduated from high school last week, and to celebrate, we zipped out to Charlestown, RI, for some graduation parties and much needed downtime. We love to stop at Dave’s Coffee for some locally roasted beans (I like the dark, smoky Black Crow roast) and to St. Clair Annex in nearby Watch Hill for sugar cones piled with strawberry rhubarb crisp ice cream, to be enjoyed slowly while walking along the water.
Rachel Wharton: San Francisco
On July 4th I’m flying to San Francisco, where nearly two decades ago I spent a spring living in a row house in the Mission. When I go back I make a point to spend several hours eating my way up the mural-painted blocks of 24th Street east of Mission Street, which has been one of the neighborhood’s main shopping streets for nearly a century. It’s seen many waves of colonization over many decades, and as a result there are tastes of the Mission past, present and future. You can belly up at St. Francis Soda Fountain, get any number of carne asada burritos, find pupusas and freshly made corn tortillas at a wonderful grocery called Mexicatessen, order scoops of ancho pepper-milk chocolate ice cream at world-famous Humphry Slocombe, or get a cup of third-wave coffee at Chemex-friendly cafés, just for starters. I imagine with more time many of the spots I’ve been walking by for years will be replaced with whatever hot thing comes next, which is why I try to soak up the street on every trip.
Marissa Finn: Hopewell, New Jersey
In a few weeks, I’m taking a mini field trip to Hopewell, New Jersey, to visit Double Brook Farm and their Brick Farm Market. My brother drives past the farm on his way to and from work, and he often stops for their prepared food and sends me photos to make me jealous. There’s this one, which made me pick up and go to Union Square in search of blue eggs immediately. But there’s also a strawberry brie sandwich on focaccia with greens and hazelnut praline. And there’s a spring gyro with lamb meatballs, sweet pea hummus, pea greens and yogurt. I want all of it, and I want it now.
Eileen M. Duffy: Portugal
I’m going to Portugal next month for a tour of the wine regions! Porto, Douro, Dao, Bairrada, Lisbon, Peninsula de Setubal and the Alentejo and checking out some Vinho Verde. I was in Portugal once before, for an afternoon after a quick trip across the Douro River from Galicia where a friend’s grandmother lived. So, I’m very excited.
Carrington Morris: Cookeville, Tennessee
Headed to the Appalachian Center for Craft in Tennessee this August to try my hand at forging knives. Looking forward to stopping for a bite in Nashville, and also to employing my Brooklyn Kitchen–acquired knife skills with a custom-made kitchen blade.
Feature photo: Flickr/Katy Silberger
