A Year in Food, Wine, and Travel: My 2025 Highlights

A food-driven travel year in review, featuring destinations, dining highlights, and meaningful moments from 2025.

Jan 06, 2026

By now, you’re done with 2025 but in my mind … better a few days late than never, which is very on brand for me :)

I’ve always loved to travel. The thrill of experiencing something new is almost as exciting to me as the prep, planning, and research that comes before it. I’ve also always been the one in our relationship to handle personal travel—vacations meant to rejuvenate and relax, as well as those centered on learning and exploring.

Each year, I try to plan an agenda that fits both our needs. I love lounging by a pool, but I also get bored doing that day after day. So much of our travel revolves around food and wine: dining experiences unique to the places we visit, wineries that align with our personal tastes, and opportunities to engage with locals through cooking classes and shared meals that offer a deeper sense of culture.

This past year brought two truly fabulous international trips and ten domestic ventures. It was also the year I invested in myself—becoming a certified travel advisor and launching The Curated Course. I’ve loved sharing my trips and recommendations, conducting hotel tours (called site inspections in the travel-advisor world), and building relationships with suppliers that align with my ethos and, more importantly, with what I believe my clients will genuinely enjoy.

Below are my top moments in food, wine, and travel from 2025. While 2026 is shaping up to be exciting, with work travel intertwined with personal trips (the line between the two is increasingly hard to draw), this list feels like a meaningful snapshot of where I’ve been, what I’ve learned, and what stayed with me.

Top Food, Wine & Travel Moments of 2025

Greece, Italy & the Mediterranean

Exploring Sarakiniko Beach in Milos: With its moon-like rock formations, this port stop allowed us to explore one of the most striking landscapes we encountered on our cruise. Locals, and some very brave tourists, leapt from the rocks into the water below.

Finding handcrafted knives in Chania, Crete: Metalworking is an important generational craft here. The knife maker engraved our names and the date of our trip, turning something we often use when entertaining into a lasting memory.

Discovering Marzamemi: This tiny fishing village in southern Sicily was a true gem. We wandered into a shop filled with tinned tuna, pastas, and local specialties, then enjoyed lunch along the sea. The most memorable dish: tuna with oranges, onions, olives, and olive oil. Read more about this excursion here.

The rewarding views (and lunch) after climbing a million stairs in Positano: Our group was more than ready for lunch after the workout we endured. Google Maps told us it was only a half mile to the restaurant, but it felt much longer thanks to the elevation. The reward was a perfect, breezy lunch with fresh seafood and views for days.

Cacio e pepe at Felice a Testaccio: A girlfriend recommended this Roman restaurant filled with locals. Located near Aventine Hill, the famous viewpoint overlooking the Vatican, Malta, and Rome, we didn’t quite have the energy to explore and climb the hill after all those carbs. There’s always next time.

Pompeii: A truly remarkable site. Understanding the ingenuity and sophistication of a town once the size of my alma mater, and how it disappeared in an instant, was humbling.

Barcelona and Coastal Spain

Lunch with our winemaker friends in Barcelona: Fabulous restaurant, fabulous company. We feel incredibly fortunate to build and maintain relationships overseas.

Montserrat: A destination that deserves its own mention. Between the Catholic history of over 1,000 years, the art museum, and the small market of cheeses, it’s a place I’ll never forget. See my guide here.

A wedding in a castle along the Mediterranean coast: The wedding brought us to Sitges, just 45 minutes south of Barcelona, a village known for being very LGBTQ+-friendly with quaint shops, excellent seafood paella and gorgeous beaches. Many thanks to our friends for hosting the perfect destination wedding!

Visiting the markets in Barcelona: Apparently there are over 30 fresh markets in the Barcelona area. This trip, I toured three, returning to my favorite (albeit very chaotic), Mercat la Boqueria. There’s a spice vendor I visited in 2022 and theirs are the best, packaged in adorable little pouches perfect for gifting. Our hotel was also next to the historic Mercat de Santa Caterina, which was one of the first in the city.

Food & Wine Highlights

Hosting Thanksgiving in our home: This was a special year for a few reasons, the most important being it was the first since I can remember when my immediate family celebrated together, with us hosting in Tampa. My nephew enjoyed seeing some great sites (Dinosaur Land), my mom and I took advantage of good shopping, and the boys got to golf in 70+ degree weather in November. We weren’t able to host last year as we had just flooded, and this year I created all the recipes, including many dairy free dishes (see post here), which was extra rewarding.

Enjoying a glass of Mouton Rothschild for the first time: A rare opportunity to taste one of Bordeaux’s five First Growths, a very rare and very expensive and prestigious wine.

Burrata nougat glacé with shaved white truffles: Devoured during a truffle dinner at Bar Terroir in Tampa. Slightly savory, unexpected, and paired with a 2001 Doisy-Verdines Sauternes.

Mamou potatoes: I don’t think there were many potatoes involved, but the whipped butter (and a birthday celebration) made it worth it.

Duck à l’orange: Yes, I’m patting myself on the back for this one. It was exceptional! See recipe here.

Making paella at home: After returning from Spain, we invited friends over and cooked paella on the Big Green Egg using spices from Mercat de la Boqueria. My paella party recipes are here.

Bérêche rosé: During the Champagne extravaganza in Chicago, I had the opportunity to taste (and purchase!) an out-of-this-world rosé Champagne from a producer known for an exceptional party-size magnum, which was also enjoyed on New Year’s Eve.

Domestic Travel & Rediscoveries

A relaxing overnight at the St. Regis Longboat Key: A fantastic new property, especially as a staycation for Tampa-area residents. Full review here.

NYC in the fall: I’ve been to New York countless times, but this was the first time I learned there are lunch places … and then there are dinner places. We dined at an incredible dinner spot just east of Upper Midtown, Scalinatella, where the menu is small but the daily specials are extensive and the skilled servers walk you through them.

Caviar and cocktails in New Orleans at Jewel of the South: Hot, tired, thirsty … and this spot delivered.

Lunch at Brennan’s: A classic for a reason. The Caesar salad with smoked oyster dressing was a standout (and my girlfriend later recreated it at home and gifted me some). The rest of the day involved dancing, sazeracs and antique shopping … not necessarily in that order.

The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory: Our first visit to Key West was over a decade ago, drawn in by the Jimmy Buffett–style laid-back vibe and great seafood. Returning this past April, we realized how much more there is beyond Duval Street. We stumbled upon the conservatory during an afternoon rain shower and loved seeing the butterflies, turtles, resident flamingos, and lush vegetation.

Milestones & Meaningful Moments

Our first cruise: The ports were unique, but so was the onboard experience. The service, accommodations, and staff exceeded expectations. If you’ve never cruised, or didn’t love it in the past, it may be worth reconsidering.

Receiving an extremely thoughtful gift: A dear friend gifted me The Talisman of Happiness on New Year’s Eve, a classic Italian cookbook filled with age-old recipes from each region of Italy. Frequently gifted to new brides, it was meant to teach proper preparation of regional Italian specialties. This first English edition feels like both an anthology of Italy and a love letter. I can’t wait to dive in and share my discoveries.

Planning a last-minute trip to our favorite Cabo resort for new clients: Before moving to Florida, San José del Cabo became a favorite winter escape from cold Chicago winters. It was flattering and rewarding to have someone trust my recommendations, and they experienced all the reasons we love this coastal destination.

Hearing from an old boss and friend to plan two weeks in Italy: After I shared a career update on LinkedIn, a longtime friend and former boss reached out for help planning two weeks in Italy after Rome. We quickly started collaborating and landed on a fun itinerary that lets her and her husband explore places they haven’t been before. She’s currently on the trip, starting in Bologna (hello, great food!), then heading south to Lecce, with stops in Alberobello and finishing in Matera, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.

Beef bourguignon for our neighbors: After Hurricane Milton flooded our home and several surrounding houses, we spent months without a proper kitchen. We cooked from a toaster oven in a spare bedroom and washed dishes in a guest bathroom. Our neighbors trauma-bonded, hosting Sunday suppers in driveways so kids could play and adults could decompress. Once our kitchen was restored, I cooked beef bourguignon and sourdough for the group. It shifted my perspective—on community, resilience, and what it truly means to feed people.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my top 25-ish of 2025! What were some of your favorite moments in food, wine and travel? Because these three pillars bring us so much joy in our lives, I can’t wait to look back at this list in years to come as I know they’ll bring a smile to my face.

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