Magic town

Against all odds and determined developers, the Pacific-facing side of Baja California Sur has held onto a sliver of uncrowded coastline in a part of Mexico overflowing with foreign investment. For more than a decade, I’ve been coming here to do blessedly little more than surf, eat, and siesta, thanks to the long, empty white sand beaches running parallel to the desert, seafood that goes way beyond fish tacos, and an elemental torpor that attunes me to the rhythms of nature instead of Slack.

Whether it’s still the bohemian haven it’s advertised to be is another story. But fierce local resistance, bumpy dirt roads unlikely to get paved anytime soon, and a lack of fresh water have so far kept mega-resorts at bay.

Where to Stay: Just north of Todos Santos, the surf-town-turned-budding- digital-nomad-destination, Villa Santa Cruz is spread across 20 acres on Playa La Pastora, an advanced surf break that’s humbled me plenty of times. We literally stumbled upon it by accident more than a decade ago, mistaking the inviting open-air lounge with fireplace, bar, and ocean views for the popular Green Room restaurant located steps away on the beach.

Californians Matt and Jessica Canepa have owned the land since 2001, and what started as a small B&B grew into a sprawling hacienda-revival property with tall arches, a burnt orange acid-washed cement pulido facade, and 23 rooms — four of which are beachfront glamping suites, with fire pits and a deck from which to sip complimentary coffee and graze on rotating flavors of mini muffins each morning.

The property has miraculously retained its intimate roots in spite of its size. During our last stay, we rarely saw other guests (and when we did, found them to be simpatico in their desire for discretion and light banter). The staff, though attentive and inquisitive, felt like hosts.

Descending the hand-tiled steps of our bungalow for breakfast meant a short stroll through the property’s farm, which provides produce for the onsite wood-fire restaurant Caracara (of all things, get the burger), a spa with dry sauna and temazcal, horse stables, and tennis, pickleball, and bocce courts. Normally by day three I’m desperate to escape the minimum-security prison feel of most resorts, but here I give myself permission to do nothing, settling as much into the property as into myself.

Where to Dine: For something humbler than Caracara, drive into town. On approach, Pacifica Fish Market offers the ideal of a southern Baja fish taco, a little heavier and more savory than its northern counterparts, with the tortilla practically bursting at the seams with Cajun-spiced seabass and a thick layering of ingredients. In Todos, El Santo Chilote is just as good. A bright green open-air palapa, it sits kitty-corner from the glamorous, bachelorette-friendly Oystera. The fish tacos resemble tempura, unadorned, lightly fried, fresh. I go easy on the toppings bar, preferring little more than lime and a squirt of crema.

Further south in Cerritos, I nursed my irritation about having to compete for waves with overeager beginners by plopping down with my wife at Barracuda Cantina, where we ate fried shrimp tacos and cubed tuna tostadas covered in guacamole, salsa macha, and pickled red onions, with Pacificos in our hands and our feet buried in the sand. After being featured on Netflix’s Taco Chronicles, the restaurant crept closer to the beach amid a new complex of restaurants and stores that hint at Cerrito’s rapid development.

For something less written-about than the verdant vegetarian specialties at Hierbabuena or suckling pig at Chef Javier Plascencia’s Jazamango, there’s Plascencia’s take on Baja-Moroccan at Bar Bar Not Bar, an oasis with a big menu of slow-simmering tagines, couscous, and shawarmas. We came here on the advice of Caracara’s general manager to put down a mezcalita or three to the DJ’s blend of pleasantly insipid hotel-lounge electronic music.

Where to Drink: At La Copa, a cocktail bar connected to the recently opened Todos Santos Boutique Hotel, I inhaled the carajillo made with citrusy Licor 43, espresso, Avena Amaro, and Nixta, a sweet liqueur of nixtamalized heirloom corn and piloncillo.

Where to Spa: As much as I love surfing and fish tacos, I sometimes think we come to Baja so often specifically to reinhabit the world of sisters-in-law Maria Lourdes and Maria Antioneta, whose Dos Marias Day Spa in Pescadero is unlike anything you’ll find at a hotel.

We usually spend the better part of a day here, sweating in the temazcal, soaking in a rose petal and herbal clay tub, and surrendering to one of the best massages of our lives. Somewhere in the first half hour, I stop working at relaxation, and feel myself disappear. The ocean waves, rustling palms, cascading windchimes, and tropical birds keep me anchored in this place. Afterwards, the Marias bring out hot tea or cold glasses of herb-infused jamaica and tell us to hang out for as long as we’d like. –Shona Sanzgiri

→ Villa Santa Cruz (Todos Santos, Mexico) • Camino a la Playitas S/N 23300 • Rooms from $490/night • Book.

GETAWAYS LINKS: The most interesting thing Hoshino Resorts is doing isn’t luxury • Who owns your hotel? A wonky deep dive into the world of hotel ownership structures • Egypt emerges as victor in Middle East’s travel shakeup • Inside Mandarin Oriental’s luxe new Mallorca resort • September opening set for new Nobu Hotel Madrid • Plans announced for Four Seasons Sevilla, opening 2028.

RESTAURANTS • San Francisco

Boom cycle

If you’re looking for old money in San Francisco, try the top of Nob Hill, where the Huntington Hotel opened in 1924 during San Francisco’s third cycle of bust-and-boom. Its Big Four restaurant followed in 1976. Both borrow names from the founders of the Central Pacific Railroad, robber barons whose narrative arcs have been replicated across SF’s history ever since. After a long pandemic closure, change in ownership, and deep renovation, the hotel and its restaurant reopened in March, the latter back as a glorious steakhouse that channels the Gilded Age of California.

Acclaimed designer Ken Fulk renovated and restored the Big Four’s clubby interiors, featuring dark wood panels, a gleaming brass bar, green leather booths, and hushed tartan carpets. You’ll pass oil portraits of railroad tycoons, a golden bear statue, and ram horns twisted on walls. “This looks like the kind of place that Willie Brown would love,” my friend said, and she called it — as he was wont to do prior to its closure, the former mayor was back in his corner seat, surrounded by business diners and their dates.

The menu delivers classics with flourishes. The Louie wedge salad stars local avocado and asparagus, and why wouldn’t you pile on Dungeness crab? Servers finish cioppino at the table, pouring saffron broth over clams, squid, and yellowtail. One pro expertly sliced round the rim of our puffed pot pie, and asked if we’d like a splash of sherry to spike the cream sauce. There are only three cuts for steaks and chops, and it feels like a moment for filet mignon, alongside creamed spinach swirled with Boursin cheese. –Becky Duffett

MORE at FOUND SF

HOTELS & RESTAURANTS • Paris

It scene

It’s been a long time since Paris had a restaurant that reigned as the city’s Big Room, that white-hot, popular-but-exclusive place where the crowd offers a working definition of Those Who Makes The City Cool. But this season, dine there enough times, and you’ll spot everyone interesting in Paris come through Le Restaurant.

Designed by Studio KO, the hottest interior design firm in Paris, the great moody décor of this intimate dining room in the just-opened Bus Palladium hotel gets its wonderfully odd visual DNA from an elision of Tom Jones and Sid Vicious, or that raggedy time period in Paris when disco and punk rock overlapped for a while. This is because the Bus Palladium, now a 35-room five-star hotel in increasingly gentrified Pigalle, was one of the best and most enduringly avant-garde nightclubs in Paris from its original opening in 1965 to 2022 when it closed.

Now, in addition to the sexy party-pad rooms upstairs and a revived club in the basement, the reason Parisians are flocking here is to discover the cooking of young chef Valentin Raffali, who was recruited from his restaurant Livingston in Marseille to run the kitchen here. Luscious and luminously beautiful, Franco-Moroccan Raffali’s cooking has a poignancy that comes from his deep desire to please and the way his culinary creativity is disciplined by an exacting technical precision. –Alexander Lobrano

MORE at FOUND Paris

GOODS & SERVICES • Big Ticket

Select answers to the FOUND Routine query, What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?

→ YONI LOTAN, actor/comedian (NY, above): TICKETS TO KNICKS GAME 3 HELLOOOOOOOO but I also bought this basketball head to wear at the game on Amazon.

→ OR AMSALAM, co-owner, baker & operator, Lodge Bread Co. & Full Proof Pizza (LA): Our pizza oven for Full Proof (our forthcoming new pizza spot). We will be working with an electric Moretti Forni deck oven and we can’t wait to start using it.

→ BANBURY CROSS, burlesque showgirl & cabaret director, Palace Theatre (SF): A custom acrylic champagne glass designed for my 80s Centrefold performance, along with several recent bespoke feather and Swarovski-crystal costumes and jewelry handmade in Italy. Investing in pieces and props that are beautifully made and uniquely mine makes every performance feel a little more magical.

AROUND FOUND • Other Notable Intel & Recs

→ NY: Just opened at JFK’s Terminal 8 is Peach Palace by Momofuku. With wraparound bar and plenty of tables, it’s the biggest Momofuku ever opened in NYC. The full menu features Momo classics like the pork bun, but also, breakfast, as well as a very compelling new spin on sweet and spicy wings.

→ LDN: Chef and farmer Tommy Banks is best known for The Black Swan (intel), his pub-turned-fine-dining destination in Oldstead, North Yorkshire. His flagship makes for a fantastic vacation, but if you only have time for a day trip from London, you can’t go wrong with Roots, a similarly brilliant restaurant just moments from York station.

→ PARIS: It’s a family affair at BẾP. Marie Nguyen and Émilien Quéméner, the duo behind Montmartre natural wine bar Sobremesa, have teamed up with Marie’s brother, chef Antoine Nguyen, to open the Vietnamese restaurant in the 9th arrondissement, a neighborhood that has never been a particular hotspot for Vietnamese food. It debuted in April.

ASK FOUND

One PROMPT for which we seek your intelligence:

• What’s your favorite restaurant that you’ve visited on your travels?

More answers or questions? Hit reply or email found@itsfound.com.

RESTAURANTS • The Nines

Casual, Notting Hill

FOUND’s 9 favorite casual restaurants in the iconic London neighborhood.

• Permit Room (Portobello Rd), Dishoom spin-off, multi-floor pub-turned-restaurant w/ top-floor lodgings, intel, book

Read more

Oasis of restraint

Dubai is open. A recent trip confirmed the city is still functioning well, and for the intrepid traveler, still very much worth a visit or stopover.

Even as traffic’s abated from pre-conflict hyper-saturation, Dubai remains one of the most competitive five-star hotel battlegrounds on earth. At the full-on spectacle end, Atlantis The Royal dominates. Bvlgari holds the yachts and oligarchs private-island position. Mandarin Oriental Jumeirah and The Lana (operated by Dorchester Collection) have also raised the bar for design and service. The remaining gap in the market? A property that matches Dubai’s scale and ambition with genuine restraint.

Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab, which opened in March 2025 on the beachfront peninsula between Jumeirah Beach Hotel and the Burj Al Arab, makes that case. The architecture is by Shaun Killa, who designed the local Museum of the Future, and here, he’s completed the Jumeirah beachfront architecture trilogy — sail, wave, yacht — with curved balconies and horizontal lines that feel fluid (rather than monumental). A dramatic arch at the base frames the Burj like a deliberate act of deference to the over-the-top opulence that defined the original era.

When you walk inside, the restraint becomes more clear. Designer Tristan Auer and Wilson Associates delivered a lobby broken into a sequence of intimate rooms (soft neutrals, lacquered wood, and a nice interplay of contrast colors) rather than the Gulf’s standard marble arrival halls that are engineered for maximum effect.

The food and beverage program is where the operating acumen really shows itself. There are 11 restaurants and four bars, clearly zoned: Bombay Club for Indian, Rialto for Italian with a rare green marble bar known for being a solid Negroni perch, a discreet gin room off the back, Iliana for Greek beachfront lunches. The overall approach seems to be aiming for repeat visits from locals and visitors alike, not just one-night corporate card blowouts.

An 82-berth superyacht marina with its own casual dining boardwalk gives the property a social perimeter. In the rooms, minibars are stocked with interesting, handpicked desserts rather than the usual Snickers and Pringles minibar fare. It’s a small touch, but shows someone’s thinking about what actually delights a guest.

Rooms facing the mighty Burj al-Arab are the obvious photo-snapping tourist play, but the city-view could be a deeper option. The prestigious low-rise Umm Suqeim neighbourhood below, one of Dubai’s older residential quarters, tells a quieter version of Dubai, one of restraint and more subtle urban hum. The duality is part of the appeal. –Colin Nagy

→ Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab (Dubai, UAE) • Jumeirah St – Umm Suqeim Third – Umm Suqeim 3 • Rooms from AED 4500–6500 ($1225-$1770/night).

RESTAURANTS • First Person

In bloom

Spring is a fitting time to welcome back chef Daniel Patterson after a decade hiatus from fine-dining kitchens. His new Hollywood tasting menu restaurant, Jacaranda, opened at the start of May. In less than a season, it’s already blossomed into an LA favorite.

Tucked away just a block off the corner of Highland and Melrose, the restaurant could be home to a boutique architecture firm from the outside. There’s plenty of concrete, darkened wood overhangs, and a fully draped floor-to-ceiling window. But the cozy inside smooths out any edges. My party was welcomed in with a warm violet light, conversation, and an invitation to take a seat at the full-wall banquette. Above, a shelf held potted flowers and home-brought paintings, and the speakers played a heavily Gen-X-tilted soundtrack.

Sarah Lewitinn, former music journalist and producer (explains the playlist), is Patterson’s wife-slash-partner and Jacaranda’s head host and entertainer. After she greets the night’s guests (there’s only one seating), she spends the rest of the evening floating around the dining room, starting and joining conversations, introducing one party to another, and vibing, essentially. We met and then talked to our neighboring two-top for about 30 minutes. Despite our decades-wide age gap, we both knew and loved a deeper-cut, early aughts Beck song that played over the fourth plate of the 10-course ($295 per) tasting menu.

The menu, an evolution of the tasting program Patterson oversaw at San Francisco’s famed Coi, is quite the journey. Highlights include a puffed rice cracker decorated with avocado and radish that was as fresh as starts get. Then, a more savory yuba roll, with whipped miso wrapped in tofu skin, and whipped tofu underneath a gelatin made from Monterey Bay seaweed and caviar. I marked the latter as “caviar tiramisu” in my notes. –James Royce

MORE at FOUND LA

GETAWAYS • Colombia

Cartagena cloisters

The Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Cartagena opened its doors in April. Instead of feeling like a shiny new build resort dropped into Cartagena, the hotel is folded into the city’s history, weaving together a 16th-century cloister, restored theaters, and the historic Club Cartagena into one sprawling luxury property in Getsemaní, on the edge of the walled city.

Spanning a series of restored landmark buildings, the developers assembled a team of architects, designers, restorers, and artisans focused on preserving the property’s sense of place. Some spaces feel grand and dramatic, while others are more quiet and intimate, with breezy courtyards, colorful tiles, and lush vignettes that draw guests in.

There are two broad categories of rooms to choose from: contemporary rooms that are classic, bright, and everything I’d expect at a Four Seasons, with a chaise lounge chair and desk area. Then there are the rooms located in the historic Cloister. These so-called Colonial rooms are darker and moodier, with high ceilings, four-poster beds, and a much more unique aesthetic, plus direct access to the property’s peaceful courtyard.

It’s also home to Major Food Group’s first South American outpost with The Grand Grill (a riff on The Grill in New York City) and Bar LeLarge. On my visit just a few days after opening, a glamorous steakhouse energy was already evident at the former, and I sipped tropical cocktails made with local fruits at the latter. There’s also a lovely rooftop with two pools and a separate restaurant with panoramic views of both the city and the sea, plus Pizzeria Della Chiesa on the ground floor with a patio that spills out into the street. –Amber Love Bond

MORE at FOUND Miami

GOODS & SERVICES • Big Ticket

Select answers to the FOUND Routine query, What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?

→ EMILY STRAUSS, founder, EF Collection (LA): I bought this Chanel bag in Paris from Matthieu Blazy’s debut collection. It’s current and fresh, but also a forever bag. I just love it!

→ AYSIA CENTENO, head of membership, The Ned NoMad (NY): On a trip to Barcelona, I stumbled upon ADN Galeria and splurged on a framed print. Getting it home was a challenge, but it now anchors a corner of my apartment and instantly brings me back to Gaudí and those winding Barcelona streets. In New York, Poster House is where I’d go for something similar, as they always have beautifully curated exhibitions and prints.

→ NII-AYI EVANS, pastry chef, The Surf Club Restaurant (Miami): Recently, I bought the Roomba Plus 505 Combo Robot, and it’s been fantastic.

REAL ESTATE • California

Three for-sale properties in Montecito, CA, that came to market in the last 10 days:

→ 1060/1064 Ladera Ln (Montecito, above) • 4BR/4.1BA, 5316 SF house • Ask: $4.75M • on 45 acres in the hills, with gracious interior courtyard • Days on market: 5 • Annual tax: NA • Agent: Cristal Clarke, Berkshire Hathaway.

→ 195 Sheffield Dr (Montecito) • 4BR/4.1BA, 4074 SF house • Ask: $7.95M • Spanish hacienda w/full-floor, spa-quality primary suite • Days on market: 6 • Annual tax: $30,880 • Agent: Don Johnston, Sotheby’s.

→ 709 San Ysidro Ln (Montecito) • 4BR/5.1BA, 6000 SF house • Ask: $12.975M • 1926 Andalusian estate in Golden Triangle w/ sweeping mountain views • Days on market: 9 • Annual tax: $71,320 • Agent: Frank Abatemarco, Sotheby’s.

AROUND FOUND • Other Notable Intel & Recs

→ UPSTATE NY: When Gaskins, the Americana restaurant in Germantown, NY, closed in 2024, the small town collectively mourned and then gossiped about what would replace one of the only restaurants in town. In April, NINES finally filled the void. The space is brighter and softer. This new aesthetic aligns nicely with the food, which emphasizes Italian and French flavors and preparations, with the ingredients and twists beloved by (and local to) Hudson Valley diners.

→ CALIFORNIA: A boutique hotel smack in the middle of the Danish-themed village of Solvang in the Santa Ynez Valley, The Landsby is a sea of understated charm in the middle of what could easily be mistaken for a Hallmark movie.

→ LONDON: Traditionally a high-end destination for jewellery, watches, hats and handbags, the historic Burlington Arcade is now home to a different type of gem: master pâtissier Nicolas Rouzaud’s eye-popping pastries. Opened in January, Le Café by Nicolas Rouzaud is an elegant spot fitting of the 200-year-old shopping arcade, yet colourful and modern enough to attract a much younger clientele.

GETAWAYS LINKS: Brace: ASE (Aspen) airport closing April-November 2027 for runway shift • Checking in at new Red Cliffs Lodge Moab • A case for bringing back the Concorde • Who’s actually running the hotel?

ASK FOUND

One PROMPT for which we seek your intelligence:

• What’s your favorite restaurant that you’ve visited on your travels?

More answers or questions? Hit reply or email found@itsfound.com.

GETAWAYS • The Nines

Hawaiian villas and residences, family stay

The Nines are FOUND’s distilled lists of the best. Here, 9 villas to book in Hawaii:

• Four Seasons, Hualalai (Big Island), all 3 BR, Hawaiian Loa Presidential Villa (10 guests), Makaloa Villa (12 guests), Ho‘oneanea Villa (7 guests), all w/ second stories, ocean views, concierge team, book

Read more

On the threshold

The new Capella in Kyoto wasn’t part of the plan. I was passing through, planned a quick fly-by, but ended up staying longer than I meant to. And of course: it was my best hotel stay in at least five years.

Opened in March as the brand’s first property in Japan, it’s set on the former site of the Shinmichi Elementary School in Miyagawa-cho, with architecture by Kengo Kuma and interiors by Brewin Design Office. The concept is the modern machiya, and Kuma holds the line on it: The street façade is discreet; you slip through a shoji-lit passage inspired by Gion’s laneways, with ambient water sounds and subtle pauses that compress before they release into a tsuboniwa courtyard crowned by a karahafu roof.

The whole property reads as a sequence of thresholds rather than a destination, which is what Kyoto actually feels like when you get it right, and almost no hotel does.

The rooms match the architecture. I was in a Premier Temple king looking over Kenninji temple with the rooftops of Gion in the distance. The living space managed to be visually disciplined while staying plush where it counts, the standout detail being a small console of analog switches that control everything in the room. This sounds like a low bar, until you consider the late-night, iPad-menu scavenger hunt that defines most luxury hotels since 2015.

The service playbook is the other reason this property holds. I stay with Capella often enough now (Bangkok, Sydney, Taipei) that they understood the file when I arrived, and the choreography reflected it: fresh fruit instead of the obligatory boozy welcome amenity, yoga mat already in the room, dietaries checked once and then handled, recognition by name without unnecessary overlay. Compared to the current Four Seasons brand at scale, it feels more personal, and compared to an Aman, it feels warmer with more of a culture pulse.

The signature dining is SoNoMa by SingleThread, a partnership with Kyle and Katina Connaughton’s three-Michelin-starred Sonoma restaurant, with chef Keita Tominaga running a 12-seat counter and a 20-seat ochaya-style lounge bar. Smartly, they didn’t try to enter the kaiseki arms race in one of the most competitive kaiseki cities on earth. Instead, SoNoMa runs a California-Japan synthesis built around the produce of both the Kansai region and Dry Creek Valley, including a mango dessert I’m still thinking about three weeks later. (And I’m not a dessert-person.)

Yoi, the late-night kappo room, is the one that stayed with me for non-culinary reasons. The space is fitted with reclaimed timber and lighting from the original elementary school, so you eat dinner or have a drink under lamps a generation of Kyoto kids did their homework beneath.

The site itself is in a three-part development along Shinmichi Street, together with the restored Kaburenjo theatre and a new community center. In a city ground down by overtourism, a property with genuine local goodwill earns access in Kyoto money can’t otherwise buy. The crowd at Capella was cool, culturally fluent, and nobody was filming their breakfast (at least that I saw). It’s an important distinction in a city flooded with tourists.

For now, Capella still feels like an insider proposition, and John Blanco, the cluster GM, has the property running like a Spring Drive Grand Seiko a month in: no friction, and no openings-stiffness.

FOUND Pro: Ask for a Premier Temple room with the Kenninji view, book SoNoMa for the first night, and book a private onsen room (living room, shower, and hot spring bath) by the hour for the morning you leave. –Colin Nagy

→ Capella Kyoto (Kyoto, Japan) • 130 Komatsucho, Higashiyama Ward • Rooms from JPY 394,200 ($2475) • Book.

GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Sponsor

Bringing self-care rituals into everyday life

We leave the city searching for calm, yet rarely build it into our daily lives.

Meet The Clock by BALMUDA, the Japanese design brand known for bringing thoughtfulness and beauty into everyday life. Designed to help you step away from your screen and reconnect with the rhythm of the day, The Clock transforms routines into intentional moments of pause.

Wake gently with a fade-in Alarm, stay focused with the Timer, and unwind with Relax Mode, filling your space with ambient sound and a softly glowing dial.

A calmer, more mindful way to experience time at home.

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GOODS & SERVICES • Big Ticket

Select answers to the FOUND Routine query, What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?

→ JENNIFER HOREV, chief brand officer & co-founder, Pura Vida (Miami): I bought the Bottega Veneta Andiamo Large Suede bag a few seasons ago, but with how much I’ve been traveling lately, I find myself reaching for it constantly. It’s one of those rare bags that’s both beautiful and incredibly functional. It’s spacious enough to hold everything: laptop, extra pair of shoes, even another handbag, but still feels elevated and polished. The shoulder strap makes it easy for travel, too. Highly recommend, if you want something that can truly do it all, without compromising on style.

→ TELLY JUSTICE, executive chef & co-owner, HAGS (NY): I just got a Mill home composting receptacle. It’s not cheap, but this thing is magical. You can throw almost any food scrap in there and within hours it’s transformed into healthy, gorgeous, aromatic dirt. We use it at the restaurant and it’s totally changed my relationship to composting. Whenever I bring it up to people in conversation, inevitably they’ll ask me if it’s truly worth the price. The answer is yes. Hard yes.

→ SARIT PACKER & ITAMAR SRULOVICH, co-founders, Honey & Co (LDN): Our biggest indulgence is art – we love the work of Kate Boxer. We have our eye on one of her prints so we’re waiting for a big birthday to splurge. If someone is looking for a gift idea for us, we wouldn’t mind one of Simon Gaiger’s works in our living room.

RESTAURANTS • New York

Pizza, party

Summer’s finally here, and Balera is ready. Opened in March in East Williamsburg, it’s one of the city’s most fun restaurants, new or otherwise, with a kitchen cranking until 1a on weekends serving some of its best new pizza, too.

Behind it, the culinary director/co-owner of La Rina and Brescola, and wine distributor Lorenzo Rubini (among others) and a pitch-perfect origin story: Italian expats meet in New York, become friends, come back from day of surfing, decide to open their own spot. Which is exactly what it feels like, a sun-kissed pizza party replanted onto Graham Avenue after being ripped straight outta Rimini (the Romagna coast beach destination Rubini hails from, and where the first balera — a kind of traditional Italian dance hall — opened in 1910).

Call it “coastal Italian” if you’ve gotta; for my money, it’s more “cosmo Italian” or just “Italo disco.” The tired Italian seafood menus slapped with the former label around the city, this ain’t. This is unfinicky Italian party food, done masterfully, framed by an extremely reasonable, mostly Italian wine list of natural and traditional, plus (befitting a party spot) a punchy grower-only biodynamic champagne section and novel cocktails (including a “DOCG” Martini, gin and vermouth mixed with a three-day-aged Parmigiana Reggiano infused reduction). As for the plates, they read like a rundown of dishes perfect for post-gaming a long day at the beach or pre-gaming a big night out. –Foster Kamer

MORE at FOUND NY

GETAWAYS • Kent, England

Sweet deal

A few miles inland from Deal on the Kent coast, restaurant-with-rooms Updown Farmhouse has been serving Italian-influenced feasts from its wood-fired grill since 2022. Now, guests can sip fig leaf Negronis and aperitivi from its sassy cocktail spot, Bar Vita, which opened earlier this year.

Hospitality is an art and a craft, and owners Ruth Leigh and Oli Brown have serious game in both: front-of-house Leigh grew up in the business, while chef Brown is a veteran of Le Café Anglais. They’ve confidently built a dedicated following at Updown with their casual, family-friendly approach, great value weeknight set menus, and regular visiting chefs, from Adejoké Bakare (Chishuru) to Max Rocha (Café Cecilia), along with Jeremy Lee (Quo Vadis) and Henry Harris (Bouchon Racine).

The house itself is a renovated 17th-century farmstead that’s welcoming and generous in every sense, from deep beds and huge baths to an honesty bar. A pool opened last year. My favourite of the 10 rooms is bedroom three, which enjoys a corner spot in the main house with views across the treetops. Groups and families can take Fig Tree cottage, a two-bed suite, the brand new Beech Cottage, which sleeps six, or interconnecting rooms in The Stables. –Sophie Morris

MORE at FOUND LDN

REAL ESTATE • Netherlands

Three for-sale waterfront properties in Amsterdam that came to market in the last 14 days asking 2-3M €.

→ Hilverbeekstraat 32 (Markengouw-Zuid) • 5BR/3BA, 272 M2 detached villa • Ask: 2.15M € • on green lot in quiet residential setting w/ folding glass façade overlooking water • Days on market: 11 • Agent: Peter van den Berg, DSTRCT | Forbes Global Properties.

→ Herengracht 263 (Felix Meritisbuurt, above) • 3BR/2BA, 193 M2 canal house • Ask: 2.465M € • 1620 house on prestigious stretch of canal, renovated in 2000 • Days on market: 10 • Agent: Joshua Somogyi, Amster Vastgoed.

→ Prinsengracht 989 (Vijzelstraatbuurt) • 5BR/2BA, 288 M2 canal house • Ask: 2.95M € • 5 floors w/ 120 M2 garden on canal in city center • Days on market: 3 • Agent: Babs Persoons.

AROUND FOUND • Other Notable Intel & Recs

→ HAWAII: Spanning 81 acres on the Kona Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii, Kona Village (a Rosewood Resort) has reimagined the former Kona Village Resort that was mostly destroyed in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. A relic of this pre-tsunami era is Shipwreck Bar, housed in the former schooner of the resort’s original owner. The bar mixes nostalgic yet reimagined tropical cocktails inspired by characters of local lore like “Mick, The Jungle Bird,” alongside a selection of tiki drinks. For the rest of 2026, Kona Village is hosting cocktail pop-ups centered around Shipwreck Bar, bringing in mixology stars from all over to sling drinks this summer and fall.

→ SF: Giulio De Monte Gaspardo, a former sommelier at Bottega in Yountville, has just opened Polenta, a cozy new restaurant in Alamo Square dedicated to his native Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of northeastern Italy. With the flavors and wine as dialed in as they are, this place is all but certain to be a sleeper hit in the coming months.

→ LDN: Despite the French-sounding moniker, Auguste is actually Italian (it’s named after a clown in a painting that features in its colourful dining room). It opened in April just off London Fields, and retains the structure of the site’s previous resident, beloved seafood restaurant Papi. It’s offering great value for unusual fare in a lively spot that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

GETAWAYS LINKS: Aman opens bookings for new Mexican resort Amanvari, debuting 08/01 • My unfiltered thoughts on new Six Senses London • Galicia becoming second-home bolt-hole for the climate conscious • Six new waterside getaways for the summer • A few roadtrip crib notes.

ASK FOUND

One PROMPT for which we seek your intelligence:

• What’s your favorite restaurant that you’ve visited on your travels?

More answers or questions? Hit reply or email found@itsfound.com.

RESTAURANTS • The Nines

Roof terraces, London

The Nines are FOUND’s distilled lists of the best.

• Forza Wine (Peckham), impeccable views, flatbreads and snacks in former car park

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Three for-sale properties in Nantucket that came to market in the last 30 days.

→ 76 Sankaty Rd (‘Sconset, above) • 3BR/2.1BA, 1668 SF house • Ask: $3.45M • ‘Blue Whale,’ just off the bike path, HDC-approved expansion and pool plans • Days on market: 3 • Annual tax: $8,434 • Agent: Laura Belair, Great Point Properties.

→ 156 Madaket Rd (Madaket) • 6BR/4.1BA, 3741 SF house• Ask: $7.75M • on almost 2 acres, renovated in ‘24, including new septic • Days on market: 16 • Annual tax: $9,619 • Agent: Spencer Heydt, Fisher Real Estate.

→ 16 India St (Old Historic District) • 3BR/3.1BA, 7,2326 SF house • Ask: $8.2M • 14K-SF lot in town, same ownership for 55 years • Days on market: 14 • Annual tax: $13,883 • Agent: Liza Ottani, Lee Real Estate.

GETAWAYS • FOUNDLISTING

The Storybook Coast

Explore Carmel-by-the-Sea, one long weekend at a time

Few places in the world compare to Carmel-by-the-Sea — the quaint town favors whimsical cottages and secret passageways that encourage wandering more than overplanning. Originally an artist colony, Carmel has managed to maintain an endearing charisma and picturesque allure. Days unfold here between the white-sand Carmel Beach, locally sourced dining, and hidden courtyards lined with independently owned galleries and shops. Just a couple hours south of San Francisco, it feels refreshingly analog, the kind of place that rewards lingering a little longer.

→ Book a trip: Carmel-by-the-Sea [spon]

GOODS & SERVICES • Big Ticket

Select answers to the FOUND Routine query, What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?

→ CHLOE FRECHETTE & PAUL MCGEE, partners, Echo Lake (NY): Last summer we bought a 1984 Mercedes station wagon to cruise around in. It can barely make it up hills, but on a flat road with the windows down, a cassette playing, and the dogs in the back, it feels like heaven.

→ MICHAEL SCHWARTZ, chef & restaurateur, The Genuine Hospitality Group (Miami, above): My Triumph Bonneville T-100 motorcycle!!

→ CLAIRE WADSWORTH & NIKKI HILL, owner & GM / owner & chef, La Copine (LA): Massages. Get one every time you’re on vacation. Also, oracle readings — support your local witches. And to our customers, we can’t recommend a trip to Joshua Tree without also recommending a visit to the Integratron and Noah Purifoy Outdoor Art Museum.

RESTAURANTS • London

Remix to ignition

High-end Mayfair Japanese restaurant Humo has been restyled and reimagined as Igni, a restaurant that draws inspiration from its open-fire stove, under ex-Cycene chef Theo Clench. Visually, Igni appears almost identical to Humo. The narrow space offers both countertop (ideal for watching the chefs in action) and table seating, and the vibe is refined and expensive, though not ostentatious. Service is very attentive and friendly, particularly from the sommelier.

From the menu, choose between three, five and eight courses, all of which showcase Clench’s love of seafood. The bread course, a bao-inspired potato bun served with burned leek butter, is immensely satisfying — if this bread was for sale, I’d buy it weekly. Some of the dishes, like the asparagus and the turbot, are over-presented and over-tweezered. Others, like the hogget, are aptly balanced and compelling, making great use of the live fire. Desserts are top-notch, especially apple sorbet, and silken tofu served with melted chocolate. –Emily Zemler

MORE at FOUND LDN

GOODS & SERVICES • New York

A plus

As a Southern California native and longtime Miamian who sometimes grows wistful over the spa and wellness culture of my former homelands, Sage + Sound hits a sweet spot. The upscale Upper East Side wellness complex, situated behind a storefront of interconnected businesses on Third Avenue, is anchored by a spa and “study,” which offers daily classes and workshops from meditation to movement.

Sage + Sound’s spa lineup includes facials, bodywork, and lymphatic drainage treatments. Facials feature a range of advanced techniques, including microcurrent, radio frequency, and negative ion oxygen therapy, using products like Biologique Recherche. I keep coming back for the blissful 90-minute Face and Body Lymphatic Ritual, a head-to-toe lymphatic massage, including a hot oil scalp treatment and the intraoral buccal method, followed by a private infrared sauna session with lemon water and detox tea for the road. I emerge feeling reborn and freshly swaddled. Acupuncture and energy healing are also on offer and the shop sells an array of beauty products. –Shayne Benowitz

MORE at FOUND NY

AROUND FOUND • Other Notable Intel & Recs

→ NY: FOUND’s summer previews for The Hamptons and Upstate New York detail the new restaurants and hotels we’re most excited about this summer.

→ NY: Chef Hasung Lee, who ran the kitchen at Atomix and is also known for his star turn as “Culinary Monster” on Korean cooking show Culinary Class Wars, struck out on his own earlier this month and opened Oyatte in a Murray Hill townhouse. Over a series of preview dinners and the real deal, FOUND team members Kat Odell, Lee Pitofsky, and Lockhart Steele each dined there and came together to share their experiences.

→ Miami: Restaurateur Stephen Starr’s latest Miami opening has officially landed with Slim’s, taking over the former Makoto space and replacing Le Zoo, Starr’s previous restaurant at Bal Harbour Shops. A moody, vintage-inspired steakhouse dripping in old-school glamour, it’s got the relaxed polish of a Houston’s with a more bespoke, less-boxed-experience touch.

→ SF: Formerly Cafe Flore (and more recently rebranded as a short-lived restaurant called Fisch & Flore), the highly central Castro cafe at Noe and Market just reopened with a makeover from Cow Hollow wine bar owner Jacob Paronyan. The new business, Parasol at Cafe Flore, is a better fit for a long-beloved space and an historic neighborhood.

GETAWAYS LINKS: Following long soft opening, W Sardinia officially opens • Checking in at new Park Hyatt Cabo del Sol • On taste and travel, and what the best-of awards don’t tell you • The hottest reservation on the Amalfi Coast this summer.

ASK FOUND

One PROMPT for which we seek your intelligence:

• What’s your favorite restaurant that you’ve visited on your travels?

More answers or questions? Hit reply or email found@itsfound.com.

GETAWAYS • Nice

Make it Nice

Read more

• We’re newly on the search for an editorial assistant. It’s a fractional job requiring 5-10 hours per week, and includes organizing FOUND’s editorial calendar, communicating with contributors, updating FOUND’s website, and if you please, some writing. The position’s remote, though the ideal candidate is based in a FOUND city.

• Speaking of, the wheels are turning on new FOUND cities. We’re looking for contributors based in Chicago, New Orleans, Hawaii, plus Sydney and Melbourne. These are very flexible freelance roles that don’t necessarily require a professional writing background — mostly passion about FOUND categories along with impeccable taste. Is that you, or a friend?

• We need a paid social guru to manage a small spend.

If any of these opportunities excite you, drop us a line at found@itsfound.com and tell us a little bit about yourself.

REAL ESTATE • First Mover

Speaking of New Orleans, three for-sale properties in the Crescent City that came to market in the last 30 days.

→ 6226 St Charles Ave (Audubon, above) • 9BR/9.2BA, 7992 SF house • Ask: $3.1995M • one block from Audubon Park, 1903 home, first time to market in 75 years • Days on market: 7 • Annual tax: NA • Agent: Shaun Talbot, Talbot Realty.

→ 1812 Palmer Ave (Audubon) • 6BR/5.1BA, 760 SF house• Ask: $3.35M • ‘The Jewel of Palmer,’ fully renovated in 2023-24 • Days on market: 4 • Annual tax: $20,914 • Agents: Neil Maki & Brent Talavera, McEnery Residential.

→ 2727 St Charles Ave (Garden District) • 10BR/10.1BA, 7671 SF house • Ask: $3.2M • currently configured as B&B w/ top-floor owner’s suite, JazzFest posters not included! • Days on market: 29 • Annual tax: $24,340 • Agent: Brittany Picolo, Keller Williams.

GETAWAYS • Tokyo

Tokyo zigzag

The thirsty greenscreeners of luxury travel Instagram would have you believe there’s no other place to stay in Tokyo than the Aman. Sure, the hotel is genuinely excellent. It’s also filled to the brim with some of the world’s most annoying people.

Pan out, and the city’s luxury hotel landscape (if you know where to look) is one of the world’s most interesting. Tokyo’s always rewarded curious travelers looking just past the consensus. Three properties in particular deserve more of that conversation.

At the edge of the Imperial Palace East Gardens, Palace Hotel Tokyo occupies about as prime a position as you can get in town. It’s also perfectly placed for an early morning run among the immaculately-clad Japanese runners on a park loop that holds up in all seasons (start very early in Tokyo’s summertime furnace heat, however). The Palace isn’t trying to impress you with volume or spectacle. It’s old-school, attracting passionate staff who don’t tend to defect to other brands.

That starts with the guest experience: built on restraint and precision, rooted in anticipatory service, with a sense of formality that never tips into stiffness. A quick survey of the breakfast room confirmed that, get this, there are still Western travelers with decorum who understand that Ex Officio outfits from REI might be inappropriate for all occasions. The rooms looking onto the moat and pines are among the finest urban views available at any price point in Asia; be sure to opt for one with a balcony (one category up from the entry room). This is what traditional Japanese luxury looks like when it’s assembled by people who actually believe in it.

•••

Hotel Okura‘s Heritage wing is a different kind of argument. The lobby was immaculately restored to its original 1962 glory, and remains one of the great interior spaces in the city: pendant lamps, latticed screens, hexagonal motifs running through the furniture, all showcasing postwar Japan’s attempt to synthesize Modernism with its own design traditions (also see: the elegant Seiko world clock). The location is steps from the American Embassy in Toranomon. Given the proximity to the Ginza Line, it’s also among the best in the city for anyone whose Tokyo visit is also a working one.

Selected suites in the Heritage Wing include steam rooms, a grace note easy to overlook in the booking process, and difficult to forget after that first time you climb into it, fresh from Haneda. Take a morning stroll into the perfectly manicured park adjacent to the hotel, then settle in for breakfast at Yamamoto, the hotel’s Japanese restaurant. It’s the kind of meal that makes you reconsider your assumptions about what a hotel breakfast can be: grilled fish, dashi, pickled vegetables, perfectly cooked rice, immaculate staff in traditional dress. There’s a reason Thom Browne stays here.

•••

On the edge of Yoyogi Park, Trunk Hotel is the outlier in this trio. Where the other two trade in heritage and institutional gravitas, Trunk is unambiguously contemporary, a design-forward property that’s solved a problem most boutique hotels can’t: how to have a genuine point of view that doesn’t get in the way of a good night’s sleep. The pool overlooking the park’s canopy (above) is the knockout differentiator, especially in autumn, when you can watch the leaves turning (let alone the spring bloom).

Rooms are designed by people who appear to have actually stayed in many hotels and thought carefully about what they would change. The location, adjacent to Yoyogi, gives the property a residential feeling miles away from corporate luxury. Eat an excellent Neapolitan pizza on site at L’ombelico, then take a short walk around the corner for an espresso and people-watching at Fuglen. Book early, as the property regularly sells out.

Clearly, this city doesn’t have a hotel problem; far from it. It’s got a recommendation problem. Some of the city’s best stuff isn’t impossible to find, and only requires turning your head just a few degrees past where everyone else is looking. –Colin Nagy

→ Palace Hotel Tokyo (Chiyoda City, Tokyo) • 1 Chome-1-1 Marunouchi • Rates from $451/night.
→ The Okura Tokyo (Minato City, Tokyo) • 2 Chome-10-4 Toranomon • Rates from $650/night.
→ Trunk Hotel, Yoyogi Park (Shibuya, Tokyo) • 1 Chome-15-2 Tomigaya • Rates from $500/night.

GOODS & SERVICES • Big Ticket

Select answers to the FOUND Routine query, What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?

→ EYAL SHANI, chef, Good People Group (Miami): I recently purchased the Leica M6 film camera. I’ve always loved Leica as a brand for the quality, the history, and the precision. There is nothing quite like it. I had my eye on the M6 for many years, but I was never generous with myself. Last week, I decided to change that and allow myself to indulge. What makes it special is the way it teaches you to see. You have to train your brain to work manually, to be patient, to be precise, and in doing so, you begin to tell stories in a new way.

→ SYLVIA WHITMAN, bookshop owner, Shakespeare and Company (Paris): A special Paris treat is a facial at AIME.

→ SARAH LEWITINN PATTERSON, co-owner & guest relations, Jacaranda (LA): To be honest, the most recent big-ticket purchase I made was this freaking restaurant. I can’t stress enough how expensive opening a restaurant with your own money can be. I guess before that, I spent the very last of my remaining money on getting 80 units of Botox from my neck up. I asked the nurse to “freeze my fucking face and neck.” Thankfully, that was still good by the time we did our press photos.

GETAWAYS LINKS: The global private club boom has a blind spot • Auberge debuts in Africa with 9 luxe safari lodges and camps • Anticipated new resort Siari, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, opens on Mexico’s Pacific coast • Nantucket v Aspen • The West Country of England’s food renaissance • What’s the current deal with hotel booking sites?

GETAWAYS • Italy

Message in a bottle

Through a gate, up the hill, around the turn, and, suddenly, the Selvadolce estate reveals itself. A breathtaking view of the sea stretching as far as the eye can reach, vines facing the sun, rows lined with bright green grass dotted with small yellow flowers. It leaves you momentarily speechless. As Selvadolce’s proprietor Aris Blancardi puts it: how could you make bad wine from a place like this?

And yet: Blancardi tasted the wines made here before he converted the family vineyard from conventional farming to biodynamic, and couldn’t believe the difference. The same land, the same grapes, yet entirely different expressions. One is shaped by control, almost fear; the other, by trust in nature.

He believes many winemakers in the region, by the French-Italian border, struggle to trust their land. Liguria is not easy, with its steep terraces, dry conditions, and constant exposure. But still, Blancardi says, “If the French had Liguria, they would have made a second Burgundy.” Standing there, facing the sun and the sea, mountains at your back, the idea of the cosmos suddenly feels tangible. –Candice Chemel

MORE at FOUND Paris

GOODS & SERVICES • London

Tactile experience

Present & Correct is obsessively ordered in a way that would make Wes Anderson swoon. The Islington shop lines pens, notebooks, files and rulers with fittingly geometric precision, each item resting in its place as if part of a diagram. Colours are muted, materials chosen for tactility and balance, and everything from paperweights to staplers is arranged to maximise visual symmetry.

There’s a quiet satisfaction in moving through the aisles: The layout imposes calm, and even the smallest decision – testing a pen, flipping a notebook, stroking brush bristles – is, inasmuch as it can be, a bliss-inducing retail experience.

Among the stationery lie little ephemera Easter eggs: 1980s Crayola bags or 1970s Dutch Summer stamps. It shows how mass-produced tools of daily life can, with time, acquire the weight of cultural artefacts. In bringing together the utilitarian and the collectible, the shop underscores how design history is not only preserved in museums but also in the overlooked objects we once used daily (and now in the technological age, perhaps took for granted). –Amy-Rose Holland

MORE at FOUND LDN

AROUND FOUND • Other Notable Intel & Recs

→ NY: In a downtown increasingly crowded with concept restaurant openings, Cleo works as something simpler (and arguably, harder to pull off): a genuinely good restaurant that turns neighbors into regulars, and makes visitors wish they were neighbors.

→ LA: Opened late last year on a quieter stretch of York in Highland Park, self-proclaimed “Japanese brunch bistro” Ine is a polished, attentive izakaya, with modern touches and some restrained fusion from chef Sang Tae. The dining room is a respite on a cool evening. Mostly two tops and bar seats, it provides an intimate setting for close conversation.

→ SF: Sol Bakery owner Marisa Williams grew up in the Haight, then started baking her way through SF. She spent several years mastering croissants in Copenhagen before swinging back to the Bay, where she launched Sol Bakery as a pop-up in 2024. In April, she debuted a permanent space in NoPa. At 8a on a recent Friday, the queue ran down the quiet residential block.

ASK FOUND

One PROMPT for which we seek your intelligence:

• What’s your favorite restaurant that you’ve visited on your travels?

More answers or questions? Hit reply or email found@itsfound.com.

RESTAURANTS • The Nines

Hot new restaurants, NYC

The Nines are FOUND’s distilled lists of the best of the best.

• Marcel (Upper East Side), mostly French cooking from La Mercerie team inside Breuer Building’s dramatic downstairs setting, intel

Read more

• We’re newly on the search for an editorial assistant. It’s a fractional job requiring 5-10 hours per week, and includes organizing FOUND’s editorial calendar, communicating with contributors, updating FOUND’s website, and if you please, some writing. The position is remote, though the ideal candidate will be based in a FOUND city.

• Speaking of, the wheels are turning on new FOUND cities. We’re looking for contributors based in Chicago, New Orleans, Hawaii, plus Sydney and Melbourne. These are very flexible freelance roles that don’t necessarily require a professional writing background — mostly passion about FOUND categories along with impeccable taste. Is that you, or a friend?

• We need a paid social guru to manage a small spend.

If any of these opportunities excite you, drop us a line at found@itsfound.com and tell us a little bit about yourself.

GOODS & SERVICES • Big Ticket

Select answers to the FOUND Routine query, What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?

→ HASUNG LEE, head chef & owner, Oyatte (NY, above): I recently purchased Cook the Mountain by the three-star Italian chef Norbert Niederkofler. His narrative and philosophy on sustainable cooking are fascinating and have been a great source of inspiration lately.

→ ARASH HASHEMI, creator, ShredHappens & Kaizen Food Company (Miami): Hiring an AI coach. As both a creator and consumer packaged goods co-founder, I’m beginning to understand that leveraging AI and integrating it into what I do day to day isn’t optional anymore. I wanted to go beyond surface-level experimentation and understand how to build systems around it so I can operate more efficiently and ultimately serve my community at a higher level. It’s taking some adjustment, but I’m already learning a ton.

→ PAULINE GAUTHIER, head of food, drinks & agrifoodtech, Business France – UK & Ireland (LDN): I bought my electric bike from Compton Cycles, where the team is brilliant. To me, cycling is the best way to travel across London – you don’t get crushed on the tube and you discover new corners of our city every day.

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GETAWAYS LINKS: Anticipated St. Regis Costa Mujeres, Cancun sets 06/25 opening, reservations now open • Nobu planning country escape on 185 acres in English countryside • Morocco’s Waldorf Astoria Rabat-Salé opens in Africa’s third-tallest skyscraper • Farm-fresh hotels • 50 details that make a hotel so f’ing good.

RESTAURANTS • New York

Concrete jungle

The base of the staircase to the subterranean dining room at 945 Madison — the famous Breuer Building on the Upper East Side — is (like most of the building) fashioned from concrete. It’s a grand entrance into one of New York City’s very best dining rooms, which as of last month is home to the new restaurant Marcel.

Walking down that staircase for the first time since 2019, when chef Ignacio Mattos operated the terrific Flora Bar here, I was struck anew by the room itself: double-height ceilings framing windows looking out across the building’s unique moat and up to Madison Avenue. This time around, the restaurant space is in the hands of the design group Roman and Williams, who own and operate Marcel in partnership with Sotheby’s. Here, they’ve applied their luxurious style with lots of new dark walnut for the bar area, dining room, and the ceiling that overhangs about half of the room.

Still, no amount of wood can win out over the brilliance of the brutalist concrete structure, the work of architect Marcel Breuer, who designed the building for The Whitney in the ’60s (Sotheby’s bought the building in 2024 as its new headquarters).

Seated at a banquette situated just outside the perimeter of that wood ceiling on Saturday night, our group of four soaked up the menu, a very fancy, mostly French affair. Besides their design aesthetic, Roman and Williams have brought Marie-Aude Rose uptown (from their straight-ahead French restaurant La Mercerie in Soho), to cook in the open kitchen tucked into the restaurant’s rear corner. Here, she’s doing more sophisticated work. –Lockhart Steele

MORE at FOUND NY

GOODS & SERVICES • Paris

Memory cabinet

Tucked just off the Palais-Royal across from France’s Ministry of Culture, the new boutique GIFTSHOP is easy to miss. There’s no flashy storefront, just a discreet door marked with the name. Ring the doorbell and climb the beautiful old staircase to the second floor, where the boutique subtly reveals itself.

A highly curated, design-led souvenir concept that’s part boutique, part creative studio, GIFTSHOP produces objects tied to the city’s best addresses, old and new. Inside the apartment-like space, a bistro table is set with linens from La Fontaine de Mars, Café des Ministres wine glasses, and an ashtray from La Closerie des Lilas, objects that carry the memory of crowded tables and slow, sunlit afternoons. In the next room, a wooden cabinet holds bistro plates from Brasserie Lipp, Le Paul Bert, and Au Pied de Cochon, their typography instantly recognizable to anyone who has lingered late into the evening at these iconic Parisian establishments.

A polished brass luggage cart, more hôtel particulier than retail fixture, holds a varsity jacket, scarves, and colorful hats from Folderol. And the pièce de résistance, an orange bike from À la Mère de la Famille (whose craques might be among the most addictive chocolates in Paris), leans against the wall. Each item is part of the setting, yet everything is for sale. –Sam Brenzel

MORE at FOUND Paris

AROUND FOUND • Other Notable Intel & Recs

→ NY: In Midtown, Bar Chimera is the latest brainchild of restaurateur Simon Kim. Coming off the juggernaut that is Cocodaq, Kim’s viral fried chicken restaurant, it must be said that the man knows how to give the people what they want. In this case, it’s martinis.

→ MIAMI: San Juan’s historic oceanfront resort on Condado Beach, La Concha, completed an extensive $80 million renovation last year, including a guestroom redesign, three new restaurants, and a new spa and salon. Puerto Rico knows how to party, and this is especially evident on La Concha’s pool deck, with three infinity-edge pools, and late nights at the oceanfront Fifty Eight nightclub. The people-watching is superb.

→SF: Chef Christopher Kostow, who remains on an extended, fire-related hiatus from his lauded Napa spot Restaurant at Meadowood, got into the bagel business in 2022 with the opening of Loveski Deli at Napa’s Oxbow Public Market. His modern take on Jewish deli fare — in particular. the Montreal-by-way-of-Cali-style bagels — became a hit spawning a Larkspur location, and in March, an outpost in the heart of San Francisco’s Jackson Square.

REAL ESTATE • First Mover

Three for-sale single-family residences in Traverse City, MI, that came to market in the last 14 days.

→ 2770 Nelson Rd (Traverse City, above) • 4BR/2.2BA, 2,626 SF single-family • Ask: $2.5M • on Old Mission Peninsula w/ boat slip and panoramic Bay views • Days on market: 11 • Annual tax: $6,675 • Agent: Shawn Schmidt, Coldwell Banker Schmidt.

→ 55 S Hope Ridge (Traverse City) • 15BR/11BA, 15383 SF multi-family • Ask: $3.5M • 8 homes and 4 barns over 40 acres • Days on market: 9 • Annual tax: $NA • Agent: Matthew Dakoske, RE/MAX Bayshore.

→ 3515 Jefferson Ave (Traverse City) • 5BR/2.2BA, 5724 SF house • Ask: $3.85M • 1880 house on 10 acres atop Jefferson Hill • Days on market: 6 • Annual tax: $6873 • Agent: Jennifer Gaston, RE/MAX Bayshore.

ASK FOUND

One fresh PROMPT for which we seek your intelligence:

• What’s your favorite restaurant that you’ve visited on your travels?

More answers or questions? Hit reply or email found@itsfound.com.

GETAWAYS • Amsterdam

Dutch treats

FOUND checks into two unique styles of luxe digs in the heart of Amsterdam, with rare plant-focused dining experiences.

“You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another,” Hemingway once wrote. I disagree. In Rome, the gluten-phobic slurps glossy carbonara. In the Marrakech souk, the bashful traveler transforms into a cunning haggler. And in Amsterdam, a weed-shy journalist might find herself taking leisurely puffs while strolling along the canal, the sun shimmering on the water on a rare blue-skied March day.

Recently, I traveled to Amsterdam in search of a relaxing, so-called adult vacation. I had booked stays in two high-end hotels, each with its own distinct take on luxury. It was a chance to get away from the relentless, capricious Paris scene; to eavesdrop on a new language with its own melodies; to let my eyes trace the high windows and brick façades and curvy roofs of the local architectural style. I would bike. I would chill. I would embrace the city and its cultural offerings, delicious surprises and all.

In the central but relatively calm museum district (the “Upper East Side” of Amsterdam, as one staffer put it) sits Conservatorium, a former bank turned music conservatory turned luxury hotel, recently acquired and recast by Mandarin Oriental.

Read more

Upper peninsula

London’s luxury hotel market is — depending on your tolerance for legacy and letdown — either one of the world’s great collections, or a study in diminishing returns. Classics like Claridge’s, The Connaught, and The Lanesborough earn their reputations through accumulated idiosyncrasy and a kind of benign institutional stubbornness. The newer entrants are more mixed: some impressive, others struggling to justify their rates with build quality that doesn’t hold up on close inspection.

The Peninsula opened on Hyde Park Corner in 2023. Sir Michael Kadoorie’s group spent enormously, and it shows in the way that actually matters: the materials. Stone, wood-lined hallways, bronze, joinery — nothing here feels value-engineered. The pool and gym are exceptional, both the kind of amenities that earn the rate rather than merely justifying it on paper. Even the hue of the poolside light makes you forget you’re in a sub-basement in the middle of London.

Arrival is warm and pitch-perfect. The location rewards the decision too: Belgravia, Knightsbridge, St. James’s, and Marylebone are all walkable, giving the hotel a geographic optionality most London properties at this price point can’t match. You’re also surrounded by some of the finest parks in the world.

The tech is its own subplot. Kadoorie’s well-documented affection for Q-branch theatrics manifests throughout. The Toto toilet features a control panel that could plausibly launch a small satellite. Lighting adjusts in barely noticeable increments. A valet appears to collect laundry from a private box at the entry with minimal prompting. Suites have printers, AV, and other electronics connections that most hotels quietly retired years ago. (Most guests won’t use them, but they’re there, which is precisely the point.) Even the lens cloth left near glasses on turndown is high quality. The coffee served throughout the property is exceptional. All of this is the result of someone, somewhere, caring about details well past the point of commercial logic.

The food program has range. The club sandwich is one of those deceptively simple tests a hotel kitchen either passes or fails; Peninsula passes convincingly. Little Blue, the casual spot restaurant on-site, serves dim sum and dan dan noodles at a level that would be notable in a standalone context, let alone within a hotel’s. Canton Blue, anchoring the main dining, channels the group’s Hong Kong origins with real conviction rather than decorative nostalgia.

On departure, the bell team knocked at exactly the requested time. Clockwork, delivered with Peninsula’s characteristic consistency across the brand.

This isn’t cozy or clubby — it won’t feel like an old members’ club with Brompton sofas that have lived several lives. But that’s not the point. Peninsula London is a new hotel that doesn’t cut the corners other luxury brands are increasingly addicted to. In a market where that’s a rarer proposition than it should be, it earns its place at the top. –Colin Nagy

→ The Peninsula London (Belgravia) • 1 Grosvenor Pl • Rates from around £1200/night.

ASK FOUND

One PROMPT for which we seek your intelligence:

• What’s your favorite restaurant that you’ve visited on your travels?

More answers or questions? Hit reply or email found@itsfound.com.

RESTAURANTS • London

Game on

Sally Abé made her name at Fulham gastropub The Harwood Arms before setting up The Pem, a female-run fine dining restaurant in a Westminster hotel. After a stint at The Bull at Charlbury in the Cotswolds, she opened her first independent restaurant, Teal by Sally Abé, in Hackney last month.

The food is elegant, original, and nostalgic. Abé has revived retro British dishes such as locket’s savoury, a rarebit-like snack of melted stilton on toast with a sweet kick of wafer-thin pear. It’s worth ordering most of the appetisers, including devils on horseback (bacon-wrapped prunes stuffed with thin chicken liver parfait) and the more substantial brawn Scotch egg. Starters are similarly strong: there’s bacon (a theme), thick, pork belly-like slices with tangy crème fraîche, shimeji mushrooms and the most marvellous, delicate sliver of pork scratching. We went heavy on starters and picked just one main: a generously portioned beef sirloin with outstanding, flaky short rib, punchy wild garlic sauce and soft, sweet onion.

Playful, nostalgic and wonderfully original, Teal brings out the best of British cuisine in what is undoubtedly one of the London openings of the year. –Laura Price

MORE at FOUND LDN

RESTAURANTS • San Francisco

Chicken out

New izakaya TBD is a bit of a full circle moment: After nearly two decades of eating across San Francisco, one of my few regrets is never making it to the original Akikos, a Folsom St. omakase trailblazer opened by the Lee family way back in 1987. Son Ray Lee took over the business in 2009. I didn’t exactly have omakase budget back then, and in 2023 Lee moved Akikos to a glittering high-rise in the East Cut, soon after he opened the exclusive Friends Only in Nob Hill. But now Ray Lee has turned the former Akikos space in FiDi into TBD, with Hina Yakitori chef Tommy Cleary running this grill.

TBD has a freshly painted deep blue exterior, opening up into a rich, walnut wood interior. It’s kept its weirdly perfect layout for a Japanese restaurant, with the best seats pulling up to the long omakase counter, and a few tables tucked into the front corners and the back room.

The showstopping hot karaage (above) is a complete claw, outstandingly crunchy and drenched in honey-butter-chile glaze. Cleary told FOUND he’s been ordering whole heritage birds, with less breast meat and dark red thighs. And Lee has gotten him into dry-aging, so they’re hanging those parts for several days. You hate to ever call chicken chewy, but he really pulls out so much flavor and texture into every last tidbit. It’s an exceptional chicken dinner, at a laidback izakaya price. –Becky Duffett

MORE at FOUND SF

GOODS & SERVICES • Big Ticket

Select answers to the FOUND Routine query, What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?

→ COLLEEN BROOKS, co-founder, Moss (NY): Medicube Age-R Booster Pro. This was a no-brainer purchase for me about two months ago. The funny part is, I finally took it out of the box this past weekend, tried it once, and now I can’t wait to make it part of my daily routine. It honestly felt like a legit at-home facial.

→ MATTHEW ACCARRINO, athlete & chef, Mattina & SPQR (SF): My new Ventum racing bike. I spend a dozen hours or more on it a week!

→ VERONICA DEL ROSARIO, co-founder & chief brand officer, Smalls (NY): How big a ticket are we talking? We got a Rivian a few months ago and it feels like a major life upgrade from our Muskmobile. If a bit smaller, these Overland sheepskins made such a cozy difference in our house through the winter. So did our Carepods in our bedroom and the nursery! One more thing: we got this Alice Waters Tuscan Grill to do some fireplace cooking.

REAL ESTATE • First Mover

Three for-sale properties in Dallas that came to market in the last 14 days.

→ 7310 Dominique Dr (Lakewood) • 4BR/3.2BA, 5416 SF house • Ask: $3.25M • classic home adjacent SoPac Trail • Days on market: 4 • Annual tax: $50,158 • Agent: Chris Hickman, Ebby Halliday.

→ 7122 Lakewood Blvd (Lakewood) • 4BR/4.2BA, 6929 SF house • Ask: $4.25M • dramatic staircase, bar, ‘resort style’ backyard • Days on market: 11 • Annual tax: $45,699 • Agent: David Bush, David Bush Realtors.

→ 10920 Strait Ln (Preston Hollow, above) • 6BR/8.2BA, 11,211 SF house • Ask: $9.99M • clean lines, big spaces, 5-car garage • Days on market: 3 • Annual tax: $26,028 • Agent: Eric Narosov, Allie Beth Allman & Assoc. Open house Sun 1-3p.

AROUND FOUND • Other Notable Intel & Recs

→ NY: Chef Hirohisa Hayashi has recast his acclaimed Soho kaiseki restaurant Hirohisa into Soba Ulala, a place that honors Hirohisa’s same principles of pristine hyperseasonal ingredients, but in a more casual à la carte format, and anchored by housemade soba. It’s akin to an unbuttoned kaiseki experience unbound by the rigidity of a tasting menu.

→ MIA: Set on a wild barrier island just north of Jacksonville, FL, Omni Amelia Island spans over 1300 lush acres overlooking Fernandina Beach. It’s an easy place to slip into nature, whether biking across seven miles of resort trails or kayaking and paddleboarding through salt marshes. Fresh off a multimillion-dollar renovation of all its guest rooms and public spaces, the resort boasts a fresh coastal color palette with art to match.

→ ITALY: Perched in the heights of Pigna, the old town of Sanremo on Italy’s Ligurian coast, Babeuf is the project of four friends brought together by a shared desire to create something alive — somewhere between a restaurant, a meeting point, and a rhythm. In the summer, it becomes a kind of shelter, with warm stone surrounding you, the air still, and conversations stretching late into the night.

GETAWAYS LINKS: Inside the new Soho House Tokyo: ‘we just sort of went in for it’ • Anticipated St. Regis Budapest, in former Hungarian palace, opens • 5 new Stockholm bakeries • All things Egypt • The joy of making everything a cafe.

RESTAURANTS • The Nines

Restaurants, Raleigh, NC

The Nines are FOUND’s distilled lists of the best.

• Ajja (Five Points), Mediterranean flavors meet North Carolina produce at Cheetie Kumar’s airy inside/outside space, sharp cocktail program

• Brewery Bhavana (Downtown), brewery, dim sum restaurant, bookstore, and flower shop in one, set in light-filled, high volume space

• Crawford and Son (Person Street/Mordecai/Oakwood), Scott Crawford’s polished neighborhood restaurant, refined American cooking w/ local seasonal produce

• Figulina (Warehouse District/Downtown, above), British chef David Ellis’s spot for handmade pasta, seasonal plates, and a tight cocktail list, set in former warehouse

• Mala Pata (North Raleigh/Gateway Plaza), masa-driven kitchen, with superb heirloom tortillas and punchy Mexican/Latin cooking; drink before/after at their “minibar,” Peyote

• Poole’s Diner (Downtown), Ashley Christensen’s modern diner, cornerstone of Raleigh dining, w/ chalkboard menu and iconic mac and cheese

• Sam Jones BBQ (Downtown), heritage whole hog BBQ the Eastern North Carolina way, smoky, vinegary, as local as it gets

• St. Roch Fine Oysters + Bar (Downtown), Cajun-inflected seafood, oysters and a lively bar that brings New Orleans energy to North Carolina

• Stanbury (Person Street/Mordecai/Oakwood), no reservations, shared plates and a packed room, cult favorite table that is in constant motion, part canteen, part clubhouse

Elephant district

I arrived in Chiang Rai on March 13, Thai National Elephant Day, a holiday I hadn’t realized existed until my driver informed me that all resort elephants were on vacation for the day. Elephants are the national animal of Thailand, representing wisdom and strength, and while I’m typically wary of elephant tourism, I was about to check into some of the most eco-friendly hotels in the country.

Four Seasons and Anantara are right next door to each other, both owned by William Heinecke and partnered with Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation to support wild elephant conservation and captive elephant rehabilitation. I stayed at both for a few nights each with elephant encounters every day. I’ll never forget how quietly the majestic mammals walk, their rippling muscles, the rough feeling of their skin, the way they spray mud over their backs to cool off, and their insatiable appetites. Elephants eat 10% of their body weight each day, and spend up to 18 hours a day eating. (Honestly, relatable.)

Four Seasons is the more intimate experience of the two, with just 15 glamorously designed glamping tents featuring outdoor rain showers, spacious terraces, and beds facing the jungle (above). Leave the canvas flap unzipped to wake up with sunrise (my tip for beating jetlag!) and there’s no need to lock the padlock on your door. The decor evokes the 19th century, with antique wooden trunks, intricately woven wicker baskets, and faux elephant tusk faucet handles.

Each morning, guests can feed the resident elephants a mix of bananas, watermelon, cucumber, and carrots while enjoying breakfast. There’s more privacy here, but also a lot of walking and steep stairs to navigate, plus a dramatic suspension bridge that could prove challenging if you’re afraid of heights.

Spa treatments at Four Seasons are fairly rudimentary, but the open air jungle spa has unbelievable views. Anantara’s spa has a more comprehensive menu of services, since it’s a larger resort with 63 rooms and suites, including newly renovated Mekong Explorer Suites that blend Thai Lanna design with colonial influences, and jungle-facing terraces with Thai-style daybeds.

Both resorts invite guests to meet their resident elephants (17 elephants at Anantara and 6 at Four Seasons) in the surrounding sanctuary habitat, learning more about elephant biology and behavior, and dressing in all-blue ​​denim-like cotton outfits that mahouts (elephant keepers) traditionally wear.

Private dining experiences are also a highlight, like a Kanthok family-style Lanna feast at Four Seasons, or camp peak breakfast with panoramic views of all three Golden Triangle countries and local delicacies like coconut and taro sweet black sticky rice and phulae pineapple.

At Anantara, I was hoisted 170 feet into the sky for a canopy treetop dining breakfast, watching elephants grazing through binoculars while sipping cold brew and savoring local Chiang Rai dark chocolate ganache cake for breakfast. Perhaps the most spectacular memory of the entire week was a safari-like night with two elephants in a jungle bubble. I enjoyed a multi-course Thai meal by a private chef while elephants Ja Thong and Kammool munched on sugarcane, then took a quick dip in the hot tub and fell asleep under the stars with my new friends just a few feet away. –Amber Gibson

→ Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle • Vieng, 499 MOO1 T. Vieng • Rates from $2981/night spring weekend
→ Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort • 229, Wiang • Rates from $1088/night spring weekend

REAL ESTATE • First Mover

Three for-sale single-family residences in Chicago that came to market in the last 14 days.

→ 1816 N Hudson Ave (East Lincoln Park) • 5BR/4.1BA, 5000 SF single-family • Ask: $3.195M • high-end finishes and rooftop deck with pergola • Days on market: 2 • Annual tax: $43,253 • Agent: Rosalie Lemperis, Coldwell Banker Realty.

→ 2140 N Clifton Ave (Lincoln Park) • 5BR/5.2BA, 5500 SF single-family • Ask: $3.6M • move-in ready brick and limestone • Days on market: 9 • Annual tax: $48,224 • Agent: Emily Sachs Wong, @properties Christie’s.

→ 3026 N Lake Shore Dr (Lake View, above) • 6BR/7.2BA, 9100 SF single-family • Ask: $8.45M • 66’ x 200’ lot w/ sport court, terraces, outdoor kitchen • Days on market: 14 • Annual tax: $26,028 • Agent: Frederique Leforestier & Madeleyne Sutton, One Sotheby’s.

GOODS & SERVICES • Big Ticket

Select answers to the FOUND Routine query, What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?

→ MELANIE MASARIN, founder & CEO, Ghia (Paris, above): I bought The Row loafers and they’ve become my everyday shoe. The leather feels like butter. I wear them with everything — jeans, dresses, even on long walks through the Marais.

→ LUIGI DI RUOCCO, vp & co-owner, Mr. Espresso (SF): I bought a Kamado Joe grill during our backyard renovations. While it sat idle for a while, I’ve recently started putting it to work. I’m really enjoying the process, especially smoking steaks and burgers to lock in that flavor before finishing them with a high-heat sear.

→ ISOBEL SCHOFIELD, founder & designer, Bryr Clogs (SF): I just discovered this wonderful handmade bag company called KMM & Co. I got myself one of their market totes for Christmas. It was expensive, but I know I’ll have it for the rest of my life.

→ LEENA CULHANE, owner, Force of Nature & co-owner, Crudo e Nudo (LA): I love my Aventon Pace 4 electric bike. I used to be a hater on electric bikes in general, but at the time I was living at the top of the hill and the hill at the end of a 16-hour day was preventing me from wanting to take my bike. I went to try an electric one in the parking lot behind the shop and I was immediately hooked. I now live at sea level but still take the bike almost everywhere I go daily, because the radius isn’t that far and I love experiencing the world on a bike. I put a milk crate on the back for my dog, and he’s pretty happy about it, too. Pro tip: get a SUPER good lock. Pro-pro tip: Make sure you register the lock.

BARS • New York

Gastro, pub

Right next door to their Italian-French hit bistro King, Jess Shadbolt and Annie Shi have opened Dean’s, a compact, elegant British pub shaped by the same seasonal, ingredient-driven approach for which they’re known.

Tables are packed close, with just enough wiggle room to pass. The bones read pub, but retooled. Framed photos line the walls, while a cream-painted ceiling lends a subtle coastal feel. The place is straightforward in design, but genuinely pleasant to sit in. Peek into the open kitchen and you’ll spot Shadbolt’s AGA, the same type of cream-colored enamel stove where she first learned to cook.

Like the room, the food feels familiar, but only loosely. It pulls from the British pub canon, then filters it through Shadbolt’s Suffolk roots and a (very New York) farmers’ market sensibility. Of course there’s fish and chips — flaky hake in a crisp, buttery shell made with Old Speckled Hen beer, alongside properly puffed triple-cooked fries, tartar sauce, and a lemon cheek. The point isn’t reinvention: everything at Dean’s reads mostly straightforward, but there’s real work underneath, from product sourcing to the technique to the daily handwritten menus that subtly track the seasons. –Kat Odell

MORE on FOUND NY

BARS • Los Angeles

Heavens to Betsy

Two doors down from FOUND favorite Betsy in Altadena, Bar Betsy — the latest from chef and owner Tyler Wells — is bright, casual, all-day, and for walk-ins-only.

Where Betsy is rooted in live-fire cooking, heartiness, and making an evening of it, Bar Betsy is a more relaxed affair. Low-slung two-tops line a banquette on the right inside the entrance. At frontstage, a tile-topped bar that surrounds farmhouse-style built-ins housing glasses, mugs, bottles of wine, a fridge, a glistening espresso machine, bags of coffee beans. On the sidewalk out, tables spill out into the sun.

Like its neighbor, Bar Betsy’s menu is primarily concerned with keeping things fresh. For me, a plate of market tomatoes served on arugula with burrata and candy-sweet strawberries, followed by an excellent sandwich of wood-oven chicken with greens, cucumber, cheddar, and tarragon dijonnaise. Other enticing sandwiches included roasted carrot with romesco and clover sprouts and a classic Parisian ham and cheese. –James Royce

MORE at FOUND LA

AROUND FOUND • Other Notable Intel & Recs

→ PARIS: Places like ALT sit quietly in your head, waiting — until, of course, they show up at exactly the right moment. Reservation required. I call. Someone had just canceled. Pushing the door open, I harbored a split second of doubt, as the place lives in a kind of faded, unpretentious charm, none of the try-hard cool deployed by the wave of restaurants flooding the 11th arrondissement. Instead, actual space and breathing room.

→ LDN: Carousel founders Ed and Ollie Templeton debuted Cometa, a Mexican seafood restaurant, in their former bar space in February. Unlike Carousel’s revolving residencies, Cometa and its duo of chefs from Mexico City are very much here to stay.

→ SF: Can a bro hangout turn a new leaf? Lobalita, a new Mexican cantina in the Marina, is trying. Walking in on opening week, there were usual Marina boys and girls, but I did a double-take when I spotted a baby in the front window, kids coming from soccer practice, and a golden retriever wagging on the back patio. What’s this, an unaired episode of Full House?

GETAWAYS LINKS: Inside Philippe Starck’s new Hôtel Villa Colette in Cap Ferret • Checking in at the new Andaz Lisbon • Quantas sets first half of next year to debut SYD-LHR flight, world’s longest • This is the coolest bar in St. Barths right now.

RESTAURANTS • The Nines

Classic Paris wine lists, Right Bank

The Nines are FOUND’s distilled lists of the best. See also, Classic wine lists, Left Bank.

• Le Taillevent (8th arr), sophisticated restaurant operated by Gardinier family (of Les Crayères in Reims), 300,000+ bottle cellar

Read more

• What’s your favorite restaurant that you’ve ever visited on your travels?

More answers or questions? Hit reply or email found@itsfound.com.

GETAWAYS • Italy

Above Amalfi

After landing in Naples at dawn, bleary and disoriented after a red-eye, I found the road to Ravello perched a thousand feet above the Amalfi Coast, a vertiginous hour-long journey to the Caruso, A Belmond Hotel. Set inside an airy 11th-century palace with creamy stucco walls, terracotta roof, and tile floors, framing incredible views of the turquoise Mediterranean Sea, the arrival perked me up. As did being escorted to a table on the patio at the cliff’s edge for breakfast, feasting on that view (above) as well as an elegant buffet of cured meats, cheeses, fresh fruit, pastries, and eggs made to order alongside espresso and Champagne.

I was traveling with my best friend ahead of a week-long sailing voyage through the Gulf of Naples, and we wanted a soft landing. Our spacious superior suite and its marshmallow-like king-sized bed with a minimalist wrought-iron canopy proved to be just that. A Juliet balcony and porthole-style windows looked out to the astounding coastline and sea. The dining and seating area, as well as an enormous bathroom with separate vanities, a rainfall shower, and large tub weren’t bad, either.

Soon, we made our way through the gardens to the enormous infinity pool perched on a cliff, around which life at Caruso revolves. There’s perhaps no setting more sublime to lounge a day away over rosé and sparkling water, snacking on olives and crisps. Our favorite meals at Caruso were set here, casual lunchtime pool breaks at the patio restaurant with a simple pasta pomodoro or buffalo-mozzarella Neapolitan-style pizza alongside local wine and freshly baked bread.

Another great way to spend an afternoon is exploring the town of Ravello. An uncrowded, unhurried, far cry from the tourist hordes in Amalfi below, its home to an 11th-century cathedral, gelato stands, quaint restaurants, and shops. The region is known for its colorful, hand-painted ceramics. I was so charmed by Caruso’s espresso sets, complete with cup, saucer, and adorable lids that I bought my own in town. Now, whenever I indulge in a post-lunch espresso break at home, I’m immediately transported back to that easy life in Ravello.

Beyond the beautiful setting, another thing that sets Caruso apart is its hospitality; warm, astute, intuitive. A half hour never passed before someone was there to see if we needed anything at all (sunscreen, more sparkling water, a restaurant recommendation) in a gracious, unobtrusive manner. In the evening, upon returning to our suite, we were almost always greeted with a little surprise: sweets, sun hats, or stationery. The charming waiter who served us lunch by the pool was the same to shake up our cocktails in the evening at the bar.

In the garden on the way to the pool, we noticed a bronze bust we assumed must be someone important to Ravello’s history or the hotel itself. Upon further inspection, the plaque next to it bore this quote: “I wish I could stay at the Hotel Caruso in Ravello for the rest of my life.” It was merely testimony from a happy guest. We joked that we couldn’t wait until our busts were unveiled next to his. –Shayne Benowitz

→ Caruso (Ravello, Italy) • Spring rates from $988/night.

REAL ESTATE • California

Three for-sale properties in Palm Springs that came to market in the last month.

→ 353 W Via Sol (Palm Springs) • 4BR/3.1BA, 2623 SF house • Ask: $2.295M • south-facing mountain views in Vista Las Palmas • Days on market: 9 • Annual tax: $4995 • Agent: Scott Ehrens, Compass.

→ 3075 Goldenrod Ln (Palm Springs) • 3BR/3.1BA, 2707 SF house • Ask: $4.15M • main house + guest house, designed ‘for living in rhythm with the desert’ • Days on market: 31 • Annual tax: $13,642 • Agent: Brady Sandahl, Keller Williams.

→ 979 Las Palmas Estates Dr (Palm Springs, above) • 4BR/4.1BA, 3400 SF house • Ask: $5.75M • in gated ONE Las Palmas, ‘mid-century inspiration with contemporary execution’ • Days on market: 32 • Agent: Brady Sandahl, Keller Williams.

GOODS & SERVICES • Big Ticket

Select answers to the FOUND Routine query, What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?

→ ANNEY NORTON, founder & CEO, Dream Tea NYC (NY): My Contax T3 film camera. I bought it as a gift to myself when I graduated from my master’s at NYU. I did a lot of research and found mine on eBay from a Japanese seller — they tend to take the best care of these cameras. It’s become my favorite way to capture moments with friends and family, and when I’m traveling.

→ RODRIGO HECHT, founder & owner, Cotidiano (Miami): I treated myself to a ticket to the Miami Open finals, because every once in a while, it’s worth stepping away and enjoying something at that level. On the health side, I invested in a Bemer system to help with my back pain, which has been a real game-changer, given how much time I spend on my feet. And living in Key Biscayne, I decided to buy a golf cart to make getting around easier and more efficient.

→ HEATHER SPERLING, founder, Botanica (LA): I am a superfan of my Mill food recycler (use code FOUND LA for $100 off); it has seriously changed my composting game at home. My house is set far back from the street, and bringing the compost down to the green bin was always such a schlep. Having a Mill in my kitchen transforms food scraps so quickly, then I just pop them out the back door into our composter, and in no time have incredible compost for my vegetable beds. [spon]

RESTAURANTS • San Francisco

Ant eater

The latest restaurant from Dalida owners and chefs Laura and Sayat Ozyilmaz, Maria Isabel is the refreshing and feminine Mexican seafood destination San Francisco has been waiting for. Sayat grew up in Turkey, and for years, the chef power couple has showcased vibrant Middle Eastern fare, first at their pop-up Istanbul Modern and at their stunning Presidio restaurant. Laura comes from the southern state of Guerrero on Mexico’s Pacific coast, so for their second restaurant, she’s returning to her roots.

“I hope you like bugs in your food,” Laura said when she sets down the salad, a refreshing bowl full of nopales and chayote, topped with a hot pink scoop of xoconostle (prickly pear) sorbet, and sprinkled with crispy chicatanas (ants). The duck carnitas lets you savor four different swipes of mole sauce: negro, verde, manchamanteles (the red tablecloth stainer), and blanco (often served at weddings). Of course, they’re nixtamalizing their own masa, in a sun-faded rainbow of heirloom corn colors.

We lost our minds over the fish dishes, smoked mussels cupped in a crispy corn sope, a meltingly soft cod taco with charred pineapple, and a Dungeness crab “tortita” ahogado, aka the cutest of baby crab sandwiches, swimming in bright orange chile de arbol sauce. –Becky Duffett

MORE AT FOUND SF

GETAWAYS • The Cotswolds

George’s house

George Davies, best known for his retail achievements (the octogenarian founded high-street fashion brands Next, Per Una and George at Asda), has now put his name to a very different venture, a boutique hotel in the Cotswolds, where the Liverpudlian entrepreneur has lived for the past 30 years.

On the main street of Broadway village, House of George W. Davies opened late last year in an impressive 17th-century listed building that’s been lovingly restored with 10 cosy, individually decorated bedrooms. In the main house (there are also six courtyard rooms), I stayed in the Luxe King, the only one with a freestanding bath. While the bathroom was enormous, the bedroom itself was charming and compact, with original wood beams, cleverly appointed wardrobe space and a stowaway TV that emerged at the end of the bed at the push of a button. It felt homely and warm, like a cottage.

What makes it stand out from the myriad chocolate-box hotels in the Cotswolds, though, is its fine dining restaurant, Moda, led by young chef James Wilson, formerly of The Newt. It’s open to the public and serves à la carte, but we opted for the 10-course tasting menu, a seasonal offering featuring locally foraged ingredients. –Laura Price

MORE AT FOUND LDN

AROUND FOUND • Other Notable Intel & Recs

→ LA: Over the years, I’ve celebrated everything from finding an empty bar seat to my college graduation with a mai tai (or two) at Duke’s Malibu, the breezy haven that reopened last month after a 14-month closure. It’s consistently busy, but not so busy that you can’t find an open seat, at least at the bar, which is where I shouldered in on reopening weekend. On the first weekend back in service after more than a year of dealing with fires, subsequent mudslides, and repairs, the place was heaving.

→ Miami: Chef Yasu Tanaka is having a moment in Miami. His much-loved nigiri counter at the Design District’s MIA Market led to Wynwood’s easygoing (yet polished) Pari Pari last fall. Now, Tanaka steps into Yasu Omakase, a standalone omakase in the Design District, and his most refined concept yet.

→ LDN: From the chef-owner of beloved north London neighborhood Italian spot Trullo, Burro is a buzzy new restaurant in Covent Garden serving produce-led cooking. Its outdoor terrace will prove especially popular in warmer weather.

→ Napa Valley: Many resorts that market themselves as wellness destinations oversell it. Not Stanly Ranch. Nestled on an expansive property in Napa, this four-year-old Auberge property exudes wellness without fanfare. Wellness here means the restaurant, spa and pools are spaced out enough that walking to and from counts as a workout (in many cases, uphill). It’s offering a mattress so good we overslept and missed the morning yoga session.

GETAWAYS LINKS: The problem with American luxury hotels​ • Can I be honest about Aman Tokyo? • Is Lake Como the new Amalfi Coast? • The man who built Six Senses is back, and he’s done playing it safe • Far-flung spots that are worth the trek.

RESTAURANTS • The Nines

Miami restaurants, South Beach

FOUND’s 9 favorites in Miami’s South Beach neighborhood. In Miami, see also: Wynwood, Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Little River.

• Pauline (above), The Shelborne by Proper’s inspired new coastal concept by Keys native chef Abram Bissell, reserve

Read more

First, select subscriber answers to our prompt, Tell us about your favorite hotel in the world, one worth booking an entire trip around:

• Ett Hem in Stockholm. That hotel as home base is the reason I want to go back, soon.

• Hotel Monverde in Teloẽs, Portugal. My partner and I loved with this hotel so much, it became our wedding venue. As a “wine experience” hotel in the vino verde wine region, it’s nestled in a vineyard surrounded by rolling hills of vines and just 1hr from Porto to the west; infamous Duoro Valley to the east. The quaint & charming Amarante is the closest town to the hotel, and totally worth a visit too.

What’s yours? Hit reply or email found@itsfound.com.

REAL ESTATE • Spain

Three for-sale properties in Barcelona in the 2-4M € range.

→ Quadrat d’Or (Barcelona) • 5BR/4BA, 2378 SF apartment • Ask: 2.195M € • renovated flat with contemporary style in stately building • Agent: Sotheby’s.

→ Rambla Cataluña (Barcelona, above) • 3BR/3BA, 2153 SF apartment • Ask: 2.59M € • duplex penthouse in fully renovated 1900s modernist building in the heart of the action • Agent: Max Ricart Luxury Properties.

→ Heart of Eixample (Barcelona) • 4BR/3BA, 2400 SF apartment • Ask: 3.45M € • contemporary design with original elements, in Catalan modernist building dating from 1905 • Agent: Sophie Chapier, Barnes.

GETAWAYS • The Caribbean

Slow motion

We arrived at the Beef Island airport cranky after a missed connection and were quickly whisked away on a 15-minute boat to Guana. A host of employees greeted us with cold eucalyptus-scented towels and fresh fruit punch, and immediately our travel woes were a thing of the past. My second time to the area in two years (the previous trip was on a catamaran through the British Virgin Islands), I believe the best way to experience the BVIs is by boat, but if you must remain on land, Guana is it.

The 18-room boutique hotel embodies much of what’s been stripped from Caribbean beach destinations over the last decade: bamboo rattan furniture, doors that don’t lock, staff who know you by name, rooms without TVs, and a beach bar where you can grab your own Carib as you please. It’s old-school Caribbean, as it’s meant to be.

Our room was simple, sitting atop a hill with an unobstructed view of the Atlantic from our porch. The interiors are nothing special, comfortable but lacking the bells and whistles contemporary counterparts may have (this is by design). For example, the minibar is only stocked with cold, filtered water. It seems that at Guana, you can get almost anything you want, you just have to ask. –Sylvie Florman

More at FOUND Miami

GETAWAYS • Normandy, France

Between sea and sky

Right by the fish market in Le Havre, Chez Lili sits almost pressed against the rhythm of the harbor. A small terrace faces the fishing boats, tucked into a corner that catches the sun just right. On bright days, the pale blue-grey façade of the building seems to dissolve into the sky itself.

In the morning, it feels like an intimate bistro terrace, perfect for a locally roasted coffee, a glass of wine, and the newspaper. Almost without noticing, it stretches into lunch, guided by a short menu: three starters, two mains, two desserts. It changes weekly, but also subtly day by day, following the chef’s mood and what’s available.

By evening, the terrace expands, spilling gently toward the canal. The light softens, the mood turns more subdued, almost tamisé. Glasses clink, a carefully chosen playlist sets the tone, and on certain nights, live concerts — soleil couchant — carry the place into something more vibrant, without ever losing its sense of ease. Inside, the space is small but immediately welcoming, the kind of place you instinctively want to settle in, to return, to build habits. –Candice Chemel

More at FOUND Paris

AROUND FOUND • Other Notable Intel & Recs

→ Napa Valley: Inside The Cottages at Little Saint, everything is not as it appears. Open the wardrobe and find a wallpapered wet bar. Push on the mirrored armoire and discover a secret entrance connecting rooms. No, this isn’t a page out of Alice in Wonderland — it’s a look inside the new hospitality extension from the Little Saint team next door. A quiet oasis located on a side cul-de-sac just a block off Healdsburg’s main square, it’s a private retreat adjacent to all the action. It showcases the vision of creative mastermind Ken Fulk, offering a small-scale, experiential alternative to more traditional Wine Country lodging.

→ SF: The first spot from Sons & Daughters sous chef Patrick Gabon and partner Celine Wuu, Restaurant Naides launched after they realized there were few Filipino fine dining restaurants in the region. Located in the original Sons & Daughters space on Nob Hill, the restaurant serves the only Filipino tasting menu experience in the Bay Area, incorporating European technique with the bright, pungent flavors of the Philippines.

→ Paris: Between Rue Saint Honoré and Rue De L’Opéra sits Château Voltaire, a refined 31-room hotel offering luxury hospitality without the frills. The basement houses the spa, which is booked by reservation only. Spa access is included for guests, while non-hotel visitors can reserve via phone or the hotel’s website. Encased in white stone walls, the spa feels like an ancient cistern, separate from the hustle and bustle of the city just above.

GOODS & SERVICES • Big Ticket

Select answers to the FOUND Routine query, What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?

→ JARED MEISLER, co-owner, The Benjamin et al (LA): The Frame TV. Great for watching movies and really into their art collection. I also love my SunnyFit treadmill. I run on it every day and it’s very nice to my flat feet and old knees.

→ JESSY DOVER, co-founder & chief creative officer, Dagne Dover (NY): The new Dyson Air Wrap Co-anda 2x. It’s incredible. They added new barrels and improved the air technology plus the buttons are easier to use, so it gives an even better blowout than the last version. Obsessed with tools that make my life easier, and this one is at the top of my list.

→ BAPTISTE BEAUMARD, sommelier, Restaurant Daniel (NY): My recent big purchase wasn’t a material one, but an experience. I went with some friends to the last 3 Michelin star restaurant, Jungsik. And for sure, I didn’t regret it.

GETAWAYS • Portugal

Fat of the land

In Lisbon’s residential Campo de Ourique neighborhood, Pigmeu is an unfussy, compact, white-brick-and-wood restaurant rife with unicorn wines that almost always has a line. It’s also entirely focused on pork.

More than a decade ago, Pigmeu opened as a small spot known for sandwiches built from varied cuts of pork. Over time, it evolved into a destination for ingredient-driven small plates (still largely pig-centric) paired with terroir-focused, low-intervention wines.

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Tanti baci

From the marble floors to the textured ceilings with al frescos dating back to when the hotel was a private villa, every inch of the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni fits its “grand” billing. But it was outside the hotel’s entrance, where the pool seamlessly merges into the glistening lake set amongst mountains, that stole my focus.

Bellagio’s only 5-star luxury hotel, Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni is going on its 152nd year. It’s welcomed guests ranging from Winston Churchill, to Al Pacino, to my parents in the ’90s. The hotel has done a fabulous job of maintaining its original charm and grandeur, while also consistently updating and refurbishing. This past season brought with it the Baci da Bellagio Beach Club.

This new shoreline space called to me. While I typically feel the need to be on the go while visiting European cities, the wide, plush loungers around the pool coaxed me to relax. Similarly, the boardwalk leading down to chairs resting in soft sand facing Lake Como was too hard to resist.

To fully experience Lake Como, take the stairs from the beach into the lake where a floating dock beckons. At the beach club, cocktails and a casual beachside menu are available, and the gelato cart, in line with the rest of the nautical Italian coastal decor, is stationed outside. A cold vanilla gelato paired with a cool Italian summer’s breeze? Chef’s kiss. –Dyana Lederman

→ Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni (Bellagio, Italy) • Rooms from €2100/night/summer • Book.

REAL ESTATE • Massachusetts

Three for-sale properties in Cape Cod that came to market in the last month.

→ 46 Washington Ave (Hyannis Port) • 5BR/4.1BA, 2972 SF house • Ask: $5.99M • ‘The Laundry,’ built in 1900 and once a grand hotel • Days on market: 31 • Agent: Danny Griffin, Griffin Realty.

→ 240 Baxters Neck Rd (Marstons Mills) • 6BR/4.3BA, 8713 SF house • Ask: $7.95M • 2023 waterfront estate w/deep water dock on Prince Cove • Days on market: 16 • Agent: Paul Grover, BHHS.

→ 75 Winsor Rd (Bourne, above) • 4BR/4.1BA, 6839 SF house • Ask: $10.9M • Rocky Island, fully renovated in 2014, connected to the mainland by a wooden bridge • Days on market: 29 • Agent: G. Stewart Young, LandVest.

GOODS & SERVICES • Big Ticket

Select answers to the FOUND Routine query, What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?

→ LASZLO MARIE BADET, chef & model, Cantine Laszlo (Paris): A vintage Moschino orb dress, bought for a song… typically resells for over €600. For me, it’ll stay in my closet (or on me). It’s silk, with black heart tubing. Found it for a dear friend’s wedding.

→ TOM MARCHANT, co-founder, Black Tomato (LDN): My electric moped from Horwin has changed how I move around London. I’ve got my eye on an electric motorcycle from Maeving next.

→ BRIAN BORNEMANN, chef & owner, Crudo e Nudo (LA): I got the 145n bottle wine fridge from Wine Enthusiast to expand our wine program at Crudo e Nudo. Feels good!

RESTAURANTS • Los Angeles

​​High bar

Perched at the busy corner of Sixth and Western in Koreatown and opened late January, Lapaba is a highly anticipated, slightly buzzy neighborhood pasta bar that skillfully blends quintessential Korean flavors with Italian cooking. Husband-and-wife chef team McKenna Lelah and Matthew Kim first met while working at Osteria Mozza, which shares ownership DNA with Lapaba. (Nancy Silverton is also an advisor.)

At some fusion restaurants, the mashup is loud, brash, and in-your-face. Here, Lelah and Kim opt for a far subtler marriage of Korean and Italian cuisines — so subtle, in fact, that the Koreanness of the menu was almost lost on me at certain points throughout the meal. Ingredients like jjajang (black bean sauce) and bulgogi (sweet soy marinade) are incorporated into (respectively) pasta Amatriciana and meatballs in tomato sauce, though the overall impact on the flavor is minimal. My favorite dish was the quartet of Calabrian chili fried chicken lollipops, which simply tasted like buffalo wings. –Patricia Kelly Yeo

MORE at FOUND LA

GETAWAYS • Normandy, France

Lush life

Normandy’s popular, pretty beach town Deauville is known for its annual cinema festival and well-preserved maisons à colombages. But the place also oozes a certain bougieness: the pastel-hued collared shirts, the gold flashes of Gucci belts, the high-end boutiques like Hermès and Dior tucked inside historic buildings. My travel partner recoiled at the scene like a cat splashed with water. If we wanted the bling, we could have stayed in Paris. We needed some breathing room, some green, a place to disconnect.

Luckily, Deauville was just a sandwich pitstop on our way to Maison Douce Époque in Benerville-sur-Mer, a 10-minute ride (and a world apart) from Deauville. It’s a restored 19th-century villa perched on low cliffs overlooking the Côte Fleurie coastline. From the back terrace, preferably glass of wine in hand, you can take in sweeping views of the beaches, from Deauville to Trouville, and sometimes even spot horses from the nearby Deauville-La Touques race course trotting along the shore. Observing it from up above gives the feeling of a noble from another era, looking out upon the city from your hushed residence. –Caitlin Gunther

MORE at FOUND Paris

AROUND FOUND • Other Notable Intel & Recs

→ LDN: Charlie Mellor, the man behind much-loved Hackney restaurant and wine bar The Laughing Heart, which closed in 2022, is back. His new spot is Osteria Vibrato, an Italian trattoria a few doors from Noble Rot in Soho. With co-owner and fellow sommelier Cameron Dewar, he’s serving up great vibes and hearty, regional Italian food in a warm, laidback dining room decorated with art from his own collection.

→ Miami: Set within The Plaza, the new mixed-use development in Coral Gables, Mottai brings Japanese culinary precision to a dining room, with French decorative drama, via a Brazilian hospitality group. And guess what? The sushi is genuinely good.

→ SF: New Richmond District restaurant Clementina began as a pop-up in the Marina location of Italian restaurant Montesacro, after owners Gianluca Legrottaglie and Viviana Devoto learned that their youngest daughter has celiac disease. Last month, they opened this entirely celiac-safe and gluten-free restaurant. To look at the menu, you’d be hard-pressed to think anything was missing from the array of Italian classics and inventive dishes.

GETAWAYS LINKS: Amex opens first lounge in China, at SHA (Shanghai) • Hotel Rome Cavileri unveils two-year room revamp • Checking into the Fairmont Mumbai • The rush to build hotels around food • Surprising trip combos • Seven design-led homes on the market in Mallorca.

ASK FOUND

One PROMPT for which we seek your intelligence:

• Tell us about your favorite hotel in the world, one worth booking an entire trip around.

More answers or questions? Hit reply or email found@itsfound.com.

RESTAURANTS • The Nines

Fine dining, Bangkok

The Nines are FOUND’s distilled lists of the best.

• Gaa (Thonglor), MasterChef India’s Garima Arora serves unique Indian food in restored wooden traditional Thai home w/ sexy metallic curtains separating tables, reserve

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FOUND’s first-ever Oyster Week unfurled across FOUND’s six cities this week. If you haven’t had the chance to explore FOUND in its individual markets, Oyster Week is an especially good time to do so: NY, LA, SF, Miami, London, and Paris await, and the delights are myriad (and mostly ungated for your reading pleasure).

Here at FOUND Global, we begin with an appreciation of the love of oysters from one of our most lyrical writers, FOUND Paris’s Candice Chemel. Pour yourself a crisp glass of Muscadet and dive in.

GETAWAYS • Oyster Week

Rites of passage

When I was younger, I couldn’t wait to love oysters. The idea of standing at a bar table with a dozen oysters and a small glass of white wine was my vision of French romanticism, the nonchalance of a good product that needs nothing else.

I loved the idea of oysters. I loved Ponge’s idea of them. I loved watching my father order them at the bistro, and I wanted to savor them, too. I wanted to understand them, and I eventually got there by roundabout means. I already loved rye bread, butter, and red wine vinegar with shallots. I would make myself soaked slices of bread, and that was my first way in.

When in Paris, I love going to Le Baron Rouge next to the Marché d’Aligre. There, I find an atmosphere very close to the spirit of the markets in Normandy, with a hint of the Southwest in its conviviality. Right after getting my groceries, I head there, order some oysters, and stand at the counter, making my way through the whites by the glass. I love the ambiance — surrounded by barrels, popular and packed — from an old man having his usual order of oysters and Muscadet, to groups of friends, and the last time I went, a father teaching his daughter about wine, each one ordering blindly for the other. We ended up talking about Réunionnais cuisine for hours. This is the place where I could spend all of my Saturdays. They even let you take a little piece home by filling liters of wine directly from the barrel.

My ideal pairing, though, comes from my own cellar. A Ladiv 2015 from my favorite Swiss-Piedmontese winemaker in Dogliani, Marcello Reichmuth, both pirate and magician. From his favorite color, he produces a macerated Vidal of unusual breadth and depth. Just as comfortable with the freshness of the oyster as with the iodized bitterness of a violet. In fact, I think I never really understood the meaning of the word “iodized” until I tasted sea figs, which lie somewhere between the sensation of swallowing seawater, and the undeniable understanding that bitterness is an acquired taste.

I don’t really remember my first oyster, but I must have drowned it in vinegar and lemon to make sure I liked the taste. Little by little, I reduced the seasoning until today, when I prefer them naked or enhanced with the slightest drop of lemon. Lemon isn’t even really necessary, but it gives the (slightly cruel?) satisfaction of checking the oyster’s freshness by watching it retract its lips.

I didn’t, however, want to move on to tasting them hot, fried, or gratinéed. I quickly associated that with the customs of warmer countries, where I feared they might spoil, and preferred to avoid that kind of interaction altogether.

Until last summer in Brittany, that is, when I discovered steamed oysters. Tossed closed into a steamer basket, three minutes later, they emerge transformed. They must be eaten immediately so they don’t become rubbery. Without adding anything, they are already seasoned: the water trapped inside their pearly enclosure concentrates during cooking until it develops notes of soy sauce, a deep salinity that transforms the entire aromatic profile of the product, while remaining the simplest recipe in the world. –Candice Chemel

→ Le Baron Rouge (12th arr, Paris) • 1 Rue Théophile Roussel • Mon 5-10p, Tue-Thu 10a-2p & 5-10p, Fri-Sat 10a-2p & 5-9p, Sun 10a-4p • Walk-ins only.

GETAWAYS • Oyster Week

Select answers to the Oyster Week query, what’s the coolest oyster experience you’ve ever had?

→ MARY ATTEA, executive chef, Raf’s, The Musket Room, Cafe Zaffri (NY): There’s a small boat rental called Jetty Fishery and Marina along the coast of Oregon, on the Nehalem River. Before (or after) you embark on a leiLe Nasurely boat ride up the coast, there’s a seafood shack attached where you can get live oysters, clams, crabs, and more. Pass the time by shucking your own oysters while they steam up a seafood boil. Along with an ice cold beer and the picturesque views, it can’t be beat.

→ MAX VENNING, co-founder of Three Sheets (LDN): Fresh oysters in Port Talbot, Wales right by the beach, lingers long in the memory. But my absolute favourite is mid-September in Cap Ferret, cycling between the oyster cabins with my fiancée, drinking some amazing wines overlooking Le Bassin. It’s an experience that’s hard to top for anyone really into oysters.

→ ABRAM BISSELL, culinary director, Pauline at The Shelborne by Proper (Miami): Fried oysters piled into a po’ boy will always be hard to beat for me; crisp, briny, and dripping onto good bread. The Big Easy in Raleigh, NC makes an incredible one; pairing it with fried green tomatoes and a bourbon lemonade is my go-to. But some of the most memorable oysters I’ve had were wild ones in the Carolinas, pulled straight from the water with a little splash of spicy vinegar eaten right there. No frills, just the oyster and the place it came from.

→ JOHN MCDONALD, restaurateur, Lure Fishbar & Seahorse (NY): About 20 years ago, I went to a restaurant just outside of Normandy for a friend’s wedding. The place, Au Pied d’Cheval, still sticks in my memory. We walked out into the ocean with the oyster farmers, opened oysters, ​​and ate them precisely at the moment they were pulled out.

GETAWAYS • London

Woodland oysters

Tucked into the marvellous ancient woodland of Epping Forest on the fringes of London, the semi-legendary Oyster Shack & Seafood Bar is essentially a lean-to, propped up between the grand King’s Oak Hotel pub and its carpark. But don’t let the endearingly tumbledown nature fool you. The dedicated and wonderfully chatty team serves up the finest and freshest seafood for miles.

On a sunny day, the queue might be an hour long for the shiny silver platters of oysters ferried to al fresco picnic benches and tables under the shack’s well-loved tarp. I like to visit on a bleaker, chillier day, when instant oyster gratification is guaranteed. Either way, the oysters are served simply — tangy pink mignonette, a wedge of lemon and a bottle of Tabasco — and are half the price of any Mayfair raw bar, with the cheapest half dozen going for a mere £12. –Leonie Cooper

MORE at FOUND LDN

AROUND FOUND • Oyster Week Intel & Recs

→ OYSTER GETAWAYS: More oyster-focused ideas for your next journey:

• The Dunlin, a serene South Carolina coastal escape surrounded by oyster beds — and the oystercatchers to match

• The secret sauce (well, ice) that makes Portland, Maine’s Eventide one of the best pure oyster counters on the East Coast

• A truck-turned-seaside-shuck-shack, permanently parked at Ventura’s San Buenaventura State Beach, The Jolly Oyster is one of Calfornia’s top oyster destinations

• The Grassy Bar Oyster Company, also on the California coast, to watch boats spilling oysters onto the dock that are then shucked on the spot

• The oysters raised in the Bay of Mont Saint Michel, France that are some of the very best in the world — and the two essential ways to enjoy them

• The Sportsman in Kent, England, where the signature oyster is poached with pickled cucumber and Avruga caviar

→ OYSTER ROUTINES: Notable people in the oyster trade shared their Routines with us this week, ranging from Bobby Groves, the head of oysters at London’s Chiltern Firehouse (“it’s wet business shucking on the cobbles”), to Christopher Sherman, CEO of Massachusetts’ Island Creek Oysters (“Yes, I do get to eat a lot of oysters and caviar for work, but it is almost always early in the morning standing over a stainless steel table in a walk-in refrigerator”), to John Finger, co-founder and CEO of California’s Hog Island Oyster Co., who checks in from his oyster farm “right on the shore of Tomales Bay and where our company started back in the ’80s.”

→ OYSTER NINES: All the oyster that’s fit to print.

• NY: Best seafood towers

• MIA: Best oyster spots

• SF: Seafood towers & oysters done up

• LA: Best oyster spots

• LDN: Best oyster experiences

RESTAURANTS • Oyster Week

Select answers to the Oyster Week query, what’s your go-to spot for oysters and seafood?

→ CODY PRUITT, owner, Libertine & Chateau Royale (NY): My personal favorite oyster ritual in New York City is to pick up a couple dozen from Lobster Place in Chelsea Market, meet a date or a friend along the Hudson River Park, and simply shuck and chat for hours. Truth be told, I’ve been waiting eight months to do it again. If I have to choose a restaurant, though, there’s still not much better — or more New York — than sitting at the bar at Balthazar with a proper shellfish tower, fries, and a bottle of Meursault. Although the city has many newer seafood spots, none of them are remotely as comfortable or as chic, and they’re often just too cheffy when all I want is unadorned perfect shellfish. Beyond New York, it’s all about J Sheekey and Scott’s in London, Le Duc and Clamato in Paris, The Ordinary and Chubby Fish in Charleston, and Found Oyster in LA.

→ CONNER MITCHELL, chef & owner, Dudley Market (LA): Typically we eat ‘em at our spot Dudley in Venice Beach, but elsewhere in Los Angeles, I go to Found Oyster (East Hollywood), Queen’s Raw Bar & Grill (Eagle Rock), and Scopa (Venice Beach) — with a shoutout to its surprisingly good presentation.

→ LOUISE PERRY, chef, L’Oursin (Paris): First, La Mascotte in Monmartre. It’s very nostalgic for me. My parents used to go there for day drinking, and I remember the tanks with lobsters and langoustines. Going back today really reminds me why I got into cooking in the first place, and where my love for seafood, fish, and beautiful products comes from. Then there’s Poissonnerie Kennedy in Marseille. After a swim, it’s the perfect place to sit on their terrace in the courtyard, have some seafood, and drink one of their amazing bottles of white wine. Simple, but kind of perfect.

→ ROBERTA HALL MCCARRON, owner, The Little Chartroom, Ardfern & Eleanore (Edinburgh): Newhaven Fishmarket on a warm summer evening overlooking the water and enjoying some of the most delicious seafood in Edinburgh.

ABOUT FOUND • Oyster Art

This week’s special Oyster Week headers are by Dair Massey, who also designed the original FOUND headers. He shared this note on his inspiration for the project:

For the style, I went with a watercolor look that I think spans the FOUND colors well. I got inspired by a Vietnamese spot, Cyclo, that Xiaoye and I used to frequent in LIC. One of the waitresses there illustrated the menu using a mix of watercolor and colored pencil, which felt peak for this. Clay pot ginger chicken is killer.

Here’s the full set, along with an alternate batch we considered:

GOODS & SERVICES • The Nines

Oysters, delivered

• Hama Hama Company (WA, above), family-run shellfish farm w/ beds in cold Washington State rivers w/ oyster selection including pre-frozen shucked and monthly CSA, from $75 for 36

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Elk country

If you arrive in January at The Ranch at Rock Creek, as I did, ice floes will be scattered throughout the river coursing through the middle of the property. It’s crossed by a wooden bridge that can somehow support a Suburban. On one side of the bridge are wooden cabins, a horse stable, some small tents, shooting ranges, and a tree towering over the banks with a nest that serves as the home of a lovely bald eagle family.

This is a place designed to live out wild west fantasies for those who still require five-star comfort. But all the service and wilderness activities aside, it’s the closeness to wildlife that sets the ranch apart from the select few resorts of this caliber — fields filled with white tail and mule deer, rolling hills dotted with herds of elk, and woods where, if you’re lucky, you may spot the local moose cow.

We spent an afternoon horseback riding, going up the mountains with Jessica, our guide and one of the many exceptional, friendly staff members we encountered at The Ranch. As we rode up into the hills, she told me about the staff competition to see who can collect the most antlers shed by elk or deer each season. Sensing my interest, she added that a guest who finds antlers can keep them and they’ll be mailed to their home at no charge. Although I came across many elk droppings (which I did not want mailed home), I wasn’t so lucky with the antlers.

The food at The Ranch also stands out. The menu changed daily, with some staples reoccuring. Choose between East Coast classics, like a bagel and lox at breakfast or a lunchtime Reuben (the owner Jim Manley is from Greenwich, CT), or go all in on western Montana classics like elk sausage gravy served over biscuits or a tomato soup with elk sausage and spinach. (Having never tried elk sausage, I chose the elk sausage option every time.) Dinner was served over three to four courses with a wine flight or recommendation from the sommelier. You can ask for more of anything and even request cravings. One night, the kitchen churned ice cream for me and made huckleberry syrup to top it off.

The Ranch at Rock Creek is for families, friends, couples, and loners alike. I loved going in the winter but can’t wait for my next visit in the fall. –​Hanna Park

→ The Ranch at Rock Creek (Philipsburg, MT) • 79 Carriage House Ln • Classic canvas cabins from $4551/night, all inclusive, spring & fall.

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ASK FOUND

One PROMPT for which we seek your intelligence:

• Tell us about your favorite hotel in the world, one worth booking an entire trip around.

More answers or questions? Hit reply or email found@itsfound.com.

REAL ESTATE • Washington State

Three for-sale waterfront properties on Whidbey Island.

→ 7683 Maxwelton Rd (Clinton, WA) • 3BR/3.1BA, 2721 SF house • Ask: $2.85M • rebuilt in 2016 on 100’ of Maxwelton Beach beside 25 acres of protected land • Days on market: 16 • Agents: Daniel Fouts & Sarah Stone, Windermere.

→ 5848 Mutiny Bay Rd (Freeland, WA, above) • 3BR/3.1BA, 3005 SF house • Ask: $5.999M • on 1/2 acre w/80’ of Mutiny Bay beachfront w/ 5 en suites • Days on market: 11 • Agents: Buz McKinley & Maxwell McKinley, Windermere.

→ 5844 Mutiny Bay Rd (Freeland, WA) • 4BR/6.1BA, 7004 SF house • Ask: $9.999M • on 1+ acre w/ 133’ of Mutiny Bay beachfront w/ detached carriage house • Days on market: 11 • Agents: Buz McKinley & Maxwell McKinley, Windermere.

GOODS & SERVICES • Big Ticket

Select answers to the FOUND Routine query, What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?

→ REMY GIANNICO, The Source Imports(NY): Multiple used EuroCave wine fridges, brought up a fifth-floor walk-up. Making sure every bottle is stored at the perfect temperature is non-negotiable.

→ HANNAH FRANCO, artist (SF): I recently bought this outrageous side table and I’m obsessed. I also recently bought this stunning handmade sling bag from local Oakland designer Harper the Label. It’s so special to get to support other local female artisans making gorgeous work.

→ MAXINE SHARF, Maxi’s Kitchen (LA): The Dr. Dennis Gross LED red light mask. I use it every night for just three minutes, and it’s become one of my favorite routines. It’s meant to boost collagen and help prevent fine lines, and I genuinely feel like it works.

GETAWAYS • France

Fire walker

After years spent rooted in Lyon’s culinary scene, Guillaume Montjuré and his wife Chrystel Barnier chose to return to Barnier’s native Vercors, settling into her uncle’s former home and opening Palégrié.

The setting is quietly beautiful: a charming house with a small garden, a field just across the way where Apiaria Eximia has installed beehives, producing honey used directly in the restaurant’s cooking. From the outset, the place feels anchored in its landscape.

Interior materials speak softly but confidently: terracotta floor tiles, thick walls finished in beige lime plaster, handsome wooden tables. At the heart of it all is Guillaume’s open kitchen, dedicated to wood-fire cooking. A large wood oven dominates the space, where everything is made in-house, from bread to pastries. Several other fire points allow for different temperatures and cooking styles, creating a choreography of heat and time.

MORE at FOUND Paris

RESTAURANTS • New York

Intimate encounter

My first encounter with the original Confidant didn’t exactly inspire the enduring trust its name invited. Superfluously billed as Industry City’s first full-service restaurant (who cares?), it occupied an enormous space where the tables were still way too close together, and otherwise mostly blended in with all the furniture outlets that the big maw of a mall is better known for. There was obvious talent in the kitchen, though, and the food was good.

Last month, Confidant relocated to the former Colonie space on the southern edge of Brooklyn Heights. It slotted into the spot marvelously, like it’s been there all along.

MORE at FOUND NY

AROUND FOUND • Other Notable Intel & Recs

→ LA: Chef Marcus Jernmark has said that dinner at his new restaurant Lielle is neither a tasting menu nor a Nordic interpretation of California produce. At a moment when controversy swirls around a certain high-profile Nordic tasting menu, it turned out to be a prescient stance.

→ SF: If you’re driving up to Sonoma County for Quail & Condor’s nationally hyped croissant, be aware: I’ve tried and failed to secure its sourdough and pastries no fewer than three times. After the bakery traded its tiny home for a roomier warehouse over the holidays, I went for a fourth attempt. Learn from my mistakes, and preorder.

→ Miami: La Concha opened in 1926 as the tallest building on the island at six stories — a century later, it still holds that distinction. Set in the center of Duval Street, its pink stucco façade is an enduring symbol of Key West. In preparation of its centennial, the hotel completed a $35 million renovation in 2024.

→ LDN: After a buzzy pop-up at Borough Market’s Globe Tavern, Khao Bird settled into a permanent space on Brewer Street in November. It’s proved extremely popular, with its menu of Northern Thai barbecue from Luke Larsson, a British chef with extensive training in Thailand.

GETAWAYS LINKS: Hawaii doings: Maui’s Resort at Kapula Bay to undergo renovation, reopen next year as St. Regis… On Kauai, forthcoming Hale Hokuala Kauai hotel sets November opening… In Honolulu, first look at renovation for 125-year-old Moana Surfrider • New Japanese luxury farm life resort brand Azuma Farm Kowai debuts in Iwate Prefectur.

RESTAURANTS • The Nines

Chinatown, San Francisco

FOUND’s 9 favorite restaurants in the neighborhood. In SF, see also: Upper Haight, Castro, Inner Sunset, Noe Valley, Inner Richmond, Outer Richmond.

• Four Kings (Commercial St, above), new-school Cantonese, snacky plates, highballs, loud music, intel, reserve

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Rustic detour

On a late February morning, after JetBlue canceled our flight home from Puerto Rico because of the then-imminent New York blizzard, I had taken to Instagram, crowd-sourcing local dining recommendations for our unexpected extra three days in Puerto Rico. The restaurant suggestion I received the most was Bacoa Finca + Fogón. But after looking it up on Google Maps, I immediately discounted it: too far, about a 40-minute drive from San Juan. A few hours later, though, a friend connected me with the chef there and I caved. It’s not like we really had anything else to do.

As we approached the property, a multi-level hacienda on a hillside surrounded by dense tropical greenery, I could smell the sweet aroma of burning wood, Bacoa’s main source of cooking fuel. Green plantains still attached to their stalk hung throughout the space, planting the seed that what comes from the land graces the menu.

Even before we were seated, a freshly muddled tamarind mojito-like cocktail arrived, a jumble of mint, a bit of Angostura bitters, tart-sweet tamarind, lime juice, and sparkling wine. The drink is called the Viejo Borincano (Old Puerto Rican), inspired by New York cocktail icon Audrey Saunders’ modern-classic Old Cuban cocktail, and it went down easily.

We sat down to warm capanes straight from the fryer: a chewy bite-sized bacalaito (a thin, crispy fritter made with salted cod), crowned with house-made labneh cream and Osetra caviar, and an alcapurria, a taro root and celeriac dumpling topped with local cockles ceviche. I could have eaten a dozen more.

Shortly thereafter came a stunning plate of what I first thought were slices of prosciutto. No, it was local yellowfin tuna, cured in sea salt for two days and then aged for another week-plus until the protein takes on an almost waxy texture and loses any trace of fishiness. Served in tissue-paper-thin slices, drizzled with olive oil, and finished with lemon zest and tomatoes, it was not only incredibly delicious but also a beautiful expression of a traditional Puerto Rican ingredient handled simply and thoughtfully.

Fueled by a steady stream of fresh passion fruit mojitos made with fruit from vines growing on the property, we moved through a series of mezze-like dishes. Then came funche, a hearty, deceptively simple dish of cornmeal and beans. The chef team — Raúl Correa, René Marichal, and Xavier Pacheco — explained that funche has roots in Puerto Rico dating back to the mid-19th century and traces to Afro-Caribbean culinary traditions. It’s traditionally cooked with water, coconut water, or coconut milk depending on regional influence. Their version folded in locally grown white beans cooked in the soaking and braising liquid of salted cod, finished with a sofrito of fire-roasted tomatoes and fresh citrus.

Finally, a local red snapper arrived, charred on a burén, a traditional Taíno cooking surface that references indigenous Caribbean techniques and pre-colonial foodways. The fish was adorned with heaps of fresh herbs, plus shreds of pickled chayote and pumpkin, and laid over banana leaves alongside charred lemon halves.

Worth the detour? Absolutely. –Kat Odell

→ Bacoa Finca + Fogón (Juncos, PR) • Carr 31 KM 22.0 • Book.

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GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Bookshelf

Three FOUND Routine subjects this week have recently published cookbooks:

→ Maxi’s Kitchen: Easy To-Go Recipes To Make Again and Again by MAXINE SHARF (LA)

→ The Naughty Cookbook: Decadent Recipes to Seduce Your Taste Buds by SAMANTHA SCHNUR (Miami)

→ Galette! Sweet and Savory Recipes as Easy as Pie by REBECCA FIRKSER (NY)

REAL ESTATE • Paris

Three properties currently for sale by Place des Vosges in Paris’s 4th arr:

→ Place des Vosges (metro Bastille, above) • 2BR/1BA, 1367 SF apartment • Ask: $3.6M • top floor at King’s Pavilion with artist’s loft vibes and ‘suspended’ living room • Agent: John Vingas, Engel & Völkers.

→ Place des Vosges (metro Saint-Paul) • 3BR/1.1BA, 1184 SF apartment • Ask: $3.78M • renovated duplex with open views in the Hôtel de Chaulnes • Agent: Iryna Kakura, Sothebys.

→ Place des Vosges (metro Chemin Vert) • 6BR/2BA, 2551 SF apartment • Ask: $4.58M • classical design with 1st-floor apartment, separate studio apartment, and garage opening onto Rue des Tournelles • Agent: Caroline Baudry, Barnes.

GOODS & SERVICES • Big Ticket

Select answers to the FOUND Routine query, What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?

→ REBECCA FIRKSER• cookbook author, test kitchen editor at Bon Appétit, Nickel & Dine(NY): I finally sprung for a Babaà turtleneck wool sweater — took advantage of the winter “sale” (they are still $$!). Considering I’ve had the tab open for over a year, and it should last a very long time, I decided to treat myself.

→ ARTY FROUSHAN, actor, American Psycho (LDN): I’m generally phobic of spending big money but I bought a proper leather jacket from A.M recently.

→ MARC SPITZER, executive chef & partner, OKARU (NY): My new Harley-Davidson bike.

RESTAURANTS • New York

Umami queen

Tucked behind a cocktail lounge on the Lower East Side, and opened last month, Anbā is a new NYC sushi counter worth knowing. There, Nobu alum Ambrely Ouimette has been quietly serving a fermentation-slick omakase that swaps out (or enhances) classic soy, ponzu, and other traditional sushi seasonings for globally-minded ferments that hit with punchy layers of umami. Her steal of a menu runs $220 per for 16 courses.

Walk straight through the 1940s-themed ground-floor lounge of The Concord Building (formerly nightlife destination Hotel Chantelle), where a sliding door at the back reveals the 10-seat restaurant. An L-shaped, salmon-pink marble counter anchors the sparse space, two dry-aging refrigerators parked within it. Ouimette and her all-female team, a sous chef and a beverage director, glide quietly through the compact room, pausing to flip a vinyl record now and then. –Kat Odell

More at FOUND NY

GETAWAYS • Guerneville, CA

Forest bathing

Tucked deep into the winding river and redwood groves of Russian River, Dawn Ranch is a sprawling property with a hundred-year history, first as Murphy’s Ranch, then as gay resort Fife’s. Following a flood and a multi-year renovation, it relaunched in 2023 with rustic cabins in the woods and a fine dining restaurant, now led by a couple of former Meadowood chefs who bring fire and flavor from South America.

Roll west along Highway 116, pull off at Fife Creek, and fill your lungs with old-growth forest. Dawn Ranch unfurls across 22 acres of woods, dotted with 86 guest rooms from cabins to cottages. We needed the map to find our rooms, well-appointed with products and free of TVs. Too late to catch a Japanese bath at the spa, we slipped into the hot tub before sunset for a quick soak under the evergreen branches. –Becky Duffett

More at FOUND SF

ASK FOUND

One PROMPT for which we seek your intelligence:

• Tell us about your favorite hotel in the world, one worth booking an entire trip around.

More answers or questions? Hit reply or email found@itsfound.com.

GETAWAYS LINKS: In Sonoma, Scribe Winery is almost 20 and just getting started • Anticipated Hotel Indigo London K West Shepherds Bush opens • When it comes to travel, we’re spring dreaming • More things I like in a hotel.

RESTAURANTS • The Nines

NYC Restaurants, West Village

Our NYC top restaurant picks, by neighborhood. See also: Soho, East Village, West Village, Upper West Side, Cobble Hill & Boerum Hill.

• The Commerce Inn (above), Jody Williams and Rita Sodi’s most under-the-radar (and therefore accessible) spot, for cozy tavern vibes, reserve

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Oregon trail

​​Oregon’s Willamette Valley, sometimes compared to Burgundy, is not just about Pinot Noir anymore. Chardonnay and traditional method sparkling wines are finally getting their due, and a collaborative community of young winemakers is making its mark, crafting excellent wines with zero pretension. Here now, FOUND’s guide to what’s new and notable.

WHERE TO STAY: The Allison Inn & Spa (above) in Newberg remains the region’s most elegant resort and nicest spa experience, with details including housemade chocolate truffles and robe warmers, plus a new guided floating meditation therapy. Larger groups and families can book a six-bedroom hillside home AtTheJoy for a full kitchen, heated pool, hot tub, and three standalone bungalows. Owner Andy Lytle provides bottles of his Lytle-Barnett and Aubaine wines for imbibing.

WHERE TO DINE: If chef Kari Shaughnessy can become a James Beard finalist in a restored 1920s warehouse with no air conditioning, then the sky’s the limit for the new Carlton location of her restaurant, Hayward. At Hayward’s new digs, open since last summer, a larger kitchen allows Shaughnessy to build out her zero-waste and fermentation program. Diners sit at the communal kitchen banquette, on two-tops, or in the covered patio garden, snacking on housemade focaccia with a generous dollop of koji butters and daily pickles while perusing the rotating weekly menu.

WHERE TO TASTE: LucidWild Estate in Dundee is the Willamette’s hottest new tasting room, pumping house music while dispelling the myth that Gen Z doesn’t drink wine. Tastings include food pairings, panoramic vineyard views, and impromptu estate honey tastings. Linger with bottle service in spaces like a rec room with billiards, foosball, and a crushed-oyster-shell bocce court outside. LucidWild also has a Mercedes Sprinter Van for up to 10 guests available for chauffeured wine tours.

WHERE TO FEST: The Equinox Wine Festival is May 2, featuring more than 30 wineries from the Eola-Amity Hills AVA (Bryn Mawr, Lingua Franca, and Bethel Heights) and educational seminars on chardonnay, alternative varietals, and library vintage pinot noirs. AAPI Food & Wine takes place the same weekend in McMinnville for a lively gathering of Asian-owned wineries paired with smoky and spicy Asian food.

Another tasting event, Method Oregon, expands this July with three days showcasing Oregon’s best traditional method sparkling wines, with seminars, grand tastings, and individual winery events. Sparkling specialists including Corollary Wines, Lytle-Barnett, Argyle, and Arablis will pour bubbles so fine, you might actually mistake them for Champagne. –Amber Gibson

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GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Sponsor

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→ Try Good Chop today! [spon]

GETAWAYS LINKS: Longtime Eater Carolinas editor launches new Charleston restaurant newsletter: Cooter Soup • On Nashville, TN and why everything needs the right landscape • Texas Monthly’s best new (Texas) restaurants • Peak ‘26 cherry blossom season in DC.: 03/29-04/01 • 20 years in, refresh for London hotel Hoxton Shoreditch • Is it luxury, or basic bitch luxury?

ROUTINES • Goods & Services

Select answers to the FOUND Routine query, What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?

→ JOSEPH (JOE) JEBELEAN, general manager & mixologist, Lakou (Miami): I recently picked up the AINOTE Air 2 Notebook, and it’s been a game-changer for staying organized and productive. I use it daily for planning, notes, and ideas, and it helps keep everything streamlined without the clutter of multiple notebooks or screens.

→ KEN FRANK, executive chef & owner, La Toque (SF): I bought my wife a really good Canon professional photo printer. She’s a florist and has a great eye.

→ ANYA FIRESTONE, experience curator and guide, Maison Firestone (Paris): I love investing in things for the home and for my son Swann, but I want to keep the apartment looking chic: A toy chest from PoumPoum, in the shape of a Parisian building. I also acquired another playmat from Totter and Tumble, inspired by 19th-century William Morris prints. And then for something less child-friendly: Crystal cobalt stemware by Jonathan Hansen (I opted for the stemless flutes and use them as water glasses).

→ LAUREN BEHFARIN, CEO & founder, Little Room Supply (NY): KHAITE Colt snake-effect leather ankle boots, the new loves of my life.

GETAWAYS • Tokyo

Found in translation

After a 19-month closure for renovations, the iconic Park Hyatt Tokyo (immortalized in Lost In Translation) reopened late last year at the top of the Shinjuku Park Tower. The common areas have been given a slight refresh and modern design updates, while guest rooms have undergone a complete overhaul that includes an elegant piece of cabinetry concealing several drawers for stemware, espresso cups, and the minibar.

The famous New York Bar on the 52nd floor has been preserved in its original jazz-bar-in-the-sky beauty. And the impeccable near-panoramic views remain reason enough to visit The Peak, the 41st-floor lobby bar and lounge, even if you’re not staying overnight. (Unlike New York Bar, The Peak doesn’t charge a cover fee.)

I’d lovingly describe the rooms and approach to service as business-formal. Luxury is in details major and minor: a hand-illustrated map of the hotel on the ground floor and in the lobby, with a similar one for citywide attractions in my room; a welcome basket of in-season Tochiotome strawberries; staff members who greeted me by name every time I emerged from the elevators or walked through the lobby. –Patricia Kelly Yeo

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GETAWAYS • Key West

Bahamian bodega

Santiago’s Bodega holds a special place in my heart — the two of us arrived in Key West around the same time in the early aughts. I moved into the seafoam cottage next door on Emma Street in 2006 — I could peer into the kitchen from my bedroom window, and my back door was the most direct route to a table on the inviting wraparound patio outside.

Santiago’s was the new hotspot on the island back then, slightly off the beaten path in Bahama Village with a louche bohemian (yet sophisticated) appeal, serving Spanish-style tapas alongside housemade sangria and an impressive global wine list. It seemed to embody everything I hoped my new island life would promise: off-the-grid remoteness, with a touch of the cosmopolitan.

More than 20 years later, Santiago’s remains one of my favorite restaurants in Key West, and the quality of the food has never lagged. The brandy flambeed haloumi saganaki and seared beef tenderloin in bleu cheese butter are as delicious today as they were when I first tasted them, thanks to the steady hand of restaurateur Jason Dugan.

In addition to the sweetness of nostalgia I enjoy whenever I’m back at Santiago’s, there’s also the croissant bread pudding, made to order, which I reflexively request for dessert without glancing at the menu. –Shayne Benowitz

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AROUND FOUND • Other Notable Intel & Recs

→ NY: In a patinated, postage-stamp-sized space, Odo East Village is a new casual offshoot from chef Hiroki Odo (of Odo in Chelsea). Odo captures the essence of kaiseki cooking without the formality (or the price tag), in a setting that feels familiar and unpretentious. In other words: the ideal restaurant-bar for New York in 2026.

→ LONDON: For almost two years, Dara Klein ran a hit residency at Islington gastropub The Compton Arms, serving Italian food inspired by her family’s trattoria in New Zealand. That version of Tiella closed at the end of 2024, but Klein is back with a similar, now-permanent, set-up in Hackney. It’s proved just as popular since opening in January.

→ PARIS: Leeds native and alum of beloved spots like Robert and Magnolia, Jack Baker Bosco is a hot name on the Paris restaurant scene right now. The chef’s new restaurant Le Canard Sauvage opened in November on the pulsing Boulevard de Strasbourg, and is a welcome addition to this pocket of the 10th arrondissement.

ASK FOUND

One PROMPT for which we seek your intelligence:

• Tell us about your favorite hotel in the world, one worth booking an entire trip around.

More answers or questions? Hit reply or email found@itsfound.com.

GOODS & SERVICES • The Nines

Spas, London

The Nines are FOUND’s distilled lists of the best of the best.

• AIRE Ancient Baths (Covent Garden, above), moody, candlelit pools, Spanish Ribera del Duero red wine soak for serious decadence, $628 per couple

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Paris, Texas

If ever there was a city poised to become a capital-D destination for serious dining, it’s Dallas. Case in point: Mamani, a new French restaurant in the chic Uptown neighborhood. Since opening in September, it’s emerged as one the most compelling new restaurants not only in the city, but in the country.

Mamani boasts an all-star team led by executive chef Christophe De Lellis, who most recently spent over a decade at Joël Robuchon at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. With additional alumni from Eleven Madison Park (NYC) and Saison (SF) rounding out the brigade, this is a team with a deep understanding of high-level fine dining.

The à la carte menu draws inspiration from both the French and Italian Rivieras. Standout dishes include a decadent Maine lobster, butter-poached and paired with a flawlessly executed sauce au poivre and crisp pommes frites.

The To Share section proved particularly memorable, highlighted by my favorite course of the evening: veal cordon bleu, carved tableside and served with silky pommes purée, Mornay sauce, and a bright Bibb salad.

For dessert, a simple, satisfying Madagascar vanilla gelato with chocolate sauce and candied pecans.

Unpretentious and deliberate, Mamani delivers refinement without excess and appeal without compromise. It’s one of Dallas’s brightest stars on an increasingly impressive culinary stage. –Lee Pitofsky

→ Mamani (Dallas, TX) • 2681 Howell St Ste BU4 • Mon-Thu 5-930p, Fri-Sat 5-10p, Sun 5-9p • Reserve.

GETAWAYS LINKS: The world’s best bars: a personal list • Inside Six Senses London, opening this week • Checking in at the new Loire Valley Lodges • Admiring the sea-worthy design at the new W Algarve • Five secret hotels in Japan recommended by a Japanese designer.

REAL ESTATE • American Rockies

Three properties currently on offer in the mountains of Telluride, CO.

→ 140 W Serapio Dr (Telluride, CO) • 6BR/4.2BA, 6910 SF house • Ask: $7.75M • cul de sac setting with 300-degree mountain views • Agents: Aric Maloy & Adam Black, Telluride Properties.

→ 167 Adams Ranch Rd (Telluride, CO, above) • 5BR/5.1BA, 5891 SF house • Ask: $11.9M • mountain contemporary set on open land and Telluride Golf Club • Agent: Ana Bowling, Compass.

→ 126 E Colorado Ave #126R (Telluride, CO) • 4BR/6.1BA, 4989 SF apartment • Ask: $18.9M • penthouse above Telluride’s downtown, with multiple terraces and hot tub • Agents: Lars Carlson, Liv Sotheby’s and Bill Fandel, Compass.

ROUTINES • Goods & Services

Select answers to the FOUND Routine query, What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?

→ LAUREN DUDLEY STEPHENS, CEO & co-founder, Dudley Stephens (NY): I just bought this new DeMellier brown suede tote. It’s very well made and fits a ton of stuff — my laptop, kids snacks, and all of my work stuff. It’s so chic and goes with any outfit. I absolutely love it.

→ CAITLIN GUNTHER, writer & creator, The 75 (Paris): My Sandro leather bomber jacket. I left my beloved Calvin Klein bomber (purchased when I was 16) at my ex’s apartment in Paris, and he never returned it. Long and weird story. Purchasing this for myself for my most recent birthday felt like a vindication.

→ LAUREN MAKLER, co-founder and CEO, Cofertility (LA): We just bought our first house and my sister (who has the most incredible taste) is leading the charge on a renovation before we move in. First purchase for the new house is an Eight Sleep Pod 5 and I can’t wait to not fight over the thermostat anymore.

RESTAURANTS • Los Angeles

Sqirl dinner

Los Angeles is built on false hope: “I’ll be there in 20,” “we’re just getting your table ready now,” “we’ll call you about the role.” And for a minute, it seemed Sqirl’s much-talked-about after-dark turn would be joining this lineup. But last week, at last, the Virgil Village daytime favorite opened for its first dinner service. I stopped in on Saturday night.

The crowd was buzzy and buzzing, but not overwhelming. (Nancy Silverton was in later that evening, and a Sweetgreen founder sat two tables down from us.) Service was practiced for this early run in prime time.

Sqirl chef and owner Jessica Koslow has been publicly tuning the menu for a while now, previewing ingredients on Sqirl’s Substack and posting on Instagram about Sqimps, grilled squid stuffed with shrimp-chorizo. If the purpose of all research and development was to make it almost impossible to narrow down an order, Koslow was more than successful. –James Royce

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SPAS • Switzerland

One and only

Living in the Rhine region, I’m surrounded by thermal baths, from Alsace to the Black Forest and across the Basel area. Yet, since discovering Sole Uno, no other spa in the region has quite measured up to the quality of its spaces and the intelligence of its design.

Suspended between water and landscape, you float in the outdoor pools while taking in the view, then drift toward bubbling loungers and powerful shoulder jets that energize the body. Swim beneath a delicate veil of falling water and suddenly you’re in a more intimate pocket of calm, where time slows and you can lie back, relax, and gaze up at that sole uno above.

A tropical rain shower, bathed in dimmed, colored rings of light, is an experience I could linger in endlessly. Just beyond it, the alpine shower delivers a sharp contrast: a dramatic room of dark stone where, at the press of a button, an icy cascade crashes down like a true mountain fall, bracing and reviving.

My favorite space, though, lies underground, in what feels like a bat cave: rough concrete walls, soaring ceilings, near darkness pierced by red neon light. At the center of the pool runs a narrow corridor beneath a single skylight. Here, the water is enriched to mimic the density of the Dead Sea, allowing you to float effortlessly in barely 40 centimeters of depth. With no effort required, all tension releases. Submerge your ears and listen to the Indian raga or soft jazz playing beneath the surface. Push gently off the edge and glide slowly beneath the skylight, weightless and suspended, a cinematic travelling. –Candice Chemel

More at FOUND Paris

AROUND FOUND • Other Notable Intel & Recs

→ LONDON: You might expect to find Madonna’s favourite Italian restaurant in New York, but the spot outed by the Material Girl last month is on the other side of the Atlantic in Margate, a town she calls her ‘idea of heaven’. Tracey Emin took the popstar for dinner at Bottega Caruso, a tiny Italian restaurant owned and run by chef and front-of-house couple Simona Di Dio and Harry Ryder. It’s rooted in the flavours and folklore of Di Dio’s hometown, the hillside village of Foglianise in Campania, an hour from Naples.

→ NY: Ambitious modern Korean chef’s counter Hwaro opened in Times Square at the tail end of last year. The restaurant is located inside its sister restaurant, Gui Steakhouse, hidden away in a discreet private room upstairs. It’s an important addition to the city’s high-end Korean food scene.

→ MIAMI: A kosher-certified restaurant by Israeli chef Eyal Shani (with outposts in Tel Aviv and New York City), Malka opened in December, dishing out modern Mediterranean cuisine with an emphasis on local produce in downtown West Palm Beach. I went the vegetarian route (an easy feat here) on my visit and enjoyed the hummus, beetroot carpaccio with horseradish, and the delicata and butternut squash steaks, salted for 24 hours and then roasted on burning oak.

ASK FOUND

One PROMPT for which we seek your intelligence:

• Tell us about your favorite hotel in the world, one worth booking an entire trip around.

More answers or questions? Hit reply or email found@itsfound.com.

RESTAURANTS • Paris

Cassoulet

The Nines are FOUND’s distilled lists of the best of the best.

• D’Chez Eux (7th arr), long-running bourgeois bistro popular w/ politicians

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One PROMPT for which we seek your intelligence:

• Tell us about your favorite hotel in the world, one worth booking an entire trip around.

More answers or questions? Hit reply or email found@itsfound.com.

GETAWAYS • Utah

Dry powder

While Park City spent two decades converting Olympic afterglow into a full-fledged luxury product — Ikon Pass integration, celebrity sightings at High West, lift lines that suggest Manhattan briefly relocated to the Wasatch range — Snowbasin took a different path.

The resort, 33 miles northeast of Salt Lake City, sits above Huntsville, population 603. The median age is just over 50. Median home values recently crossed $650,000. A boomtown, it isn’t. It’s a place that’s aged in place.

Earl Holding bought Snowbasin in 1984, when it was still a modest day area. When Utah landed the 2002 Winter Games, Holding built the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City to house sponsors, then quietly poured capital into Snowbasin itself: Canadian spruce lodges, lift infrastructure built for throughput, and a downhill course Anderl Molterer once called the best in the world. The family still runs the resort, maintaining independence while most comparable mountains continue getting absorbed into pass ecosystems.

On paper, Snowbasin offers 3000 acres and 3000 vertical feet. More importantly, it holds powder days for longer after storms, like the two feet of snow it received this week.

You can park for free without having to plan ahead. The food is homespun and tasty: Earl’s Lodge at the base serves fresh-carved turkey and curry noodles. The Needles Lodge, higher up, pours proper cocktails. The infrastructure borrows from timeless European alpine codes — places built to support skiing first, real estate second — translated to American scale.

The tricky bit can be deciding where to stay, as most hotels are a drive and there’s not a lot of on-mountain lodging. Down in Huntsville, my choice is Compass Rose Lodge (above). Opened in 2018, it’s a handsome 15-room boutique hotel with a unique observatory for guests to survey the night skies.

Down the block from the Compass Rose, the Shooting Star Saloon has been operating since 1879. During Prohibition, word traveled faster than the authorities. Dollar bills from 70 years of patrons cover the ceiling. Buck, a 298-pound Saint Bernard who once held a Guinness record, died in 1957; his stuffed head still watches the room. The menu fits on a napkin dispenser. The Star Burger (two patties, Polish knackwurst, grilled onions) and $3 beers maintain their reasonable pricing. Cash only.

Park City turned its Olympic moment into a perpetual performance. Deer Valley refined restraint into a marketable luxury aesthetic. Snowbasin simply kept doing what it’s always done: grooming to high standards, providing access to powder, and serving actual food at lodges. It doesn’t shout about it, and that’s the appeal. –Colin Nagy

→ Snowbasin Resort (Huntsville, UT).
→ Compass Rose Lodge (Huntsville, UT) • 198 S 7400 E • Reserve.

GETAWAYS LINKS: A century later, Paris hotel Le Bristol remains a beacon of hospitality design • Provence in bloom • Checking in to Pulitzer Amsterdam, within 25 restored canal houses • Previously Andaz, remade Alilah Mayakoba opens on Riviera Maya • Jamaica’s Half Moon (and resort-inside-resort Eclipse) set April reopening • I went to East Africa.

REAL ESTATE • Portugal

Three properties currently on offer on the island of Madeira.

→ Santo António (Funchal, Madeira, above) • 3BR/5BA, 3089 SF house • Ask: $2.82M • newly built villa with infinity pool and barbecue area • Agent: Stephanie Russo, Sotheby’s.

→ Arco Da Calheta (Calheta, Madeira) • 3BR/3BA, 4305 SF house • Ask: $4.9M • modernist house set on cliffside with swimming pool and firepit • Agent: Links Home Real Estate.

→ Porto Moniz (Funchal, Madeira) • 7BR/7BA, 5338 SF house • Ask: $5.28M • large contemporary villa with heated saltwater swimming pool • Agent: Stephanie Russo, Sotheby’s.

RESTAURANTS • Paris

Island away

A famous tourist trap on Île Saint-Louis gets a makeover by two cool operators — one, a gutsy young chef, the other, his talented sommelier (and business partner). There hasn’t been so much carefully calibrated buzz about a restaurant here since the ‘80s, when the Baroness Marie Helene de Rothschild held beau monde dinner parties at her Hôtel Lambert and a slightly catty, la-vie-en-rose atmosphere tinged the late actor Jean-Claude Brialy’s flower-filled restaurant L’Orangerie. Maybe Cypsèle will make the Île Saint-Louis sexy again?

Still gelling after opening in November, but already frequented by a promising mixture of aristocratic locals, like the three poodles accompanying a studiously disheveled divorcee (she told the waiter as much) and the handsome older man with her (who was, also by her telling, her grandfather). Also, alert Parisian design fiends (for the brilliant décor); a regularly changing regiment of young chefs and their friends here to support two of their own; and fashion folks and photographers. This is a friendly, unpretentious place with a winning, tough-to-pull-off equilibrium between the relaxed ambience of a country auberge and the precision of supervailing big-city service. –Alexander Lobrano

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RESTAURANTS • San Francisco

Old flame

The newest French spot in the village of Glen Park, La Cigale is the brainchild of chef Joseph Magidow and his wife Daisy Linden. Its wood-burning grill fired up at the start of fall, serving 15 seats twice per night from a daily, scribbled menu of dishes cooked over live fire. It’s gotten some heat for its seating policy, and neighbors have complained about the restaurant’s wafting smoke. But if you love rustic French fare, it’s an illuminating experience.

The Burgundy red storefront looks out on tree-lined Chenery Street. I found myself second in line when I arrived at 4p, which is advised: The restaurant starts taking names for the early and late seatings at 430p, and it fills up quickly. I made it into the first seating at 6p. After killing an hour at the library, we bellied up to the omakase-style counter. Every seat has a full view of the custom grill, which is tricked out with levers, pulleys, and ducks twirling on strings.

Magidow balances a chalkboard on the bar, from which you choose three courses plus supplements. Two people dining together can try most of the menu, which is inspired by Occitania, an ancient corner of southwest France. –Becky Duffett

More on FOUND SF

AROUND FOUND • Other Notable Intel & Recs

→ LONDON: Pastry chef, cookbook author and Junior Bake Off judge Ravneet Gill shared the trials and tribulations of building a debut restaurant with her followers, before finally opening Gina (above) with her husband (chef Mattie Taiano) last summer. On the high street opposite Chingford station, the restaurant is technically in London, though only just — but Gina’s outstanding, simple food shortens the distance.

→ MIAMI: After reemerging on Collins Avenue last summer with a sophisticated lobby bar, The Shelborne by Proper (intel) debuted its marquee restaurant, Pauline, in November. Built on South Florida’s coastal bounty, with Caribbean and Latin influences, the restaurant is a homecoming for Florida Keys native chef Abram Bissell, who honed his craft in some of NYC’s top kitchens, including Eleven Madison Park and The Modern.

→ NY: Tucked inside Canal Arcade, Nakaji serves a phenomenal, 16-course ($365 per) Edomae-style omakase with a particular knack for sourcing the auction-grade uni of your dreams. When Nakaji first opened weeks before lockdown in March 2020, he offered an optional add-on uni tasting. Now, those extraordinary bites are built into the menu, and he’s earned serious street cred for the unparalleled quality he sources.

ROUTINES • Restaurants

Select answers to the FOUND Routine query, What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?

→ ELLIA PARK, co-founder, Na:eun Hospitality (Atomix et al), (NY): I really love loungewear, and I recently purchased silk loungewear from Comme Si. It’s incredibly soft, and it feels wonderful both when I’m sleeping and waking up.

→ ROMAIN PILATO, artistic florist, Maison Ciero (Paris): A Puzzle bag by Loewe! I absolutely love the brand.

→ MARK LOBEL, co-owner of Lobel’s Original; butcher & (5th generation) co-owner of Lobel’s Prime Meats(NY): A 36” Weber flat top griddle.

GETAWAYS • Dubai

Olfactory overload

Last fall, I booked a last-minute trip to Dubai. Having done zero research, a very stylish and well-traveled friend gave me one recommendation: a perfume and oils store at the Dubai Mall.

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Dakar bleu

Dakar has quietly become one of West Africa’s most magnetic creative cities. The region’s musicians, fashion designers, filmmakers, and visual artists move fluidly between Paris, Abidjan, Lagos, and New York, but Dakar remains the gravitational center. The energy is collaborative, local-first, and deeply social. That matters when choosing where to stay.

For years, Dakar’s hotels were either purely functional, built for diplomats and trade delegations, or oddly detached from the city’s rhythms. Terrou-Bi is the rare exception. Not because it tries to market itself as creative or cool, but because it has grown alongside the city rather than parachuting in from elsewhere.

The property began in 1986 as a modest seafront restaurant on the Corniche Ouest, opened by Lebanese immigrant Kalil Rahal and named Terrou Bi (a fisherman’s phrase for land glimpsed on the horizon). Over time, it expanded organically, and what emerged was not a destination resort, but a piece of civic infrastructure.

Today, Terrou-Bi has roughly 160 rooms overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, with a private beach, marina access, and several restaurants. It’s now run by Rahal’s sons, Kamil and Samir, making it a second-generation family business. The Mediterranean-influenced architecture features arched walkways, pale stone, broad terraces facing the sea. Recent renovations have modernized the interiors without altering the core idea: generous public spaces, clear sightlines, and an atmosphere that encourages lingering.

And the service is warm. Nearly all staff are Senegalese, many long-tenured, and the tone reflects teranga, hospitality as social obligation rather than scripted performance. There’s an ease that’s hard to replicate once properties are standardized or rebranded.

Crucially, Terrou-Bi also feels connected to the city’s creative life. Its hi-fi bar, Le Diamono, functions as a low-key meeting point for musicians, designers, and visiting collaborators. Grain de Sel overlooks the marina, where boats head out for offshore fishing trips. The mood is local, not transient.

For visitors drawn to Dakar’s creative scene, that distinction matters. Terrou-Bi isn’t the city’s flashiest hotel. It’s the one that understands why Dakar is on your itinerary in the first place. –Colin Nagy

→ Terrou-Bi (Dakar, Senegal) • Boulevard Martin Luther King • Rooms from $525/night.

GETAWAYS LINKS: Why one of the best European villa operators refuses to scale • New boutique hotel The Newman opened last weekend in London • In search of Chartreuse, I went to Chartreuse • Rotterdam’s harbour revival continues with new photography museum • The perfect solo afternoon in Paris.

REAL ESTATE • Boston, MA

Mass appeal

The fastest growing ultra-luxury market in the US? Boston, with 20 residential sales over $10M in 2025, almost 3x the 2024 total. The news, released in Compass’s glossy year-end report (see the rest of the top 10 emerging markets below), had us reconsidering Boston as a future FOUND market and wondering what a $10M+ Boston property looks like in 2026. Here, three answers, all listed this year:

→ 55-57 Hancock St (Beacon Hill) • 5BR/5.3BA, 7777 SF house • Ask: $12.9M • restored 1870 3-exposure corner home with 65 windows, sweeping top-to-bottom staircase, and 3 roof decks • Days on market: 11 • Annual tax: NA • Agent: Glenn Forger, Olde Forge Realty.

→ 163 Marlborough St #2 (Back Bay, above) • 4BR/3.1BA, 4856 SF condo • Ask: $12.99M • Residence 2 at landmarked Cushing-Endicott House, also w/ 3-sided exposure, plus ‘museum-quality period detailing’ • Days on market: 31 • Annual tax: NA • Agent: Tracy Campion, Campion & Company.

→ 3 Commonwealth Ave #1 (Back Bay) • 3BR/4.1BA, 3950 SF condo • Ask: $14.49M (reduced from $15.0M) • first block of sunny-side Comm Ave, once home to governor Oliver Ames and the French Consulate w/ suitably formal entertaining rooms • Days on market: 25 (and earlier) • Annual tax: $100,016 • Agent: Tracy Campion, Campion & Company.

The full list of the top year-over-year US growth markets with 10+ transactions at $10M+:

1. Boston, MA • 20 sales (186% YoY)

2. Marin County, CA • 17 (183%)

3. Greenwich, CT • 38 (124%)

4. Jackson Hole, WY • 33 (120%)

5. Cape Cod, MA • 100 (14%)

6. Central Florida • 17 (89%)

7. Greater Los Angeles, CA • 292 (54%)

8. Greater Seattle • 26 (53%)

9. Brooklyn, NY • 12 (50%)

10. San Francisco, CA • 24 (50%)

BARS • New York

Winter den

While New York has no shortage of Japanese cocktail bars, only a few truly adhere to the bartending style’s core principles of restraint, precision, and purity of flavor. Two weeks ago, the city gained Stone & Soil, a transportive drinking den in the former O Ya space (inside NoMad’s Park South Hotel). Led by an alum of Tokyo’s Bar Trench, Hirotomo Akutsu, and partner Rio Azmee, the warm wood-bedecked bar serves clean, ingredient-driven drinks that range from updated classics to matcha- and pandan-dosed originals.

The house piña colada, Rum It Up, looks nothing like the original. It’s a split between the classic island drink and a sherry cobbler, with a clarified blend of coconut milk and cream sweetened by caramel-y Japanese kokuto sugar, brightened with pineapple and lime. It’s ultra-floral, subtly nutty, and one of the best drinks I’ve had in the last year. –Kat Odell

MORE at FOUND NY

GETAWAYS • France

Septime overnight

In the heart of the Perche Natural Park in Southern Normandy, D’une Île is a 17th-century hamlet reimagined by Bertrand Grébaut and Théophile Pourriat, the duo behind Septime, Clamato, and La Cave in Paris. In 2018, they took over from a Dutch couple who first put Rémalard on the map with this charming bed and breakfast, transforming D’une Île into a countryside escape.

The estate comprises several stone buildings scattered across eight hectares of meadows and woods. Each of the 10 rooms features white linens, tomettes, exposed beams, and bouquets of wildflowers sourced from nearby brocantes. There’s no wifi and barely any cell signal. –Victoire Loup

MORE at FOUND Paris

AROUND FOUND • Other Notable Intel & Recs

→ MIAMI: Famed chef Massimo Bottura’s restaurant Torno Subito moved into the ground floor of The Moore in the Design District at the end of last year. The original downtown location opened in 2024, but never felt like the right fit for this upscale restaurant. Now chef de cuisine Bernardo Paladini is back at the helm, in a room more befitting his ambition (and Bottura’s reputation).

→ NY: At LaGuardia Airport’s Terminal B, the doors swing open next Wednesday at the new Capital One Landing. With tapas by Jose Andrés and roaming tableside cocktail carts, the new restaurant has already led one observer to dub it “America’s best airport restaurant.” (ATL’s One Flew South would like a word.) Regardless, the new 12,500-square-foot space looks gorgeous.

→ PARIS: The room at Tarántula (above) feels familiar for the 11th. Dim lights. A low hum of conversation. Music at exactly the right volume. That relaxed, slightly groovy atmosphere Paris does so well. And then the food arrives — which is when it becomes clear this isn’t just another good neighborhood spot.

ROUTINES • Restaurants

Select answers to the FOUND Routine query, Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?

→ SIMON THISSE, CEO & AD, La Serviette Paris (Paris): If I had to choose just one: Cibus, a tiny Italian trattoria in one of Paris’s most beautiful neighborhoods, Palais-Royal. Cibus is 10 tables, max. No fixed menu, no fixed prices either. But the food is incredible, and the decor is as outdated as it is authentic.

→ ALEC BANKS, head of brand creative, Thuma (SF): The weekend routine usually consists of me and the family going to Madrona Bakery in Mill Valley in the morning for tea and pastries, as well as a loaf of sourdough. My wife and I have been battling it out in the kitchen lately, so cooking and eating at home have been a priority. But when we’re being lazy, we love to get Chinese food at R&G Lounge and a glass of wine along with some tapas at Verjus.

→ WEI CHEN, chef/owner, Omawei (Miami): We typically finish at the restaurant around 1a, so it’s tough to go anywhere that late. A good compromise is an ice-cold martini with Grey Goose, in-and-out vermouth and a twist at home. I will, however, probably go to Fiorito at some point this weekend as that is one of my favorite local spots in Miami.

ASK FOUND

One fresh PROMPT for which we seek your intelligence:

• Tell us about your favorite hotel in the world, one worth booking an entire trip around.

More answers or questions? Hit reply or email found@itsfound.com.

GETAWAYS • The Nines

Hotels, Miami

• The Hotel at The Moore (Design District, above), high-design ultra-boutique hotel residential-style rooms crowning private club

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Into the trees

Situated in the high-altitude French ski resort of Tignes, where the hotels and buildings emphasize function over form, Restaurant Ursus is a hard reset. Chef Clément Bouvier has packed the dining room with nearly 400 spruce trees, creating a dense indoor forest. It sounds like it could be a set piece, but the lighting is low, the acoustics are hushed, and the effect is one of genuine intimacy rather than kitsch. It’s delightful.

While the service is a bit wooden in English (I have a feeling the descriptions are more lush and rich in French), the menu commits to the environment without feeling like a costume party. The meal began with the Forest Floor, a collection of earthy bites. My starter, a humble porcini mushroom soup served on stones and bark nestled in actual moss, set a very specific tone, very quickly. The bread service is equally magnificent: a basket of dark, crusty loaves and architectural spikes served with a decadent butter trio. The standout is the lard paysan (smoked bacon) butter, which has a savory depth that anchors the meal.

Bouvier’s sourcing is hyperlocal, and it shows. A simple potato soup was a surprising scene-stealer, with a velvety richness that felt like a hug. For the main course, venison was served perfectly pink with tart berries, crushed pistachio, and a glossy, dark jus that cut right through the richness. It felt right eating it surrounded by timber. If the venison was good, the veal sweetbreads were even more sublime, the chef walking us through each of the ingredients he’d sourced near the mountain.

We finished our meal with the cheese trolley, a massive stone-slabbed cart rolling through the trees. It is strictly Savoyard, a comprehensive tour of the region’s best wheels.

Restaurant Ursus is an ambitious, high-execution evening that feels entirely singular to this austere mountain area. After a day on the slopes, a meal like this proved the perfect coda. –Adam Fern

→ Restaurant Ursus (Tignes, France) • Val Claret • Mon-Sat 7-9p • Open seasonally through May 2.

GETAWAYS LINKS: Snow drought in US west reaches record levels • French-East Asian restaurant Bar des Près debuts St. Barts outpost • Inside L’Adventure, the new Paris boutique hotel from the Hotel Costes team • Touring Conrad Corfu, set to open this spring.

REAL ESTATE • On the Market

Three for-sale properties along Playa Flamingo in Costa Rica.

→ Calle Flamingo (Playa Flamingo) • 4BR/5.1BA, 4197 SF house • Ask: $1.495M • on beach’s south ridge, with separate pool area, all with ocean views • Agent: Paula Zúñga, Sotheby’s.

→ Casa Las Brisas (Playa Flamingo, above) • 5BR/4.1BA, 4650 SF house • Ask: $2.95M • on beach’s north ridge, with sweeping ocean views, plus pool and jacuzzi • Agent: Matt Rosensteele, Coldwell Banker.

→ Ocean View Residence #21 (Playa Flamingo) • 4BR/4.2BA, 7782 SF house • Ask: $6.195M • multi-level residence with small pool, inside members only Cantomar Ocean Club • Agent: Robert F. Davey, Christie’s.

GETAWAYS • France

Artists’ retreat

Only two hours from Gare Montparnasse in Paris, tucked into the Loire Valley, the Château de la Haute Borde is five-room guesthouse that’s also a working artists’ residency. The three owners (Céline Barrère, Cécile Simon, and Violette Platteau) blur the lines between hospitality, creativity, and ecology.

Stays last a minimum of three nights, each one helping fund the château’s resident artists. Days might include a meditation session in the garden, a wild foraging walk in the surrounding woods with century-old trees, a jump in the pool, or a hands-on workshop on natural skincare. Conversations happen over tea or barefoot in the grass. This is a place that encourages slowness, and nudges you towards curiosity. –Victorie Loup

MORE at FOUND Paris

BAKERIES • London

​​Exceedingly good

After months of delay, Claridge’s has finally opened its bakery: the debut London shop from Richard Hart, best known for his cult Copenhagen spot Hart Bageri. With its own shopfront on Brook’s Mews, Claridge’s Bakery boasts countryside-chic signage and a sleek countertop displaying baked goods like museum exhibits.

There’s no seating, so you can’t linger over coffee and a croissant, but there aren’t croissants anyway. In keeping with the hotel itself, everything here is resolutely British, from the Bakewell tart to the lardy cake to the selection of iced fingers. It’s unsurprising, given Hart is London-born – he trained as a pastry chef here before moving to California, then Denmark, and now Mexico City (where he opened Green Rhino last summer), returning to launch Claridge’s last month.

MORE at FOUND LDN

AROUND FOUND • Other Notable Intel & Recs

→ NY: To reach the steakhouse Palladino’s (above), opened last fall in Manhattan’s Grand Central Terminal, one either enters the terminal from the stretch of Vanderbilt Ave. just above 42nd Street, or, better, by crossing the floor of the Main Concourse (past the iconic, clock-topped information booth in the middle), and clambering up the grand staircase at the concourse’s west end.

→ LA: A mostly walk-in cocktail bar featuring snacks, mains, and desserts in Los Feliz, Vandell opened in December, and it’s been packed ever since. It may be Los Angeles’ bar of the moment, but it aspires to timelessness.

→ SF: A stone’s throw from the North Beach bars, a long walkway covered in arched reeds leads to a new, modern seafood restaurant inspired by Mexico City, Equal Parts. New in December, it’s helmed by Top Chef contender/Bar Crudo alum Melissa Perfit, who’s brought several of her trademark dishes with her.

ROUTINES • Goods & Services

Select answers to the FOUND Routine query, What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?

→ HARRISON CHENEY, executive chef & co-owner, Sons & Daughters (SF): When we moved restaurants, it almost tripled my commute. I wanted to make sure that my journey to work wasn’t only fast but sustainable, so I bought an Aventon Level 3 E-Bike. The freedom it’s given me to take a simple bike ride to the beach or around the park to clear my head has been game-changing.

→ POLINA SYCHOVA, interior designer & restaurant founder, Sino (LDN): I absolutely love my coffee machine, the La Marzocco Linea Mini. It’s an investment but it’s completely transformed my mornings. The coffee is café-quality, the design is beautiful and it’s built like a tank. It’s a small luxury, every single day.

→ MITSUNOBU NAGAE, executive chef and co-owner, l’abeille (NY): I recently bought a knife from my favorite Japanese knife maker, Takamura. It’s a beautiful piece, razor-sharp and a joy to work with in the kitchen.

ASK FOUND

One fresh PROMPT for which we seek your intelligence:

• Tell us about your favorite hotel in the world, one worth booking an entire trip around.

More answers or questions? Hit reply or email found@itsfound.com.

GETAWAYS • French Alps

Cabin fever

If Restaurant Ursus is the high-concept forest, La Charpenterie in Val d’Isère is the cabin you actually want to live in.

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Hotels, Rocky Mountains spring skiing

The Nines are FOUND’s distilled lists of the best. All rates below one night, king bed, March weekend.

• One&Only Moonlight Basin (Big Sky, MT), One&Only’s first ski resort w/ hotel and private cabins (above), gondola to Big Sky terrain, $2010

• Grand Hyatt Deer Valley (Deer Valley, UT), sizable new hotel at base of Deer Valley’s recently-opened East Village terrain, $794

• Stein Eriksen Lodge (Deer Valley, UT), luxe but family-friendly resort, easy ski in/out, many rooms updated within last year, $1988

• Waldorf Astoria Park City (Park City, UT), slopeside access at the Canyons section of Park City, $1749

• Snowpine Lodge (Alta, UT), semi-swanky spot at a classic mountain that’s not, intel, $1479

• MOLLIE Aspen (Aspen, CO), chic boutique hotel w/ Scandanavian-Japanese design inspirations opened two winters back, $899

• Four Seasons Resort (Vail, CO), remodeled ski concierge is star of show, new lounge on top floor, A+ amenities, $1704

• Kindred Resort (Keystone, CO), new slopeside spot in River Run Village, closest full-service resort to Denver, $598

• Four Seasons Jackson Hole (Jackson Hole, WY), gorgeous hotel, recent renovation, top-notch ski concierge service, intel, $2098

FOUND Pro: Anticipated new hotel White Elephant Aspen has just pushed back its February opening (after pushing back its original fall 2025 opening), and is now is taking bookings from June onward. See ya next ski season.

ASK FOUND

One fresh PROMPT for which we seek your intelligence:

• Tell us about your favorite hotel in the world, one worth booking an entire trip around.

More answers or questions? Hit reply or email found@itsfound.com.

REAL ESTATE • On the Market

Three for-sale properties in Milan, Italy.

→ Via Solferino/Brera (Milan) • 3BR/3BA, 2604 SF apartment • Ask: $4.18M • contemporary-styled loft with enormous skylight in the heart of Brera • Agent: Engel & Völkers.

→ Via Privata Alatri (Milan) • 5BR/4BA, 3779 SF house • Ask: $5.13M • 4-story English style villa, built 1919, with period touches and private garden • Agent: James Edition.

→ Via Rovelo/Brera (Milan, above) • 6BR/6BA, 4252 SF apartment • Ask: $8.83M • duplex penthouse in early 20th century building, in center of the action • Agent: Raffaella Mastropasqua, Christie’s.

GETAWAYS LINKS: No Real ID? TSA will charge you $45, starting tomorrow • Emirates and Marriott readying new Ritz Carlton Lodge in Australia’s Blue Mountains to open mid-2026 • Japan announces cherry blossom forecast for this spring • Cool (but not fancy) hotels that I’m dying to visit.

GETAWAYS • Key West

Su casa

With its grand opening on New Year’s Eve 1920, the Casa Marina is one of Key West’s most storied resorts. Conceived by railroad tycoon Henry Flagler, the property represents a fascinating era of Key West history and sits on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2023, it underwent a sweeping $75 million renovation, upgrading and redesigning guestrooms and overhauling food and beverage offerings. The result is a hotel that now more fully embodies the glamour of that bygone era.

With grounds spanning over six acres along the island’s southern shore, Casa Marina cuts a graceful, low-rise silhouette with a terracotta tile roof and creamy stucco façade lined with arcades that mimic a stretch of Flagler’s original Overseas Railroad. It’s home to one of the island’s only private beaches, as well as a picturesque poolscape bisected by a lovely catwalk leading to the ocean. There’s a pool on either side (one for adults; one, kid-friendly) and a swimming pier jutting out into the water. Whether looking out at the beach or back at the resort, it’s a picture-perfect vista of iconic Key West. –Shayne Benowitz

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RESTAURANTS • First Person

Bistrot hot

Tucked just below Delancey Street on Eldridge, Bistrot Ha has the feel of a Lower East Side restaurant from 20 years ago — a little raw, a little unfinished, and the hottest seat in town. When we arrived on a recent Thursday night for a 6p reservation, I took in the scene with delight.

The joint is small: 10 seats ringing the aluminum-topped bar that leads down one side of the restaurant, and two rows of tables filling out the other half. The decor scans as haphazardly cool, James Cherry light fixtures over the bar casually hung from the ceiling, wines by the glass scrawled on a chalkboard hanging next to the bar. The music is loud, and so is the crowd.

All of this is of a piece with Ha’s Snack Bar, the hole-in-the-wall opened around the corner last year by the same team. For the uninitiated, Ha’s Snack Bar earned raves (and hours-long waits) serving what my FOUND colleague Foster Kamer aptly described as “French classics freaked by fish sauce,” but in a space so cramped that I wasn’t tempted to return after my one meal there. But here, at last, the team has the luxury of an actual kitchen (compared to hot plates and such at Ha’s), and they’ve conceived an intriguing Vietnamese-French bistro menu to show it off. –Lockhart Steele

MORE on FOUND NY

AROUND FOUND • Other Notable Intel & Recs

→ PARIS: Set discreetly on a small street in the Sentier, Abstract Bistro (above) doesn’t behave like a neighborhood bar. It’s a carefully imagined cocktail space where all the spirits are distilled in-house. Opened by members of the Drink More Art collective alongside the team behind Bar Nouveau, it feels like a translation of abstract art into liquid form.

→ LONDON: In Margate, on the north coast of Kent, chef Billy Stock and partner Ellie Topham squeaked open food-forward pub The Wellington just in time to ring in 2026. Moments from Margate’s blustery seafront and overlooking its sheltered market square, the hospitality couple’s first brick-and-mortar venture is an ideal reason to jump on the high-speed train to the Kent coast (90 minutes from London St Pancras) for a day trip or longer.

→ SAN FRANCISCO: Opened during the pandemic and quickly named to a slew of best new restaurants lists, Mission District restaurant Shuggie’s launched with “trash pies” — pizzas made with discarded ingredients. In late 2025, owners Kayla Abe and David Murphy closed for a revamp, dropping “Trash Pies + Natural Wine” from its name. Shuggie’s 2.0 recently (re)opened with a menu of original plates highlighting and upcycling food waste into delicious food.

ROUTINES • Getaways

Select answers to the FOUND ROUTINE query, Any weekend getaways?

→ PRESTON LANE, founder, Preston Lane (NY): Sullivan County in Upstate New York is my weekend escape. It’s the part of the Catskills that feels a bit more under-the-radar than Hudson or Kingston, but has so much to offer: great vintage shops, breweries, and restaurants. One of my favorite spots is Spruce Home Goods in Livingston Manor. It’s this beautifully curated little shop with home decor, imported snacks, and curated goodies you’re dying to take home. Sullivan Sundries in Jeffersonville has some of the best curated meats and cheeses you can find.

→ GABRIEL NAVARRO, managing partner, MMG Equity Partners (Miami): We have a pretty special home in Key Largo, which my wife has done an amazing job transforming into our family’s happy place. For us, it’s the kind of place where you arrive, exhale, and immediately forget what day it is. More recently, we discovered Staniel Cay in the Bahamas, and it blew us away. It’s a quick flight out of Fort Lauderdale on Makers Air with unreal water, endless sandbars, and that laid-back Bahamian rhythm that’s impossible to fake. We stayed in a small beach cottage and spent our evenings at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club. It’s absolutely a repeat destination, next time with the kids.

→ JEANNE CASIMIR, “face explorer” (Paris): In Puisaye, in the Yonne department of France, the land of my grandparents.

• Stay at the Moulin de Corneille in Mézilles, the hidden gem of the region. If you go in early August, the flea market is exceptional.

• Go horseback riding at the equestrian center Les Grilles in Saint-Fargeau, where I spent summers as a child.

• Visit the Château de Saint-Fargeau and immerse yourself in 10 centuries of history. Also visit Guédelon, where around 40 craftsmen are building a medieval castle using only techniques and materials from the Middle Ages.

• Head to Parc du Bois de la Folie in Treigny for tree-climbing courses and to test your resilience high up in spectacular oak trees.

• Visit Parc de Boutissaint to see deer, fallow deer, wild boars, and the region’s forest tree varieties

GETAWAYS • Sardinia

Italian isolation

Off the coast of Italy, southwest of Rome, the island of Sardinia is a land of stunning rugged mountains, silky white sand beaches, and swimmable waters the color of FDC Blue #2.

Off the coast of Sardinia lies another, much smaller island, famous for its tonnano. To get there, fly into Sardinia’s capital, Cagliari, rent a car, and drive one hour flat to a port on the west side. Drive onto the ferry, drink a corretto (spiked or “corrected” espresso), and drive off. Congratulations, you’ve made it to Isola San Pietro, and now you’ll never want to leave.

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