At Munich's legendary Hotel Bayerischer Hof (so peaceful in soundproof, Axel Vervoordt-designed rooms), Falks Bar dates back to 1839 surviving Hitler’s bombings. Drinks are straightforward, but sweetheart staff & the gorgeous space shine. My Munich guide: virginiamiller.substack.com/p/munichs-gi...

May 2026 at a private home in the village of Silveiras is when I immediately fell in love with Brazil: youtu.be/iAsuFwPnEcA

Among the achiote on idyllic Curiango pig farm in Silveiras, Brazil, midway between Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro...

That moment I had a Caipirinha last week was the moment I was officially IN Brazil. Sipping my long-beloved cachaça with local, uber-tart limão Tahiti at a family farm & home around the dinner table outside with a dear local family, listening to (my also long-beloved) bossa nova.

Midway between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in the village of Queluz, Fazenda Santa Vitória is an enchanting, rustic-luxury farm, dairy (making beautiful cheeses) and spa set in the valley and hills between two stunning mountain ranges in rural Brazil: youtu.be/zQqK1GfnD9U

This kind post touches my heart. I can't wait to be back with my fellow judges and drink compatriots this week for a few days judging spirits at the biggest spirits competition in the world: San Francisco World Spirits Competition! (Thanks, Reza, Germain-Robin Brandy, Argonaut Brandy!)

Republic of Tea’s new White Jasmine Sparkling Tea — 100% organic white tea from China’s Fujian province — has a decided sparkling wine vibe, but is non-alcoholic. Reviewed in my Distiller Magazine column: distilling.com/distillermag... (Photo Courtesy of Republic of Tea)

A Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve sunset hike, on hills paralleling the coast in the San Francisco Bay Area Peninsula. Inland is Silicon Valley but along the coast is redwood forests, pines, rolling hills: golden in the summer, lush green in the winter & spring. youtu.be/EanI3KI6dEw

#RestaurantBathrooms / #BathroomBreak / #BestLoos: Vintage vibes, animal prints and feathers in the romantically feminine, seductive, 1920s-30s-esque Left Door #SF. @leftdoorsf

That crazy morning sunrise and light flying into Sao Paulo earlier this week... FINALLY, my first time in Brazil. And I'm in love with place and people!

At modern Guamanian rarity, Prubechu, my top 2 dishes since day 1 over a decade ago? —cold keleguan: shredded manok (chicken) piled on titiyas (coconut flour flatbread) —pika tamales gisu w/ fried egg 10 restaurants remaining (quietly) great: virginiamiller.substack.com/p/10-sf-rest...

This amazing couple (& family)... What a privilege to spend time with Jorge Vallejo & Ale Flores exploring some of their favorite eateries and haunts in Mexico City and having a rousing night at Lucha Libre! Then my return to their superb Quintonil for the 1st time since 2013: youtu.be/-Y0acelpQYk

Tiya chef Pujan Sarkar crafts inspired modern Indian, like insanely-good chicken gushtaba, a giant meatball in Amul cheese fondue (processed creamy Indian cheese) w/ leeks & truffles. With chili cheese kulcha, it’s divine. 10 restaurants remaining great: virginiamiller.substack.com/p/10-sf-rest...

Twice this week with my girl Dakota: modern Korean-Taiwanese feasting at Yeobo Darling ++ the Via Aurelia Derby party Saturday, complete with Mint Juleps (of course), live jazz, hats and seersucker suits, little Hot Brown canapés and chef David Nayfeld's pastas.

Since 1935, North Beach’s cozy Tommaso's has held steady as home to the first wood-fired brick oven on the West Coast. Under loving new ownership, it's in top form. And I can't resist the Red, White & Green pizza, tributing the Italian flag: virginiamiller.substack.com/p/10-sf-rest...

Hoja santa flautas, mini-Yucatecan pib tamales, grilled oyster mushroom tacos & a cochinita pibil twist with mussels & beef tongue. A peek at the inspired modern Mayan-Mexican cooking at Huniik from forward-thinking chef Roberto Solis & team in the dreamy small city of Merida: youtu.be/81T-gb06BHo

Oban’s second release in its limited-edition 15-Year-Old series is Oban 15 Port Cask Finish Single Malt Scotch Whisky, just launched in March 2026... Reviewed in my Distiller Magazine column: distilling.com/distillermag...

Sunday afternoon rooftop brunching at Rise Over Run, followed by wandering one of my most beloved neighborhoods ever, #SF Japantown, with my Cuz. @curiocollection.bsky.social

2 Michelin Birdsong's chef Chris Bleidorn crafts delicious drama w/ birds, seafood, bones & dishes like tempura cod reproductive organs (cod milt) w/ caviar+citrus OR tuna marrow slurped from the bone. Why these 10 SF restaurants remain (quietly) great: virginiamiller.substack.com/p/10-sf-rest...

Breakfast of Champions: pig slow-cooked underground by chef Ernesto Flores & team. Proper Yucatecan Mayan cochinita pibil, which we had as tacos with hand-pressed tortillas & salsa we helped make + empanadas & other joys at Chable Yucatan, near Mérida in Mexico's Yucatán jungle: youtu.be/DfRIcYO9Xhw

Ixi'im restaurant at Chable Yucatan (near Mérida in Mexico's Yucatán jungle, a magical resort on The World's 50 Best Hotels list) purportedly holds the world's biggest tequila collection. As someone who's long worked in tequila & spirits, I've never seen anything like it! youtu.be/bKEzv1jSgPE

Sunset at Chable Yucatan in the jungle... www.theworlds50best.com/hotels/the-list/chable-yucatan.html @50BestHotels @ChableHotels @yucatantourism @turismoyucatan

The already soulful grounds of Chable Yucatan held a number of sacred spaces I loved exploring: the meditation tree in a prayer labyrinth, an ancient cenote pool that centers the grounds & tiny chapel of San Antonio Chable: www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGdrSp-cMr0

After spending months in Thailand in my youth, I’ve maintained a deep love of the country. Dos Maderas Rum, from Bodegas Williams & Humbert, just released a limited-edition, 12yr Thai rum finished in 80yr Oloroso sherry casks. Reviewed in my @Distilling: distilling.com/distillermag...

On the enchanting grounds of Chable Yucatan resort in Mexico's Yucatan jungle, they have a melipona (stingless) bee apiary where I tasted honeys of varying textures & sweetness straight from the hive + in an elegant food pairing w/ honeys from multiple Mexican states. youtu.be/fvzzuItWwhw

Hot and flushed in that sweltering Yucatan jungle heat, me taking in that Chable Yucatán view I posted this morning from atop a Residences tower... @chableyucatan

From the rooftop of a Chable Residences tower, taking in the Yucatán jungle and the mystical extensive grounds of Chable Resort surrounding a cenote.

Additive-free Flecha Azul Tequila is made with just three ingredients: 100% Blue Weber agave, volcanic water, and yeast. Yes, there is a celebrity connection (Mark Wahlberg) but here's why I like it. In my Distiller Magazine column: distilling.com/distillermag...

Tunisian & North African Barcha restaurant has impressively weathered & surpassed a decade downtown, most impressively staying strong (even better) on the food front. Exploring old favorites & new dishes among 10 SF Restaurants Remaining (Quietly) Great: virginiamiller.substack.com/p/10-sf-rest...

A taste of the magic of Chable Yucatán Fire by Night (Noche de Fuego) dinners under the moon & stars, food grilled before us with gracious chef Ernesto Flores and team, these superb musicians serenading us... youtu.be/v2uQASgBKRs

There’s no bar in tiny RT Bistro-Rich Table's new sister-but Marisa Miller ensures pre-batched, easy-drinking-thoughtful cocktails. Milk punches are often overdone/too sweet. Miller does right w/ milk-washed pisco, cachaca, PX sherry, plum, citrus, spices: virginiamiller.substack.com/p/one-of-the...

Iguanas & burros & grackles, oh my. This AM we toured my unreal casita in the jungle, now a few snapshots from Chable Yucatan's 667-acres (270 hectares) in Mexico's Yucatan, complete with roaming deer , petting zoo, spa, farm, centered around a sacred cenote. youtu.be/n4R15bvBraA #50BestHotels

Yes, I was this happy (and this HOT... perpetual flushed cheeks) at the mystical Chable Yucatan in Mexico's Yucatan jungle: www.theworlds50best.com/hotels/the-list/chable-yucatan.html #50besthotels

One of the more magical places I've stayed in the world (out of hundreds). A tour of my Chable Yucatan casita in Mexico's Yucatan jungle, complete with roaming deer & iguanas, petting zoo, spa, library, gardens/farm, centered around a sacred cenote. youtu.be/Og7QxxRAbhY

A ritual to welcome us on the mystical grounds of Chable Resort surrounding a cenote in Mexico's Yucatan jungle. Blessings, incense, asking to welcome us to ancient Mayan grounds as we set our own personal intention, inspires me to set my own rituals of arrival & intention for each of my trips.

Brand-owner friends, I'm a judge at @nolaspiritscomp.bsky.social w/ registration extended till Friday. W/ its connection w/ Tales of the Cocktail +results announced via Imbibe magazine, it's a rare competition broadly reaching industry+consumers alike. Submit here: nolaspiritscomp.awardsplatform.com

What a joy to be with my fellow The World's 50 Best Academy Chair from Australia in Mexico City & the Yucatan this week... Here, we doin' it right in the cigar lounge at the unreal Chable Yucatan. Love to you, Alex!

I’ve loved the one great modern Guamanian restaurant I’m aware of in the U.S., Prubechu, for a decade+. Guamanian food is a rarity & none do it with the gourmet flair of chef Shawn Naputi & business partner Shawn Camacho. Why it's great and what to order: virginiamiller.substack.com/p/10-sf-rest...

More street scenes from the 1542 Yucatan city of Mérida. The churches are striking and the Catedral de San Ildefonso (Cathedral of San Ildefonso), built between 1561 and 1598, is the first cathedral built on the mainland of the Americas and the oldest in Mexico.

1) Over 2 visits, I tried almost the whole menu at Rich Table/Evan & Sarah Rich's new, tiny, idyllic RT Bistro #SF. My favorites form a trio: — Dungeness crab “thermidor” in the crab shell w/ Shared Cultures miso, pomelo, mushrooms, baked in cheese. virginiamiller.substack.com/p/one-of-the...

Wow. I hadn't been back to World's 50 Best Restaurants' Quintonil in Mexico City since 2013 (!?) when I called it "The best meal" of my visit: theperfectspotsf.com/2013/10/15/w... Future CDMX article to come but a glimpse of Jorge Vallejo, Alejandra Flores & team's stellar, still-tops restaurant:

Wish I could transport that bathroom home from the Elia garden suite at Casa Lecanda in Mexico's charming colonial city of Merida. I feel the spirit of a place keenly —for better or ill— and soaked up the romance, breezes (needed in that intense heat!) & history of this dreamy, too quick overnight.

I'll be writing eventually of the superb food+drink this week in Mexico CIty...Then, the unexpected respite & tastes in Merida. Checking into the gorgeous, restored house that is now Casa Lecanda, I immediately breathed easier. From day into night, hammock to pool, I was only sad it was one night.

The time I saw a rowdy, campy, so staged, hilarious, cultural night of Lucha Libre in Mexico City at CMLL Martes Arena Mexico on April 21. For you Lucha fans, here's who performed & "won" Tuesday from an all-star lineup: youtu.be/JJAH9aJyY5A

It was a rich return to Mexico City (11 restaurants, markets & bars in two days!) ... with intense thunderstorms flashing through both days and this fab view from room at InterContinental Presidente Mexico City.

Edible bonsai frozen matcha trees in black sesame sable, graham cracker crumbs & Japanese soufflé cheesecake+wagashi, mochi, master somm Andrey Ivanov's dessert pairings (1930s white port!) Ellie Estrada-Londo's new dessert tasting menu at 1 Michelin Nisei virginiamiller.substack.com/p/10-sf-rest...

It was a rich return to Mexico City (11 restaurants, markets & bars in two days!) ... with intense thunderstorms flashing through both days and this fab view from room at InterContinental Presidente Mexico City.

Tantris Maison Culinaire is my 1970's dream, a visionary, Michelin (now two)-starred restaurant since back then, under a new era with chefs Benjamin Chmura and Maxime Rebmann... with the best OG ladies bathroom anywhere. In my Munich, Germany, guide: virginiamiller.substack.com/p/munichs-gi...

Though on 50 Best Discovery, Die Goldene Bar/Golden Bar was a disappointment in terms of mediocre cocktails. But the space is stunning. In a massive 1937 building that housed German art, restored in 2010, cafe by day & bar by night... In my Munich guide: virginiamiller.substack.com/p/munichs-gi...

Lake fish "sushi" and smoked fish at Fischerei Schliersee in the enchanting mountain village of Schliersee roughly an hour's drive from Munich, Germany. In my Munich guide: virginiamiller.substack.com/p/munichs-gi...