Spring Break Eats

Paris, France

If, when in Paris, you work up an appetite climbing the notoriously steep steps to the Sacre-Coeur Cathedral, ease those hunger pangs just around the corner at Le Refuge Des Fondues. This Montmartre dive is a favorite among Reid Hall students for its casual atmosphere and cheap wine served in baby bottles with rubber nipples. Seated at one long table with benches on either side, customers nudge each other to snag morsels from communal bowls.

The eponymous fare consists of two types of fondue, cheese and beef, accompanied by a variety of mysterious dipping sauces and condiments. It’s easy to relax and lapse into the high school French you thought you forgot–especially after a few (baby) bottles of vin. Just don’t try to tackle those steps again after dinner; when you’re stumbling drunk, stick to the funicular.

London, England

Keep your priorities straight in London: eat in pubs. You’ll see Coach and Horses throughout the city, but it’s no chain, and only two deserve a visit. Top on the list is the gastro-pub in Clerkenwell. You’ll find real English ales and distinctively sourced wines, nibble at the bar on crispy pigs’ ears (with tartare sauce), or dine on braised ox hearts. Gastro-pubs flaunt their ingredients with lofty pedigrees, and those ears came from a rare-breed pig.

If you’re after a proper piss-up in a dodgy boozer pub, then you’re in Soho, and you should head for the infamous Coach and Horses. Take a pint, a homemade sarnie, and some crisps, and for less than four pounds you’ll dine like an authentic bohemian, many of whom drank themselves to death and collapsed right on that carpet-stain. If that doesn’t draw you in, they also run absinthe happy hour specials.

Miami, Florida

If you find yourself priced out of Miami and marooned on the Gulf Coast, there are certainly worse places to be. Tampa boasts the vibrant Ybor City, its historic Cuban section, with hand-rolled cigars to the tasty Cuban sandwiches.

Serving the community for over one hundred years, Columbia is a virtual fixture in Ybor City. The paella is hearty and traditional; the chorizo and shellfish ooze flavor into the already zesty rice, creating a rich, sturdy peasant dish. The 1905 salad is excellent; the combination of ham, olives, pepper and other seasonings make this salad a formidable complement to any entrée. The restaurant itself has the ambience of a Spanish castle, with high tiled ceilings and nightly flamenco performances in the cavernous main dining room. The average dish is $20. At that price, you can’t go wrong.

Paso Robles, California

If you are fortunate enough to make it down highway 101 south of the Salinas Valley and into the sleepy town of Paso Robles, the wine boom of the last decade has placed it on the must-visit list. The California town is situated among some of the best Zinfandel, Cabernet, and Syrah vines in the world.

The best eats in the county are along the main drag at Bistro Laurent, where Chef Laurent Grangien whips up such delicacies as a rack of lamb with paprika sauce, crisp savory tarts, and the perfect cassoulet.

The wine list features a broad selection of local and international bottles, and the yellow walls of the cozy dining room are lined with some of these gems. The whole atmosphere is very conducive to chatting late into the night over a pair of glasses.