… And what to leave unplanned
“But other things, like, if I have friends there, I go out with them and pick their brain, like, ‘What do you think I should do? What do you think I should see?’ I went to New Orleans a few weeks ago, and Julia Reed, who is a food writer, had me over for dinner, and she changed my plans to this restaurant Shaya. I’d read about it, but it’s an Israeli restaurant, and I was like, ‘I’m not going to go to New Orleans for Israeli food. It’s so weird.’ But it was one of the greatest meals I’ve had in a long time.”
The great American destination
“I just went this weekend: the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur. For those of us who can’t afford private planes, there’s this airline called Surf Air, and you can get a seat on a little hover plane that goes back and forth to Monterey. It’s expensive, but not as expensive as chartering a plane. Then, when you get there, you’re in a whole different world. There’s ocean, there’s mountains, there’s hiking. They have the greatest breakfast on earth. It’s a buffet, which I love, because you don’t have to wait. They have delicious coffee. And then I love how cold it is at night: All the rooms have fireplaces, and you light a fire, and it’s just cozy enough to read a book. It’s a great place to recharge.”
The one international destination to see
“Everyone should see Maldonado, in Uruguay. You stay at Garzon, which is this little gorgeous hotel and restaurant by Francis Mallmann. Also, in Uruguay, we weren’t in Punta del Este, but we stayed in a smaller area called José Ignacio. It’s simple, not fancy—my kind of place. There was this [restaurant] called La Huella that’s right on the beach. The fishermen bring up the fish, and then they grill them right there.”
Make the best of a long flight
“I am obsessed with Swiss Air’s flight from L.A. to Zurich. When you go to Europe from New York, it’s six hours in the air, so you can’t really sleep. But from L.A. it’s wonderful, because you’re in the air for 11 hours. You can actually have a little dinner, watch a movie, and then go to sleep for seven or eight hours.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.