We travel the world in search of the most incredible food, wine, human connection and other joys of the table. Along the way, we find ourselves transported — spiritually, emotionally and even transported in time.
Our Gastronomad Experiences always bring us to a thrilling state of mind, a feeling of being cast back into centuries past. Sometimes the modern world, with its technology and stress and industrialism is suddenly…. nowhere to be found. We can’t see it. And we can’t even feel it. And we ask ourselves: What century is this?
We like to escape the crowded touristy areas of Venice, and explore some of the many beautiful old neighborhoods where tourists never go. In the silence, looking at the exquisite Venetian architecture, you can forget that you're not living in the Middle Ages. That’s also true when we dine in an 800-year-old palace on the Grand Canal.
We stay in a 400-year-old farmhouse in one European country that feels extremely modern inside, but very old on the outside. In other places in Europe and Morocco, we stay in homes that are technically modern, with all the comforts of your own home, but with walls and stairs and ceiling beams that make them look and feel as ancient as they are.
In one location, we actually stay in the centuries-old private home of one of the most famous people in human history.
The city of Fez in Morocco is a place where our Gastronomad group steps out of a 600-year-old house and into a 1200-year-old city. Not only is the city very old, but the way people live there has remained unchanged for centuries. Artisans hand-make everything from scratch. Locals often wear traditional Moroccan clothing. And goods to be sold are delivered by donkey.
Elsewhere in Morocco we shop at a marketplace that has been open for business every single day for the last thousand years, and where the ancient arts of storytelling, snake charming and street acrobatics are still practiced.
In Mexico, some of the spectacularly delicious foods we enjoy are unchanged entirely from how the Aztecs, Mayans, Zapotecs and other ancient cultures made them.
Real authentic culinary travel — the Gastronomad way — always comes with a beautiful and unexpected experience: time travel. By connecting with the food, we connect with the culture. In connecting with the culture we connect with its history. And suddenly, we find ourselves transported back in time.
There's really nothing like it.
A quick note: Our Gastronomad Experiences are getting filled up fast this year. In fact, all the 2024 Experiences, with the exception of Oaxaca in December, are either sold out or have just one room available. If you want to join us, please sign up right away to reserve your spot!
-Mike
