A gourmand is someone who relishes good food and hearty eating. Those of you who identify with the word “gourmand” have the perfect excuse to visit Paris this coming May and hone your skills at the Taste of Paris. This gastronomy festival, to be held from 18 to 21 May in the Grand Palais, will feature the best culinary creations and products from Paris and environs. Here, we propose a tour of the sweetest establishments in the French capital to whet your appetite. Oh là là!

Fine Chocolate
Among the accolades won by Patrick Roger is his first prize in the Grand Prix International du Chocolat in 1994 and the award for the Meilleur Ouvrier de France in 2000. He is unquestionably the most famous chocolatier in France and a sculpture enthusiast to boot. Combining both these passions of his, he works his raw materials into amazing, large-scale chocolate creations, so it’s quite an experience to visit his shop. And, while you’re there, be sure to try his praline with roasted almonds or hazelnuts, his truffles or his dark chocolate, which he coats with bitter orange. Delightful!

A Great Brunch
Brunch is on the up-and-up in Paris, where numerous cafés and pastry shops offer this breakfast-lunch combination. As we were unable to decide which was our favourite establishment, we have opted to recommend two of them. Biglove Caffè makes the tastiest pancakes in town – plump, light and soft. Fillings include caramel, jam, chocolate and others. Then there is Peco Peco, where you will discover the finest Japanese brunch. Here, the traditional scones have been replaced by sashimi, algae salad, tatakis, etc. and they are all scrumptious!

A Fine “Saint Honoré”
The folks at the Hugo & Victor pâtisserie define their creations as “sweet gastronomy”. They have risen to become one of the leading establishments in Paris in just a few years and have earned acclaim mainly for their fruit tarts, choux pastry filled with custard and, above all, their “Saint Honoré”, a French speciality consisting of profiteroles set on a cylindrical base of pastry coated with custard and whipped cream. One of the peculiarities of Hugo & Victor is that they adapt this traditional pastry to match the products in season – chestnuts, strawberries and even mojito. Oh mon Dieu!

Fine Gluten-Free Pastries
Noglu specialises in all kinds of gluten-free pastries – brioches, escargots (snails), chouquettes (sugar-topped pastry puffs decorated with icing sugar), pain au chocolat (a chocolate viennoiserie sweet roll), croissants… The brunch menu is rounded off with jams, butter, honey, gourmet teas, cold soups and natural fruit juices. All homemade. Yummy!

A Great Rum Baba
Pain de Sucre is undoubtedly one of the most prestigious pâtisseries in Paris. Their fare reveals a perfect combination of flavours and meticulous attention to detail in the presentation, so that all their items look mouth-watering. Their chocolate and mint eclair is as intense as it is fresh and refined, while the rum baba (baba au rhum), above all, is unique. Lighter than a sponge cake, it is coated with whipped cream and soaked in rum, with a rum-dripped dropper which allows you to drench this pastry creation to taste.

Macaroons, Cream Caramel and Pain au Chocolat
If you happen to be in Paris and are sweet-toothed, you are bound to have programmed into your tour schedule a visit to Ladurée, an acclaimed pâtisserie with a classical aesthetic renowned for their macarons (macaroons). These are sold in boxes and vary in terms of current trends and seasonal fluctuations. And, they’re really worth getting hold of because, apart from the establishment’s major marketing splurge – which has earned them international fame – their creations are truly exquisite. But, Paris is also home to another master pastry chef who some say makes even better macaroons than his main rival – we are referring to Pierre Hermé. His shop offers an endless array of intense flavours, and you should also taste the vanilla cream caramel (well worth the €5 tab), as well as theirpain au chocolat.

Delicious Croissants
It defies all logic that in the capital of the croissant it has become increasingly more difficult to find a good homemade specimen. However, at Blé Sucré you will encounter a croissant made by the master pastissier, Fabrice Le Bourdat, who has trailblazed his career in the world’s leading kitchens. His puff pastry, which resembles a stack of micro-leaves, wrapped in the most appetising gold jacket, reveals an intense flavour of butter and caramel. Crisp at first bite, giving way to a creamy yet consistent interior. Have one with a good café au lait on the small, pleasant terrace with views over a park to celebrate the return of the good weather.

Fire up and bring out the gourmand inside you – book your Vueling here.

Text by Laia Zieger of Gastronomistas.com

The team behind the Territorios Sevilla Festival tells My Vueling City about some of the most modern venues with the greatest tradition in the cityso that visitors from afar can leave Seville with lingering memories. This route includes some of the best options for transforming the festival into a non-stop 48 hours in Seville.

Food and Tapas

Sol y Sombra (151 Calle de Castilla). Immerse yourself in tradition at this cosy place with typical Andalusian tapas at excellent prices and very close to the festival. The bull-fighting atmosphere runs deep in this traditional district of Triana.

La Bulla (28 Calle Dos de Mayo). At the heart of Seville, only 150 metres from the Torre del Oro, the Cathedral and the Maestranza Bullring, La Bulla is the perfect place to discover and enjoy the best gastronomy in the city.

Pura Tasca (5 Calle Numancia). Good tapas and great taste in the Triana district at a place with a 1970s theme.

Traditional Seville

Casa Vizcaíno (27 Calle Feria). A legendary wine bar if ever there was one. The carpet of peanut shells on the floor confirms this place as one of the most traditional bars in the Andalusian capital that simply must be seen. It is perfect for tapas and wine on Thursdays when a second-hand market is organised. This is the most bizarre, authentic and oldest such market in the city as it has been held all the way back to the 13th Century.

El Mariano (3 Plaza del Pumarejo). Great for a lunchtime beer washed down with their emblematic tapas dish of the season: snails.

Popular Places

Enjoy an afternoon coffee (or something stronger!) in the city centre on the Alameda at Central (64 Alameda de Hércules), Habanilla (63 Alameda de Hércules), El Corral de Esquivel (39 Alameda de Hércules) or Café República (27 Plaza de la Alameda de Hércules).

Unmissable and Underground

Corralones de Castellar

The place also offers somewhere to have a drink and mingle with the Bohemian culture scene in Seville.

Shopping & Culture

SohoBenita is an initiative from the businesses on Calle Pérez Galdós, Calle Santillana, Calle Ortiz de Zúñiga and Calle Don Alonso el Sabio, in the heart of Seville, where visitors will find shops, hotels, places to eat, tapas bars, galleries, etc.

Image: Jebulon

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Dakar offers travelers the chance to enter a world of exotic flavors. It is the best place for a curious palate eager to travel between new flavors and scents of spices, as Senegal’s cuisine has a reputation as the best in Africa. A cuisine influenced by France, Lebanon, Portugal and Vietnam but with its own character and complex flavors.

Dakar, being surrounded on three sides by the Atlantic Ocean, floods its restaurants with the best seafood and fish, brought by the fishermen’s colorful canoes of the area to be sold in the Soumbédioune market immediately. Shrimps, lobsters, sea urchins, grouper, tuna, monkfish, mackerel, swordfish and crabs are exquisite.

A good dish of meat, fish or senegalese seafood always comes with rice (Yassa), base of their cuisine along with wheat and millet.

The most popular Senegalese dish is indeed the mix of these two ingredients: rice and fish marinated to elaborate the traditional tieboudienne, their national dish.

Yassa au poulet is another of their popular dishes, a recipe based on chicken marinated with lemon and onion or blunt maffe, which used to be prepared with lamb and rice and accompanied by a delicious peanut sauce.

Quenching the color with fruit juices made in the are is a pleasure. The ones that you will easily find are those of roselle (Hibiscus), Bouye (from Bwee, baobab fruit) and ginger. They are very refreshing and provide many vitamins.

Street stalls and markets are great places for a quick meal. The vendors are placed around the market with their stalls selling beignets, fritters that will sweeten your day. The best market to find them is Sandanga, located on the corner of the Pompidou and Lamine Gueye Sandaga avenues.

Just4u
Avenue Cheikh Anta Diop
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Two leading national prides are brought together here: gastronomy and music. The best place to enjoy the city’s musical talents , extraordinary musicians like Youssou N'Dour, Didier Awadi or Baaba Maal started here. With a daily schedule of concerts, you'll enjoy a lively evening in this cozy outdoor restaurant.

Le Djembe
56 Rue Saint-Michel

Dakar has a large Lebanese community. Although the place is owned by one of those expatriate Lebanese, the restaurant’s menu is Senegalese. Ideal to taste the best typical recipes like the thieboudienne or chicken with rice served with refreshing juices as Bouye (from baobab) or bissop (hibiscus).

Cabane des Pêcheurs
Plage de Ngor
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One of the best places to try the local fish and seafood on the seafront in the lively beach of N'Gor. Its interior is decorated with lots of nautical motifs.

Le Toukouleur

122 rue Moussé Diop
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All the colorful African culture gets together in this restauran, with a courtyard decorated with painted clay statues. Perfect to try out a mixture of refined local cuisine and international flavors.

Why not take a trip to Dakar? Have a look at our flights here!

Beer is the most popular drink in the gastronomy of Munich and to sample it, you can take advantage of the dozens of Biergärten or beer gardensthat can be found all over the city, where, sharing huge tables in the sunshine, you can enjoy the cheerful Munich lifestyle, try out some Bavarian delicacies or even bring along your own food, but never the drinks!

The Munich biergarten season takes place between Spring and Autumn when the sunshine allows you to enjoy these traditional gardens as well as the many outdoor terraces that together offer in the region of 180,000 al fresco seats

Among the biggest venues are the 8,000 seater Hirschgarten, or 5,000 places at the Augustiner in Arnulf Street and the Paulaner in Nockherberg with space for 4,000.

Other notable meeting places include the biergarten in Viktualienmarkt Square, the one next to the Chinese Tower in the English Garden or the Waldwirtschaft, where jazz music livens up the atmosphere.

Augustiner-Keller

This biergarten overflows with tradition. With more than 5,000 seats under the shade of 100 magnificent chestnut trees, it guarantees the most authentic experience of them all. 45 of these trees are protected species and are duly numbered. The Augustiner-Keller itself appears as a beer store on a map of the City of Munich dated 1812. The cellar belongs to the oldest brewery in the city and is a perfect example of traditional Munich conviviality and its legendary hospitality.

www.augustinerkeller.de
Arnulfstraße 52 80335 Munich

Biergarten in the Viktualienmarkt Square

You can buy anything you feel like for your tea and eat it straightaway washed down with one of Munich’s famous brands of beer that take turns supplying this beer garden situated in the very heart of the Bavarian capital.

www.biergarten-viktualienmarkt.de
Viktualienmarkt 80331 Munich

Biergarten at the Chinese Tower

After a little sunbathing or having enjoyed a stroll around the English Garden, your visit to the park can be rounded off next to the Chinese Tower with “tea” accompanied by a fine beer in the shade of the chestnut trees. On Sundays the atmosphere is enhanced with live music from a wind band.
www.chinaturm.de
Englischer Garten 80538 Munich

Biergarten at the Staatliches Hofbräuhaus

The congenial Hofbräuhaus beer garden is a surprise, away from the hustle and bustle of the big city, where you can enjoy the world famous beer and culinary delights of Munich in a truly welcoming environment.

www.hofbraeuhaus.de
Platzl 9 80331 Munich

Why not take a trip to Munich? Have a look at our flights here!