Every so often it's necessary to follow the earnest advice of friends and visit a place outside your comfort zone. Baghdad isn't ready for you, and it's sticky in Dhaka, so may we suggest Beirut? It's on the verge again and could really use some tourist dollars to help patch things up. Quietly, they say the city is on the road to recovery following recent dramas. Beautiful weather this time of year also makes Beirut an unsung spot. It may not be heaving the way it was, but trust us, you can never travel too far for a good shwarma!

arrivals

Inside B018... still kickin' it after 10 years

If at all possible, arrive with your Lebanese friends who are now all living in Dubai, if only just for the weekend. This will vastly improve your chances of getting the VIP bottle service at an over-rated night club later on, and since so many have decamped for the GCC, you might find Beirut more fun with them back in town.

You don’t really want to drive in Beirut, but the countryside is so stunning you’re eventually going to want to go for an adventure—either up to the mountains or down toward the beaches south of the city. You might as well at least look like a low-level local in your inked-out Benz.

your stay

There are a few beautiful hotels in the center of Beirut, and located so close to the waters of the Mediterranean, you can’t really go wrong by taking your chances. The key to the hotel scene is to make sure you can be seen, preferably sauntering right out to an adjacent beach. If you want “cultural old town,” try a different city, Amman perhaps. Beirut is about beach proximity.

The well informed choose either Le Vendome Intercontinental (great roof-top lounge views) or the Albergo, which has a cool little roof-top pool and a great general manager named Michel. The Albergo is all about cozy and feels like you’ve just entered your industrialist great-grandfather’s private retreat kingdom.

food and entertainment

Beirut is a city for the soul, especially if your soul is connected to your stomach. Where else can you sit in a beach-side jacuzzi munching a fennel-laced focaccia with a cedary wine? While local wine (which strangely CAN be recommended) does not taste of “hint of cedar,” the idea seeps into the consciousness, casting a stately aroma in the mind as you swirl the red concoction across your tongue at sunset.

For lunch, pop into Abdel Wahab, home of Beirut’s best chicken shwarma and a beautiful crowd stuffing their faces ever so delicately. Lunch can be at noon, night, or late night, depending on how late you were out last night. You could always surprise yourself and try Cactus for great Mexican food, not the first cuisine you would expect, but the local in-crowd swears by the fajitas.

Cactus Gemmayze
961-1-445-544

Beiruts bunker mentality doesn't stop the beats

Two clubs in Beirut have achieved such legendary status they make Studio 54 look like a dry run. The only possible comparison to Crystal and B-018 might be Tramps in London or Les Caves du Roy in St. Tropez. You know the scene: lots of cheese and ladies who please.

But despite all that, Crystal remains the place to shake your moneymaker with rocking house and ambient groove all night long. Later (like only after 4 a.m.), you can venture to B-O18, still the underground bunker king of Beirut nightlife. The generation-z kids will have departed by then, leaving the hard-core partiers in charge.

Slightly more sophisticated and ever so fun are Music Hall and the Sky Bar, the latter at the top of the Palm Beach Hotel. It’s a few minutes from the center, but everyone loves the LA-inspired bar setting, and it's the perfect place for sunset.

culture

Beirut is a city of nightlife, not cultural snobbery. That said, why not check out Beirut’s growing contemporary art scene and the hip little gallery Espace SD? The gallery promotes homegrown talent with an eye toward lesser known foreign artists but really shines with its weekly movie club that screens old and new Lebanese movies in a virtually private setting since hardly anyone goes. The movies are very cool if you don’t take them seriously, and the space provides a great respite from the party-hearty atmosphere across the rest of the city.

Espace SD
S. Dagher Building
Charles Helou Ave.
961-1-563-114

If you pop into town during the summer, it’s worth checking out the Byblos International Festival, in mid-July. It features the most random lineups in the world, but is on hold in 2008 due to the recent trubs. Even though some claim Beirut is the “New York” nightlife capital of the Middle East, reality requires a wry sense of humor to enjoy it, so go with the mission of getting this once thriving capital back on its feet.

Bo Innovation, the Chinese deconstructionist destination in Hong Kong, recently hosted a private tasting in London to preview food concepts for their ongoing international expansion.  Bo Innovation opened back in 2001 in Hong Kong, bringing the first post-modern take to the Chinese food scene in a city well known for its Chinese.

Spain's El Bulli... still the best

In attendance were a collection of interested foodies, hosted by Bo Innovation's Vincent Kwok and Rafael Bellavita, who are working on extending Bo Innovation's model to the London market.  Also included was John Man, head of China Tang - London's premier destination for food in this category, Tatiana Bellavita, a potions and lotions producer from Bangkok, and a clutch of Italian foodies: Anna, Matteo and Luigi.

Between presented concepts like tomato snow, preserved lobster, black truffle "cheung fan", and chinese almond foam, the discussion with John revolved around some issues of food and method.  John's knowledge is intense, from the hidden ingredient in perfect xiao long bao (pork skin jelly) to his vote on the hottest eating spots in London.

Getting the nod? Spain's El Bulli: "still best in the world", Racine, where he proclaims the roast rump of veal as the best choice, and Mr. Chow, which is, John maintains, "the best authentic".

The Italians weighed in on what cities are hot from their food-oriented point of view: "Sydney is now the capital of food because of the freshness of the ingredients and this funny fix of Asian and Euro influences" that just seem to work better than anywhere else.

Best Japanese outside of Japan? Probably Scandinavia.  They say: "The Scandinavians do great sashimi", partly due to the local prevalence of high quality fish to work with, but also due to the Scandinavian fondness for perfection... making a Scandinavian sushi chef the unknown must have item for great restaurants.

The next big trend? Locality.  John sees increasing demand, coupled with food and resource pressure, resulting in new eco-friendly food movements - from a coming boom in 'grow your own food' (already the province of the country-rich) to re-imagination and widening views of staples. The next decade will be about reformulating the basics - soybeans, rice, wheat - and stretching what can be done with these items in new and surprising ways.  From apple-ized tofu to wheatmeat... home grown and engineered will be the new deconstructed.

If the chips were down and a financial apocalypse arrived, (say... last summer) Buenos Aires might just be the best place in the world to ride out the ensuing storm.

The Palermo district (top) overcomes the vast expanse of Buenos Aires.

Confident and proud in a tattered-glory sort of way, BA has everything you might need for life off the globalization grid: stunning food and wine at great prices, a gorgeous climate, an incredible social whirl, stately boulevards and leafy districts, even a strong emerging work mix.  But since no such other disaster appears imminent, everyone else is just on their way to Latin America's coolest capital to hang out and soak up the good times that come easily here, whether they be laid-off banker traders, the distressed European heiress, or Chinese wine merchants all looking for a "a new start."

Arrivals

Buenos Aires offers two airports located on opposite ends of the city, so arriving transit guests may be surprised to find a 40 minute tear through town in a dilapidated taxi is in the cards.  A small airport tax not withstanding, its a very easy hop into the main part of the city from either airport, and the jalopy feel can only add to the rustic sense of ennui encountered on arrival.  Noisy boulevards, bad quasi-slums and rather dodgy traffic are an outer ring mainstay here, but its fun to watch young lovers sharing a picnic in the grassy medians as you zip along the motorway to the urban oasis at the heart of the city.

Buenos Aires was created in a series of barrios, each of which have a unique flavor and feel.  Much of the action is centered in Palermo in sub districts like Palmero Soho, Hollywood and Las Canitas. The Recoleta and Puerto Madero are also popular, with a very different emphasis in each. Palermo is the soho version of urbanity, with a clutch of great shopping, restaurants and nightlife that attract a mix of locals and visitors until the early hours.  Recoleta is a bit more residential and definitely more upscale, featuring the city's grande dame boulevards and access to parks amid gently sloping hills.

Boutique Bounties

It's easy to jump between neighborhoods, and a growing list of boutique hotels have swamped the city in recent months.  As such it's easy to find a good place in many of the major barrios - try Tablet Hotels for easy online bookings.

T In the San Telmo area is pretty cool, and we would suggest the Moreno Hotel, which offers 39 suites (some with jacuzzis) in an atmosphere that is pure Argentina - with local decor and a smattering of European glamour.

Down in the newly developing business district of Puerto Madero, Alan Faena's masterpiece holds court with a stunning property: Faena Hotel + Universe.  The hotel is surrounded by construction, but inside is an oasis of pure delight, from regular cabaret shows to the most stunning pool scene ever seen.  There's something about the choice of color here that make Faena really special.  Clay red umbrellas and chairs, deep wood and a beautiful blue pool glint off mirrored bars and rich Aviator lenses worn by a fashionable crowd.  This is a great place to spend the day, but the pool is seriously locked and loaded for hotel guests only.

New on the scene is Buenos Aires cE, up in Barrio Norte, another fashionable section of the city.  This ultra-slick high rise is almost too modern, with beautiful design and stunning views across the city being the main attractions.  Barrio Norte has some good shopping and nightlife so its not a bad place to be based - especially if its not your first visit to the city and you're don't care about checking out everything there is to see.

Steak, Sush & Quinoa

One of the great things about BA is the cuisine- nowhere will you find better cow at such value. It is carnivore heaven, with thick juicy steaks available on all street corners for as little as $5.00, often with a selection of cuts that read like a wine list.  To that end, one of the best BBQ and steakhouses is Cabana Las Lilas, located on the new docks in Puerto Madero.  Las Lilas is a favorite parilla for everyone, and a meal here will not soon be forgotten.

For more avant garde cuisine, try Lo De Pueyrredon, which classifies as "experimental", but to good affect.

Where possible, try to order quinoa as a side in a dish - this Incan grain has become quite popular and is everything you could want in a surprising food: light, delicious and the type of discovery that makes you wonder why its not on every menu in the world.

The modern Japanese thing offers a nice counterpoint to the endless meat on offer, and for that try Osaka, which is always full to bursting due to a unique combination of great sushi, good location in Palermo, and a beautiful crowd that makes a the hour long wait for a table seem like a trifle.

When it comes to the cafe scene, its fun to wander the streets of Palermo Soho doing some shopping at the many trendy boutiques located around Plaza Serrano, then popping in for a coffee and a rest at the beautiful La Biela, which is situated in Recoleta across from the famous Recoleta cemetery.  Here you can enjoy a cafe con leche, coffees and milkshakes while you watch the locals go about their business on a wide, European style terrace.

When it comes to nightlife in Buenos Aires, the only rule is this: don't stop!  Things continue to the early hours here, and you're not likely to even finish dinner until at least 1am.  From there its onward to a variety of destinations, among them Asia de Cuba, which transforms from a dinner crowd to a party crowd as the night wears on.  Other hot spots include Mundo Bizzaro, Jackie O and for the rastafarian in you, Soul Cafe.

With so much going on in Buenos Aires, its easy to forget the rest of the world even exists.  The city swallows you up with a great mix of local fashion, great quality of life, and a snob appeal that has failed to diminish, even as the country's financial fortunes have recalibrated themselves.  Its tempting to think of BA as the ultimate haven for today's hedonist - fresh, fun, and vibrant, its the perfect place to ride out those economic storms that seem to be drowning the feel good factor in other parts of the world.