Saveur October 2014

50Gumbo ParadiseThick, deeply flavored, and dangerously delicious, gumbo is a testament to Creole ingenuity and Cajun improvisation. We celebrate Louisiana's signature stew in all of its incarnations, from a sophisticated restaurant version with foie gras to rustic varieties that swim with andouille sausage and seasoned vegetables. By Keith Pandolfi 66Home for the HarvestA beloved family olive grove in Lebanon sets the scene for a feast of smoky baba ghannouj and flaky, za'atar-topped flatbreads drizzled with the season's first olive oil, plus lamb-stuffed eggplant, buttery date cookies, and more. By Fouad Kassab 80The New ClassicsGet a taste of saveur's forthcoming cookbook with crowd-pleasing recipes for the season, including an egg-topped salade Lyonnaise, Lady Baltimore cake, and a cocktail that's out of this world. By the Editors This Month on the Web Make the most of…

What makes a dish a classic? It's the question I held in mind while editing saveur's The New Classics Cookbook, which will be released at the end of this month. Like many of you, I know a classic when I taste one. I was 12 years old when I first ate duck à l'orange at Jacques, a great old Continental restaurant in Chicago. The dish was extraordinary, with a lacquered leg and fan of breast meat atop an amber-hued citrus sauce. In vogue since the 17th century, even on a mid-20th-century table it embodied the era of the development of French haute cuisine. When I took a bite, I felt as though I were transported in time. In the years since, I've whisked myself back to my days of living in…

BROOKLYN • NEW ORLEANS • HONG KONG • COPENHAGEN AN EMBARRASSMENTof riches—tasting menu hot-spots, international joints of all stripes, artisan producers, and neighborhood charmers like Emily restaurant (pictured above; pizzalovesemily.com)—make Brooklyn tops for Best Large Domestic Culinary Destination. New Orleans (Best Small Domestic Culinary Destination) spoils visitors with étouffée, shrimp rémoulade, oysters Rockefeller, and more Creole specialties. With over 11,000 restaurants, Hong Kong (Best Large International Culinary Destination) has a dish for every taste, from streetside pork noodle soup to roast goose with plum sauce at Lung King Heen, a bastion of haute Cantonese. Copenhagen (Best Small International Culinary Destination), birthplace of new Nordic cuisine, draws food-lovers with world-class restaurants like Noma and Relæ…

TOKYO • LOS ANGELES THE FORMER SEATof Japan's imperial government, Tokyo (Best Markets & Shops, International) has long been a center for craftwork, still evident at places like Tsukiji Masamoto (tsukijimasamoto.co.jp), a seventh-generation knife maker in the famed Tsukiji fish market, and Ginza Natsuno, which carries over 2,500 styles of chopsticks (e-ohashi.com). Opulent department stores like Isetan (isetan.mistore.jp) offer luxe textiles and tableware, while their food halls stock everything from rare sakes to rice-flour sweets. Los Angeles (Best Markets & Shops, Domestic) amazes with the diversity of its wares. Downtown, the vast Central Market (grandcentralmarket.com) beckons with peak-season produce and prepared food; throughout the city, purveyors deal in everything from vintage barware (Bar Keeper; barkeepersilverlake.com) to local cheeses (The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills; cheesestorebh.com). International neighborhoods contain a world's worth…

LAS VEGAS • LONDON ON THE SURFACE,they couldn't seem more different: the glittering metropolis in the desert and the fog-shrouded city on the Thames. But in both Las Vegas (Best Cocktails & Drinks, Domestic) and London (Best Cocktails & Drinks, International), a drink at the bar is not just a pastime, it's an art form. In Las Vegas, home to our Best Hotel Bar—The Chandelier—drink culture goes big: Here are Aureole's 50,000-bottle wine cellar (charliepalmer.com); Freakin' Frog's 1,250-bottle-deep craft beer list (freakinfrog.com); and the widest range of watering holes, from newcomers like the Center Bar (slslasvegas.com) to Rat Pack haunts like Champagnes Cafe (702-737-1699). On the other side of the pond, classic spots like Rules, founded in 1798 and frequented by Charles Dickens (rules.co.uk), and dynamic newer bars like Artesian (artesian-bar.co.uk),…

makes 1 cocktail This citrusy, floral drink mixes orange blossom-infused liqueur and vodka with chamomile syrup and sparkling wine. For hard-to-find ingredients, see page 94. 1 cup sugar 1 tbsp. dried chamomile flowers Zest of 1 lemon, plus 1/2 oz. juice 1 oz. Pavan 3/4 oz. Hangar 1 Mandarin Blossom vodka Prosecco, for topping Edible flower, for garnish (optional) Boil sugar and 1 cup water in a 1-qt. saucepan; cook until sugar dissolves, 1–2 minutes. Stir in flowers and zest. Let syrup cool; strain. Combine 1/2 oz. syrup, the juice, Pavan, and vodka in ice-filled shaker. Shake; strain into a flute. Top with prosecco; garnish with flower, if you like.…