In this episode, Lucia Soria, chef, restaurateur, author, and Uruguayan Masterchef judge, joins Liz to discuss her food and who she is as a cook. Lucia, born and raised in Argentina, launched her culinary career with chef Francis Mallmann, eventually landing in...
In Search of Flavor, Episode 04: On the intersection of beauty, art, and hospitality with Carrie Vik
Today Carrie Vik joins us for a peek into her beautiful world of art and travel. Carrie is the founder and visionary, along with her husband Alex Vik, of Vik Retreats, a family of exquisite luxury, art-centric hotels in Uruguay, Chile, and Milan. Liz and Carrie...
In Search of Flavor, Episode 01: On the ‘somewhereness’ of wine with Santiago Achaval
We are thrilled to welcome Santiago Achaval, an icon in Argentine wine who has been heralded as a “Master of Malbec” and considered one of South America’s most revered winemakers. Santiago joins Liz to discuss how the wine “virus” infected him with a passion...
A Coffee Affair with Colombia
I am sitting in a colorful little cafe in Bogotá's trendy Zona G. Outside a steady rain is falling. Bogotá is a mountainous city with chilly air and frequent showers. Much like in Britain, it’s wise to always have an umbrella in hand (or purse). Today,...
About Sunday Night…
Two Sundays ago, the first Sunday Suppers communal dinner party in Chile, and South America, was born. Thirty people came together between guests and organizers in an evening celebrating local end-of-winter produce, food artisans, and a few of Chile’s...
The Culinary Conservationists
I am on a twisting country road high on an Andean plateau. We appear to be on a road to nowhere as we careen towards the jagged outline of the Andes. We zip through patchwork fields where only an occasional shepherd herds a flock of sheep or alpacas. We...
Risen
Flour, yeast, water, salt. Plus time and temperature. Those are the ingredients to make good bread. It is simple--but not easy to make. Not without a lot of practice, and patience. That’s why baking bread is a craft. To be honest, it’s a realm of the...
A Sweet Spot in Southern Chile
I am standing in an ancient forest with a tree canopy so tall it masks the sun. The trees reach high into the heavens above me. I am surrounded by the cold “jungle”, the selva valdiviana, a dense rainforest in the south of Chile. I survey my...
Elemental Eating
Quite often, people ask what my cooking style is. Today, I can define it in one word. Elemental. It’s simple, flavor-forward, and most often centered around seasonal local produce. I love dishes with only a handful of ingredients (or...
Signature Journeys 2019 – 2020
While most of the year we plan made-to-measure, private travel, our Signature Journeys (small group trips) are very near and dear to my heart. Perhaps it’s because I get to play hostess during part of each one, and meet so many of you. Signature...
From Garden to Table, Straight from the Heart
Terroir. You may have heard this expression before, or perhaps you might think it’s just another word overused by wine snobs. The reality it is that’s just a French word that the French use to talk about where products come from. And they use it all the time....
Uruguay’s Quintessential White Wine
Ten years ago, it would have been unfathomable, perhaps even crazy, to speculate that a white grape hailing from Galicia, Spain, would be blossoming into Uruguay’s most notable white wine variety. It has adapted beautifully to Uruguay’s soil and maritime...
The Soul of Santiago
Cities are like people. They show their varying personality to the resident and traveler. It usually has to do with the lenses we project onto her. Depending on the city and person, there might be mutual love, or dislike. Friendship, or enmity. For some people,...
Machu Picchu: To Marvel and Appreciate
Machu Picchu doesn’t need much of an introduction. The ancient Incan city appears on the bucket lists of many world travelers. Perched 8,000 above sea level in the dense jungle of the southern Peruvian Andes, it was once thought to be a royal estate for the...
A Patagonian Crusade
I am standing, or better said, paralyzed on a steep mountainside in the Chilean Patagonia. To the west in the distance, the Torres del Paine (the three granite towers from which the park takes it name) are shrouded in dark, threatening clouds. We are already a...
One Fall Day
The last day of our Southern Cone Sampler tour, we woke up to glorious sun streaming through the hotel curtains. A mixture of clouds and golden rays illuminated swathes of the blue-grey waters of the Rio de la Plata. It was that kind of pure light that only...
Four Young Santiago Chefs
The food scene in the Chilean capital is sizzling and truly having its moment. The catalysts? A new generation of chefs who have trained abroad, returned to their country and are digging deep roots in Santiago. They have forged restaurant projects focused on...
The Chilean Chocolatero
Meet Mark Gerrits. He’s the energy, and passion, behind Chile’s first bean-to-bar chocolate: ÓBOLO. Made right here in Santiago de Chile. ÓBOLO is provoking a long-awaited, and very necessary, revolution in chocolate here in Chile. Prior to existing, chocolate...
and the meaningful























