By Jae-Ha Kim
Tribune Content Agency
August 19, 2014
Before becoming known as a “Girl Hunter” (also the name of one of her books), Georgia Pellegrini trained as a chef at the French Culinary Institute and worked at the Gramercy Tavern and La Chassagnette in the South of France. The chef, hunter and author — her latest book is “Modern Pioneering” (Clarkson Potter, $24) — lived in France, Tennessee and California before settling in her current home of Austin, Texas. For more information on her, check out her website.
Q. What is your favorite vacation destination?
A. I’ve been able to visit lots of amazing and beautiful places. Some of my favorites are Montana and the American Club in Wisconsin.
Q. To someone who was visiting those places for the first time, what would you recommend that they do during their visit?
A. I’d say take some time to go ATV riding into the mountains, wade into the river and go fly-fishing, ride horses out onto the plains and just do things that you wouldn’t normally have the chance to do. It makes these places so much more of an adventure.
Q. What untapped destination should people know about?
A. Definitely the Arkansas Delta. I’ve made many trips there and it’s always a favorite. Go visit and drive through the local towns. You’ll find lots of places there with so much heart and soul. Also try out the local barbecue and tamales. Delicious!
Q. What was the first trip you took as a child?
A. The first trip I can remember was going camping with my family in upstate New York. It was such a great trip, I remember my brother and I jumping into the lake and going canoeing, eating hot meals over a fire and enjoying being outdoors.
Q. What’s the most important thing you’ve learned from your travels?
A. That it’s OK to get out of your comfort zone and do things that you would otherwise not do. That’s one thing I enjoy about the Adventure Getaways I do — it’s seeing other people step outside of their comfort zone, too. When you travel, it’s all about the experiences you choose, so why not choose to do something that pushes your limits and lets you learn about yourself?
Q. Where are your favorite weekend getaways?
A. Sometimes I really enjoy doing a staycation, traveling around the city I live in. I love being able to go around Austin and be a tourist in my own city. It’s fun to do things that way and you end up finding a lot of hidden gems in your city that you may not even know about!
Q. If you’ve ever gone away for the holidays, which was the best trip?
A. One of my favorites has been the Sundance Resort in Utah. I love that for the holidays. You can go skiing, rent a cabin, sing Christmas carols and it’s just a wonderful time, especially with all of the fresh snow, it makes for a very Christmasy feeling.
Q. What are your favorite hotels?
A. Hotel Saint Cecilia in Austin.
Q. What are your five favorite cities?
A. Austin, San Remy (France), Vienna (Austria), Sienna (Italy) and Lake Village (Arkansas).
Q. Where have you traveled to that most reminded you of home?
A. Southern France. There are so many beautiful farms and there is a real focus on farm-to-table cooking. Really being able to get your hands onto your food and really know about your ingredients always reminds me of home.
Q. Where would you like to go that you have never been to before?
A. I’ve always wanted to go to Tokyo. My goal is to dine in (Sukiyabashi Jiro), the sushi restaurant that was featured in the documentary “Jiro Dreams of Sushi.”
Q. When you go away, what are some of your must-have items?
A. Definitely some noise-canceling headphones for the plane. I always like to carry tons of water, eye drops and some sunscreen. All are definite essentials.
Q. What are your favorite restaurants?
A. Gramercy Tavern in New York is one of my favorite restaurants. The food and service are outstanding and I love visiting while I’m in the city.
Q. What is your guilty pleasure when you’re on the road?
A. Peanut butter M-and-Ms. It’s the perfect blend of sweet and salty for the road.
Q. What is your best and/or worst vacation memory?
A. The best vacation I ever took was when I decided to take myself to Mexico for my birthday. I ended up staying in the home of an Italian duchess. That was really fun.
© 2014 JAE-HA KIM
DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC.
