Who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch? In fact, over at Gastronomika, a new Istanbul culinary project, the food is served not only free of charge but also with an intriguing – and ambitious – backstory

It’s not unusual for travelers from Mallorca, Menorca or Ibiza to land in Barcelona (just a one-hour flight away) with an ensaimada in hand. The delicious, sugar-dusted spiral of dough is one of the Balearic Islands’ typical pastries and a sweet reminder of one of Spain’s most touristed and celebrated destinations for summer trips or weekend getaways. Toward the end of the summer holiday season, there’s a special place we Barcelonans can visit in our own fair city to make those sun-soaked, beach-bound days last just a little longer.

The first inhabitants of what is modern-day Mexico City subsisted on mostly plants and grains. Their daily protein intake came from nixtamalized corn, beans, insects and, in smaller amounts, fish and game. When the Spanish brought pork, chicken and cattle to the New World, the local diet changed forever.

Editor's Note: Sadly, this spot is now closed. The busy outer neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro – locals refer to them as “suburbs,” though they are anything but – are full of old bars. Some of the best botequins (small, family-run establishments serving traditional food) have been kicking around in these parts for ages – but not all of them.

Misty, lush Fırtına Valley is worlds away from Istanbul’s concrete urban hustle. It’s a land of cascading waterfalls, rushing rivers, wild edibles and precipitous hillsides covered with glossy tea bushes. We came to escape Istanbul’s infamous August heat and learn about the region’s special foods. After a week, we had stomped our way through bagpipe-fueled celebratory circle dances and eaten our weight in fried trout and cornbread.

Though giant pandas subsist almost exclusively on one single plant – bamboo – the same would not stand for the other, more human, natives of Sichuan province. Its capital city, Chengdu, was once famed as the start of the southern route of the Silk Road, along which exotic vegetables and spices were ferried inland from Burma, India and around Central Asia.

In the past couple of years, in the fashionable neighborhoods of Mexico City, a panoply of high-class hamburger joints has opened. To delineate their distinction from anything to do with Mexico, most of them have names in English, and their menus offer burgers fashioned from ground sirloin, Kobe or Wagyu beef, with toppings as diverse as imported Stilton, caramelized onion and even foie gras. Their decoration is similarly varied, from sidewalk café to faux diner to intimate and candlelit. Perhaps predictably, at these emporiums the clients pay as much for a burger as they would in New York, Los Angeles or maybe even Tokyo.

Anchoring one end of Poblenou’s quiet and lovely Prim Square, Els Pescadors sits surrounded by the white houses that once belonged to the fishermen for which it’s named. The old tavern opened in 1848, and through the 19th century, it was frequented by those fishermen, as well as workers from the numerous textile factories in the area. The factory workers earned a little extra by fishing along the nearby beaches.

They’re next-door neighbors. Both are Portuguese botequins, and both are great spots. They even complement each other, in terms of food and drink, as well as atmosphere. And more than 20 years ago, the owners of Real Chopp and Galeto Viva Flor were friends – but now they’re foes. Fortunately, this has no effect on the customer’s experience at either place. In fact, the rivalry spices things up with a little intrigue.

Athinas is one of our favorite streets in the whole of Athens. Running from Omonia to Monastiraki squares, it has a scruffy, chaotic, disreputable charm that has hardly changed since we moved to Greece more than 40 years ago. From the Omonia side to City Hall and the Central Market, hawkers and peddlers – of everything from sunglasses and “magic” juicers to contraband cigarettes – make the sidewalk an obstacle course for the crowds of shoppers in search of bargains in open storefronts.

If you find yourself in the waiting area at Tang Gong (an hour-long inevitability if you go for dim sum on the weekends), there’s plenty to see to make the minutes go by faster. Slip-covered chairs lined up like movie theater seats in the lobby are an ideal perch for people-watching, although you’ll have to turn away from the display of Moutai baijiu and the flat-screen they face for a better view of the hungry hordes.

Kim is an avid traveler who divides her time among sniffing out new ingredients in markets, poking through bookstores around the globe and teaching at Grand Arts High School in downtown Los Angeles. Poon is a food, travel and lifestyle photographer based in Los Angeles.

It’s a dirty secret nobody wants to talk about, but let’s put it out there: finding a good cup of Turkish coffee in Turkey can sometimes be very difficult. Thin and watery, rather than thick and viscous, is frequently the order of the day. This is no small matter, akin to complaining about the quality of the French toast in France or about finding stale danishes in Denmark. Turkey, after all, is the land that, during Ottoman times, helped introduce coffee to the rest of Europe. When it comes to making Turkish coffee, Turkey needs to represent.

In June of this year, a new museum joined the roster of cultural institutions in Athens and is the first dedicated to Greek gastronomy. There may be others where you’ll see ancient cooking pots and serving vessels or rustic farming implements and kitchen equipment from bygone eras, but they’ll only be a small part of a general archaeological or folkloric collection. And how often will eating and drinking be a key part of your experience?

An old star from the previous century still shines brightly in Port Vell. Renovated in 1992, La Estrella is a small, comfortable restaurant that serves simple but refined Catalan dishes, thoughtfully prepared from quality local products. The atmosphere is formal but relaxed, quiet and friendly, with the time kept by the discreet sounding of three wall clocks. It feels like eating in someone’s home.