Photograph courtesy Sarah Auslund
With local chefs pulling down national recognition left and right, Cincinnati has an incredible dining scene these days. You don’t have to leave the city limits for a memorable meal crafted by recognized food artisans. Dining abroad, however, is an extra special experience and one of the key reasons people travel to parts unknown. For those who crave culinary globe-hopping with a local touch, gastronomic galivanting alongside local experts can be a particularly satisfying experience.
Photograph courtesy Sarah Auslund
As if establishing his own restaurant dynasty wasn’t enough work, Jose Salazar quickly said yes when Modern Adventure, an experiential travel company, approached him in 2021 with an offer to lead food-focused tours abroad. So far, he’s conducted three: Morocco in 2023, and Peru and Mexico City in last April and October, respectively.
“I think traveling with someone who has a deep understanding of ingredients and cooking techniques is a great way to learn,” he says. “Guests are always really excited to have the ability to ask questions and get tips and tricks that maybe they wouldn’t get from, say, reading a cookbook.”
Modern Adventure takes its travelers through flavors and cultures of various destinations. And while Salazar serves to enhance the dining experience on these tours, even cooking alongside other guests, he’s very much an eager participant in the journey as well, recalling a transformative five-hour hike to Peru’s Machu Picchu on his most recent trip that bonded him to travel mates.
Another sacred memory naturally involves food. “It was an afternoon spent in the Atlas mountains of Morocco,” he says, recalling his first Modern Adventure tour. “We spent a day with a group of women who rolled couscous by hand. They taught us how to make it and cooked us the most delicious tagine featuring their amazing product.”
Photograph courtesy Sarah Auslund
And though he’s re-opening his expanded flagship restaurant Salazar this summer, the Colombia-born chef will make time this September for a seven-night trip to Portugal through Modern Adventure. “We will explore Lisbon, Porto, and the Douro Valley,” he says. “I can’t wait!”
For Yvette Simpson, a passion for wine led her to establish a private wine label, Vette’s Vineyards, as well as an education and tasting experience called Wine Inculturated that also features educational and entertaining trips abroad. “Wine education is a deep passion of mine,” she explains, “and I was trying to find a way to help people realize that wine is culture and is reflected across our entire world.”
Photo courtesy Yvette Simpson
People had been asking her to host wine-centered trips abroad for some time, but she lacked time to plan extensive experiences. Through a partnership with a college friend, the former attorney took her inaugural Wine Inculturated trip last fall. The six-night trip to Southern Portugal featured five-star accommodations, breakfast, a long lunch or dinner, admission to cultural landmarks, and, of course, wine tastings.
“Your wine experience is going to be exemplary because you’re going to do a tour of the winery and the wine operations,” she explains. “And we layer with this food experience. In Portugal, we met with some of the most up-and-coming chefs, including one of the youngest Michelin-star chefs in Alentejo.”
Simpson’s tours include stops at beloved local mom-and-pop shops, cultural tours with historians, and fellowship with travel mates united by common passions—many of whom have stayed in touch following the Portugal trip. “We stay connected,” she says. “A bunch of the folks from the first trip are coming and bringing friends and family to the next trip, too. And we build relationships with people there.”
Wine Inculturated has a second trip to Southern Tuscany and Umbria in October, with plans for two annual trips starting in 2026.
If wine isn’t your thing, you can have a similar experience with beer.
The Germania Society of Cincinnati’s stated purpose is to “maintain and perpetuate German heritage in the Greater Cincinnati region”—an important cultural service in a city that hosts the largest Oktoberfest celebration in the U.S. For many years, this included trips abroad, though society president Kevin Luken explains those trips of decades past often involved first-generation Cincinnatians traveling together only to leave the group for familial visits that lasted the duration of the trip.
Photo courtesy Scott Stephens
In recent years, younger society members have shown a more genuine appetite for group travel, which heartens him. In fact, the society raffled off a German trip, a promotion that was so successful he’s already planning raffles for future trips. This year’s raffle was for a Bavarian tour hosted by Munich resident Scott Stephens, whose wife formerly lived and worked in Cincinnati (his master brewer son got his first brewing job at Newport’s Hofbräuhaus).
Stephens and his wife, Voina, operate BayernTrips in Bavaria (the preferred service of the Germania Society) and offer a handful of beer-centric tours that should interest a good number of Queen City residents.
The business benefits from Stephens’s relationships with Bavarian pubs and brewers, and guests experience tours with brewers and proprietors that usually aren’t accessible to solo travelers. As a Munich resident, he’s also able to guide guests to Bavaria’s best food and drink spots.
“My forte is to expose my guests to the richness of the Bavarian culture, history, and tradition,” he says. “This is an integral part of understanding a culture, and also the most memorable and fun.”
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