A chef will often have precise travel memories solely on the basis of a single meal. Many have made the pilgrimage to Catalonia for the thrill of a 30 course tasting menu at Ferran Adria's El Bulli, and others have journeyed throughout Southeast Asia in search of culinary inspiration. For me, Sicily evokes a very distinct image of a perfect pasta con le sarde, while the thought of skiing brings me back to a candlelit evening at a mountaintop lodge, dining in a grand hallway of a room while devouring warm popovers with butter.

While I now search out vegetarian dishes in much the same way I used to travel for more mainstream cuisine, I'm finding that most good restaurants, and many good chefs, are equally skilled with plant based cuisine as they are with any other.

This fall, I've been traveling a great deal - I don't keep a diary, but my palate is a clear reminder of where I've been. Lately, I've been most impressed by the diversity of vegetarian meals in non-vegetarian restaurants. As chefs become more and more focused on sourcing locally or organic products, they seem to be more prone to experiment creatively with those ingredients. I've simply had too many interesting meals to mention only one.

Traverse City, Michigan

Traverse City reminded me of a little of Maine. It had a similar climate, but also the same warm, down to earth people. Shortly upon arriving, I was fortunate to do an event at a very respected and amazing organic market, Oryana. Their produce looked so good that I made a special trip back the next day for lunch. Although I rarely find tempeh preparations that I really like, I had a tempeh Rueben with sauerkraut on a tangy and chewy rye bread that was deeply satisfying on a cool, rainy afternoon. The weather was much more brisk than Florida where I had traveled from, and this sandwich definitely warmed me. The recently renovated, clean and well lit store also has a number of creative smoothies and a very well selected group of products.

Oryana
260 East 10th Street
Traverse City, Michigan

San Francisco, California

While I'm not quite as strictly raw vegan as I once was, especially when traveling, it is my diet and lifestyle of choice. That said, there are many times when I am unable find it prepared at a level I can enjoy, and on those occasions, I'll have non-raw foods. But I always turn back to raw when I feel like cleansing or am simply focused on feeling my best. I was tired when I arrived in San Francisco recently and after checking into my hotel, met a chef friend from there for lunch at the second location of Café Gratitude. That night, I had take out at the original and over the next few days, had countless meals at the 3 locations within range of the city. I love what they do - the service is warm, knowledgeable and efficient, food is extremely consistent and I've met someone interesting on each of my visits. Certain dishes may be a touch heavy for me but I love the quality of ingredients. My favorite dishes are their wraps, all of the desserts, and rich smoothies.

Café Gratitude
2400 Harrison Street (@20th Street)
San Francisco, CA

1336 9th Avenue (@Irving)
San Francisco, CA

2200 Fourth Street
San Rafael, CA

Winter Park, Florida

When I first became involved in Café 118, the raw food café we just opened in Winter Park, Florida, I was a bit skeptical about the cuisine of the area. I always assume that food took a backseat to entertainment in the world of Disney. Admittedly, my only first hand reference to dining in the Orlando was a long ago visit to the famed theme park, where my family dined an over the top restaurant called El Sid - I can't recall the menu at all, but it was one of my first experiences in a fancy dining room. Needless to say, it wasn't at the level of what I would later learn was considered ‘fine dining'. I'd heard a lot about Luma, a very modern and beautiful restaurant in Winter Park, and made it one of my first stops. Since then, I've had a number of meals there and the food has always been exceptionally fresh, well executed and consistently flavorful. A salad on the autumn menu is one of the best I've had - with crisp greens, toasted hazelnuts, avocado, watermelon radishes and warm crispy goat cheese. The menu changes slightly on a daily basis, but everything is always fresh and inspired.

Luma on Park
290 South Park Avenue
Winter Park, FL

New York, New York

On the night I discovered raw food many years ago, I had initially reserved a table at a trendy Chinese restaurant called 66. My friend and dinner companion, however, had other ideas. He let me know, at the last minute, that he preferred to dine at a raw food restaurant. In the end, I deferred, and I never made it back to 66 before it closed last year. Matsugen is Jean Georges Vongerichten's latest New York City restaurant - It replaces the haute Chinese venture in Tribeca. Although the décor has been warmed up a bit, the most notable physical change is the bar, just beyond the entry. It's a very civilized and modern dining room. The menu is an entirely new experience. I always loved Honmura An in Soho and in fact, aside from my first raw food dinner, it was the sole restaurant which elevated my energy on such a noticeable level that I felt like walking for a couple of hours. That wasn't necessarily the case at Matsugen, since I had an Omakase menu - but it was very clean, light and overall, amazing. Most notable was the buckwheat soba - firm, meaty, and even better than it had been at Honmura An. Definitely the best soba I have ever had.

Matsugen
241 Church Street
New York, NY

Several years ago, I dined at L'Impero, the Beekman Place restaurant where Scott Conant first became well known for his skills with Italian inspired cuisine. I was there before becoming a vegetarian and I vividly recall the meal being decadent, rich and delicious. There are some chefs who apply flawless technique to a consistent style of cooking and draw crowds wherever they go. With Scarpetta, the talented chef has refined his cuisine even further, serving a mature and modern Italian menu that has sophistication to spare. Along with a number of perfectly executed ‘crudo', perhaps the most well executed dish is the "pasta pomodoro", which is prepared with pasta ‘a la chitarra', and a perfectly balanced tomato sauce with basil. Along with a nearly identical dish at the now defunct San Domenico (where Mr. Conant worked), it is the best version of this classic I have ever had.

Scarpetta
355 West 14th Street
New York NY

Portland, Maine

Fore Street is one of the pioneers of not only the "locavore" movement, but also the current trend toward preparing great local ingredients simply. What is so hot in New York today, has actually been done by Sam Hayward in Maine for more than 15 years. His menus always highlight seasonal produce - in the summer, there are beautiful platters of multi-colored heirloom tomatoes with apple cider vinegar. This fall, there is a great salad of roasted carrots, dark leafy greens and hazelnuts that I loved...perhaps a little buttery, but overall capturing the essence of the season. The menu changes daily and is always broad and inventive.

Fore Street
288 Fore Street
Portland, Maine

Madrid, Spain

Before I set foot in the kitchen at La Mucca last month, I went to the market - I knew that the menu needed a few new dishes for fall. Pizza is very popular there, and during my previous visit, we developed a crust that worked perfectly with the high temperature of the restaurant's wood burning oven. One look at the ripe green figs at a local produce shop inspired this fig pizza - mine vegetarian, and being in Spain, another version with Iberico.

It turned out to be so popular, we bought 50 cases of figs and made a chutney which will keep it on the menu through much of the winter.

La Mucca
Plaza de Carlos Cambronero 4 (@Calle Pez)
Madrid