How We Pulled It Off: A Joyful Fiji Wedding in the Yasawa Islands

For almost two decades, Dubai’s beachfront was something of a graveyard. Towards Abu Dhabi, you had the partially finished Palm Jebel Ali, which had been announced in 2002. Closer to the marina area, there was the struggling “The World” Islands, which dated to 2003. And towards Sharjah, Deira Islands (the 2004 project now known as Dubai Islands), seemed abandoned.

The tonka bean, a wizened-looking South American seed, is beloved for its complex almond-vanilla scent, often appearing as an ingredient in perfumes. Outside the United States, it has also long been utilized by chefs, but studies have indicated that coumarin, a chemical compound in the plant, can cause liver damage in animals, and the Food and Drug Administration banned the bean in commercial foods in 1954. Now, with reports that the minuscule amounts used to impart big flavor are harmless (and the F.D.A. seemingly not particularly interested in enforcing the ban in recent years), tonka is showing up on dessert menus here. Thea Gould, 30, the pastry chef at the daytime luncheonette La Cantine and evening wine bar Sunsets in Bushwick, Brooklyn, was introduced to tonka after the restaurant’s owner received a jar from France, where it’s a widely used ingredient. Gould says the bean is an ideal stand-in for nuts — a common allergen — and infuses it into panna cotta, whipped cream and Pavlova. Ana Castro, 35, the chef and owner of the New Orleans seafood restaurant Acamaya, discovered tonka as a young line cook at Betony, the now-closed Midtown Manhattan restaurant. Entranced by the ingredient’s grassy, stone fruit-like notes, she’s used it to flavor a custardy corn nicuatole, steeped it into roasted candy squash purée and grated it fresh over a lush tres leches cake. And at the Musket Room in New York’s NoLIta, the pastry chef Camari Mick, 30, balances tonka’s richness with acidic citrus like satsuma and bergamot. Over the past year, she’s incorporated it into a silky lemon bavarois and a candy cap mushroom pot de crème and whipped it into ganache for a poached pear belle Hélène. “Some people ask our staff, ‘Isn’t tonka illegal?’” she says. Their answer: Our pastry chef’s got a guy. —

Amid Greece’s peak travel season, raging wildfires near Athens are putting tour operators on high alert.

Dangerous wildfires near Athens, Greece forced hundreds to evacuate the suburbs north of the country's capital on Monday, August 12, reported to be the worst fire the Mediterranean country has seen so far this year.

You don’t hear about Central Florida very often, and when you do, chances are it has something to do with Walt Disney World. But just over an hour north of the famed resort complex is the mid-sized city of Ocala, a destination bursting with superlatives, including “America’s largest spring” and “horse capital of the world.”

Nothing quite says "bucket list" like a cruise to Africa.

While most American cities aren’t considered easy to navigate by foot, a recent study by travel insurance experts AllClear ranked one popular Southern city as the most walkable in the country. AllClear examined topographical information for more than 240 cities around the world, taking into account average elevation and range, and assigned each city a score — and ultimately, it was New Orleans that was named the most walkable city in the U.S. and the fourth most walkable city globally.

Western Air, The Bahamas based commercial airline announces the launch of daily, direct flights between Freeport, Grand Bahama and Fort Lauderdale Florida. The highly anticipated route begins Thursday, August 22, 2024 and will mark the airline’s second route connecting South Florida with the islands of The Bahamas. With a brief flight time of approximately 25 minutes, Western Air’s direct flights will offer both frequency and easy accessibility for Grand Bahama and South Florida residents seeking to enjoy a close, affordable getaway. Free checked bags are included up to 40 lbs.

Europe dominates in a new ranking of the world’s most beautiful cities, filling nine of the top 10 spots.

The Paris Summer Olympic Games are coming to an end this weekend, but there are still plenty of disciplines to go, including a new sport at the Games this year: breaking.

After 15 years without a recession (ex-Covid), Friday’s jobs report has sent U.S. markets into a freefall and has a lot of people whispering the R-word. Here’s what’s going on and what it means for the travel industry.

On a particularly relaxed Friday in August, I spent the morning with my two best friends in the Tulum jungle, splashing around what I'm quite sure is the world's most entertaining pool. We were at the Conrad Tulum Riviera Maya Resort's spa pool, which comes tricked out with mystery buttons around the perimeter, each setting off a variety of jets, waterfalls, and even a surge of bubbles bursting out from a lounger submerged a foot below the water's surface.