“Food,” James Beard, the quintessential American cook once said, “is our common ground, a universal experience.” The best way to understand where a city’s been and where it’s going—to glean an insight into its heady, complicated, invigorating intersection of economy, environment and culture—is to break bread with locals, to sup outside the tourist heat-map, to transport one’s taste-buds somewhere entirely unexpected.
In celebration of life’s simplest and most rewarding pleasure, we’re presenting our picks of toothsome culinary experiences dotted through Europe. From afternoon cooking classes to gastronomic tours to burgeoning foodie hotspots, there’s a structure to suit every wanderer: be it novice chefs with an afternoon to share, or the culinarian in search of new ways to connect with other people, and reignite all of the senses. Bon appetit.