Fathom Questionnaire: Josh Abramson

Weirdest thing seen on travels: Watching a conservative Midwestern guy freak out while briefly cornered by a family of hippos in Botswana.

Eye Candy: Inside Noma's Test Kitchen

COPENHAGEN – What's lurking behind the scenes of the world's best restaurant? Come take a look around the gastronomic temple.

Hometown Debrief: Katie Parla's Rome

No trip to Rome is complete without: Getting ripped off at least once (I'm looking at you, Roman cab drivers), eating a plate of carbonara (preferably at Roscioli), and having a gelato.

Austin's East Side King

AUSTIN – Paul Qui had invented a dish that he knew would drive the drunk crowd nuts: deep-fried roasted beets dusted with shichimi and dressed with kewpie mayo. Beets? For real.

Love Letter: Cochon's Oysters

NEW ORLEANS – Long after the plate was removed and long after the last bite of heart-thumping upside-down pineapple cake was licked clean from the spoon, I thought about those oysters.

Fathom Questionnaire: Salma Abdelnour

Bizarre travel rituals: Terminal-hopping to find an airport branch of a local restaurant. Nothing like eating in the actual city, but less grim than the Chili's near the departure gate.

Fathom Questionnaire: Katie Parla

Bizarre travel rituals: I spend the whole night before I go packing for a trip, typically from 1-4 a.m., generally being inefficient and failing to learn from experience. I always forget something critical.

Literary Excerpt: "Culinary Intelligence: The Art of Eating Healthy (And Really Well)"

BURGUNDY – One-handed cheese service can be a challenge when a stationary cheese board is on the table. The ability to pirouette amid a boisterous Burgundy-fueled throng struck me as a miracle.