7 Restaurants Worth Riding For in 2018

Written by Andy Levine2.8.18

An outstanding meal is more than just the food.  It’s the setting where time melts away; it’s toasting with good friends; it’s the Italian nonna in the kitchen who pulls you away from your table to taste the sauce.  I’ve eaten a lot of outstanding meals, but it’s the dining experience that really makes a restaurant memorable.  No one does it better than these 7 places, where a meal tastes even better after a full day of riding.  Find your appetite, then file these top 7 restaurants under “must visit” for this year. 

Healdsburg SHED

Healdsburg, California

Restaurant, café, bakery, and market all in one, this creative Healdsburg locale has quickly become one of the best places to eat in the area.  Sip a cappuccino or homemade kombucha as you peruse displays of cookbooks and watch chefs in action in the open kitchen.  I crave their huge bowls of salads, but there’s also wood-fired pizzas and stellar salmon tartar topped with dollops of lemon cream.  Every meal is a work of art; prepare to turn heads when you order SHED’s succulent roast chicken, served whole on a bed of sauteed spinach and surrounded by clusters of edible flowers, turnips, and carrots. 

Château Cordeillan-Bages

Pauillac, France

Cordeillan-Bages will change your perception of hotel restaurants.  Amazing wines, a spacious, minimalist design, and top-notch French cuisine earned the restaurant at Relais Château Cordeillan-Bages its two Michelin stars.  The freshly baked miniature baguettes are hard to resist with their unbelievably creamy butter, and squab is paired unexpectedly with pumpkin cheesecake and carrots.  I don’t usually go all-in for dessert, but the chocolate lava cake is perfectly executed.  Every dish is served with love, highlighting local ingredients and flavors.  It’s the real deal! 

El Olivo

Mallorca, Spain

Hip and sexy with an unbeatable ambiance, the Belmond Residencia’s gourmet restaurant is one to remember.  I love the setting in what feels like an enchanted garden on a terrace overlooking stone hillside villages.  The cuisine is Mediterranean with a local touch, featuring eclectic but elegant dishes: think lobster with Jamón Ibérico and Mallorca’s famous suckling pig.  Attentive and welcoming wait staff add the touches that ratchet this restaurant up to the next level. 

Yamatoan

Mount Yoshino, Japan

Tucked away in the tiny hillside town of Mount Yoshino, this family restaurant is a hidden gem.  Sit on floor cushions and tatami mats and cool down from your ride with chilled soba noodles; I took my ordering cues from the uniform-clad school children slurping bowls of soup on their lunch break.  No one speaks a word of English, but the hospitality is palpable.  Even after your plates are cleared, you’re welcome to play with the puppies out back or poke around the woodworking shop in the basement. 

Eat at Yamatoan on DuVine’s Japan bike tour, launching this year! 

Osteria del Teatro

Cortona, Italy

Elegant, romantic dining is never more accessible than at this Italian eatery.  Old photos of famous Italian actors and actresses watch over tables of locals and tourists blissfully dining side-by-side.  Try the homemade fagottini pasta stuffed with pear, goat cheese, and walnut pesto.  In truffle season, it’s hard to beat a filet mignon topped with foie gras and fresh, shaved truffles.  Save room for the mascarpone Charlotte, and—weird as it sounds—take a trip to the bathroom.  The porcelain dolls who live in there are part of this restaurant’s quirky charm. 

Konoba Mate

Pupnat Village on Korcula Island, Croatia

Welcome to mama’s kitchen!  This gourmet restaurant serves up Croatian cuisine sourced from the family farm’s in-season ingredients.  The setting is casual (read: spandex-friendly) in the courtyard of an old stone cottage.  Family members deliver heaping plates of goat cheese, grilled octopus, eggplant pâté, and homemade tagliatelle with sage, zucchini, prawns, and saffron.  Each dish is unbelievably fresh and satisfyingly simple—everything you crave after a day on the bike. 

The Japanese Restaurant at The Chedi Andermatt

Andermatt, Switzerland

Japanese cuisine isn’t what I expected to find in the Swiss Alps.  But Executive Chef Dietmar Sawyere and his team of sushi itamae serve up top-notch sushi, sashimi, and tempura at this Michelin-starred establishment.  Go for the five-course Kaiseki tasting menu or fuel your ride with clean protein at the sushi and sashimi bar.  There’s a stellar selection of sake, but that’s not even skimming the surface of The Chedi Andermatt’s robust wine library. 

Eat at The Japanese Restaurant in Andermatt on DuVine’s Swiss Journeys bike tour.