Hong Kong and Paris chosen as Saveur’s best food cities in the world

What’s the best city in the world for great food? Saveur magazine’s experts say pack your bags for Hong Kong while readers prefer to eat their way through Paris.

The Saveur Culinary Travel Awards 2014 announced last week point to the best cities, hotels, bars, airlines and cruise lines for food-loving travelers. Categories are ranked by readers and by experts (including chefs Lidia Bastianich and Rick Bayless as well as Fodor’s Travel editor Arabella Bowen).

The result offers two perspectives of each destination and gives specific standouts of where to go for the best eats and drinks.

Best cities: The experts liked Brooklyn, N.Y., for the U.S. and Hong Kong for international as the best big-city food culture destinations; readers preferred Paris and San Francisco, respectively. Smaller cities that won Saveur’s stamp of approval: Copenhagen, Denmark, and New Orleans (experts) and San Sebastian, Spain, and Portland, Ore. (readers).

Best hotel bar: The pickings couldn’t be more different. The experts selected the Chandelier at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, a place they say has friendly service and inventive drinks such as Planet of the Grapes. Readers chose the more old-school Art Deco Beaufort Bar at the Savoy in London.

Best boutique hotel restaurant: The experts chose the Restaurant at Meadowood in St. Helena, Calif., which serves up locally sourced creations including wood-fired squab flavored with pine needles. Readers chose Le Gaiac in the Hotel Le Toiny on St. Bart’s in the Caribbean.

Best big hotel restaurant: Epicure at Le Bristol in Paris was the experts’ choice, giving a nod to chef Eric Frechon. Readers chose the French restaurant Louis XV-Alain Ducasse at Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo, Monaco, for “the meal of a lifetime.”

Seabourn (experts) and Uniworld Boutique River Cruises (readers) won for best culinary cruise line. Best culinary tours went to Micato Safaris in Africa (experts) and Backpacker Concierge in Egypt (readers).

Info: Saveur Culinary Travel Awards 2014