Luke Pyenson

  • The Price of Halloumi Is Too Damn High

    In the UK, Britons regularly snack on the Cypriot cheese known as halloumi, which is widely available for relatively cheap. In the US, however, it's considered something of a far-flung delicacy with a price tag to match. And that is a goddamn travesty...

  • Columbus Was a Bastard but at Least He Brought Chocolate to Italy

    We all know that Christopher Columbus was genocidal social climber who was instrumental in destroying the indigenous culture of the New World. But on Columbus Day in the Italian town of Modica, the Aztec method of chocolate-making still thrives.

  • Black Tahini Is the Dark Magic of Palestine

    In the ancient city of Nablus in the West Bank, Palestinians make an inky black version of tahini called qizha that's just about impossible to source outside of the region. Finding it has become a minor personal obsession.

  • How to Eat for Free in London’s Fanciest Department Stores

    Everyone loves a free meal. And despite its artifice of glitz and sophistication, you can show up to Harrods unshaven and in a sweaty T-shirt with no intentions of spending money, and still holler at some duck rillettes.

  • Melbourne Is Doing Insane Things to Rice Pudding

    Yeah, you read that correctly: rice pudding. Some of Melbourne's best chefs have fled restaurant kitchens in favor of casual cafés, where they ditch standard breakfast menus and turn out elaborate puddings topped with puffed rice and "lime air."

  • I Went To A New York-Themed Kitsch Restaurant In Boston, England

    Mortified servers doing dances with pom-poms and a menu full of over-the-top burger options might sound like your average night at Guy Fieri's spot in NYC's Times Square, but Witham & Blues is tucked into a decidedly crappy corner of England.

  • I’m So Hungry I Could Eat A Horse Burger

    I traveled to the gorgeous Tivoli Park in the Slovenian capital for precisely one reason: to eat at the famed Hot-Horse, a mini-chain that's been serving equine eats since the mid-'90s. You'd better believe I ponied up for a giant, sloppy horseburger.

  • Palestinian Farm-to-Table Cuisine Is Still Alive Under Occupation

    I picked one hell of a week to visit the West Bank for a food trip, but luckily I ended up at Hosh Jasmin, an organic farm and restaurant set on a hillside near Bethlehem. Think Dan Barber’s Blue Hill at Stone Barns, but under occupation.