Published in the Summer 2026 print issue of Distiller Magazine: Read more →
Category: Wandering Traveler
The French Riviera’s Gifts to the World
Casino de Monte-Carlo cacti view. Photo by Virginia Miller. Realizing I’m among the privileged who can say I’ve been to the French Riviera three times, the Côte d’Azur is as romantic and dramatic as you’ve imagined. Bustling “big” city Nice is more hectic, while crossing over to the Italian side offers a blessedly more humble, low-key coast — like the… Read more →
NYC’s Gifts to the World
Post-sunset from the rooftop of Donna, Williamsburg (Brooklyn). Photo by Virginia Miller. Writing about dining and drink in New York City since 2007, I partly grew up in New Jersey, in suburbs of NYC since the 1990s, so I knew the region intimately. I can still navigate NYC subways and neighborhoods easily, with decades exploring its hidden gems, museums, tea… Read more →
10 Top NYC Bars in Distiller Magazine
Published in the Fall 2025 print issue of Distiller Magazine: New York City’s Top 10 Bars Read more →
Bogota’s Gifts to the World
Bogota view. Photo by Virginia Miller. In 2018 was my first visit to Bogota, Columbia, an exciting melange of Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants awards, a deep dive into then up-and-coming restaurants like the great Leo and then brand-new El Chato (see my current review below). I wrote about Bogota’s burgeoning cocktail bar scene for Gin Magazine. I wrote dining/food… Read more →
Distiller Magazine Interviews with Forthave Spirits & Iain Griffiths of Bar Snack, NYC
In the Fall 2025 print issue of Distiller Magazine:
—My interview with Forthave Spirits’ Aaron Sing Fox and Daniel de la Nuez, Brooklyn’s James Beard–nominated distillery
—My interview with Iain Griffiths of Bar Snack, NYC Read more →
Copenhagen’s Gifts to the World
Nyhavn. Photo by Virginia Miller. Though my largest percentage heritage is Sicilian (specifically Aeolian Islands), my second biggest before my third German, is Scandinavian: split between Danish and Swedish, with one grandparent each having roots in those countries. So it’s no surprise that the earthy, sensual, visionary, free spirited Sicilian-island side of me is tempered with my eldest child, orderly,… Read more →
Distiller Magazine Interview with Dan Garrison of Garrison Bros. Distillery & Robert Rodriguez of Cured San Antonio
Published in the Summer 2025 print issue of Distiller Magazine:
—My interview with Dan Garrison of Garrison Brothers Distillery
—My interview with beverage director Robert Rodriguez of James Beard-nominated Cured Read more →
Guadalajara’s Gifts to the World
Starting in 2010, I’ve been writing about Guadalajara since my first visit with the great Fortaleza tequila when it was a small cult brand and, as founder/distiller Guillermo Sauza tells me, I was one of the first people writing about them. Every time I’m consulting in or on a press trip in the Highlands or Lowlands of Tequila, I get at least a night or two in GDL… and I’ve been smitten with it as the underrated second biggest city in Mexico. Its restaurants, bars, culture and people is the “real” Mexico on so many levels. I’ve been impressed by its steady growth in range and depth over the 15 years I’ve been visiting and working at distilleries where I consult in Arandas. Read on… Read more →
Tulum’s Gifts to the World
The edible, sensual and spiritual pleasures of Tulum and the Yucatan Peninsula (seven places to eat and stay + cultural highlights)… Read more →