When I updated you yesterday on our latest writing in print and online, I forgot to mention one new piece you might enjoy, especially those gourmet travellers out there who take your food seriously. Have a read of my partner Terry's article 'Perfect Balance' in Gulf Life, Gulf Air's in-flight magazine. The story is based on an interview we did with Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten during the opening of Jean-Georges' new Spice Market restaurant and Istanbul's W hotel. Terry also took the gorgeous photos. You may remember me telling you about our trip to Istanbul for the opening of the W hotel. It was a hectic few days of interviews and shoots, which, as exhausting as they were, reaffirmed our love for this work - how many jobs allow you to go to such cool places and meet so many cool people? A few stories resulted from that trip, including a review of the W hotel for Jazeera Airline's J Mag. Now, it's not often I post happy snaps on Cool Travel Guide, but I couldn't resist popping up this pic of Terry with Jean-Georges. We meet a lot of chefs - during this last trip to Italy, we got to interview a constellation of Michelin-starred chefs, shoot their dishes and eat their food - and we find chefs to be fascinating people. The best chefs are thoughtful, philosophical and passionate about food, travel and culture. Jean-Georges was all of those things, but he was also an endearing, down-to-earth and considerate guy. He also has his own blog. Very cool indeed.

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