PORTLAND
The sleepy port city is no longer just about coffee shops, grunge bands and bad weather. A culinary magic wand has been waved across the urban landscape bringing top chefs and farm to table dinners that could stand up to a big-city critic. If you only have a few days, head straight for the slightly gritty east side or ‘distillery row’ to check out the craft distillers at House of Spirits. Beaker & Flask was named best in the city by the local press for Benjamin Bettinger’s seasonal menus and fresh cocktails by mixologist Kevin Ludwig. For Italian lovers award winning Nostrana serves amazing wood fired pizza and pasta with truffles. Dining Hall is an underground supper club serving family style meals from an open kitchen with Chef Scott Ketterman announcing each dish to the crowd. In the upscale Pearl District, Ten-01 is known for its elaborate wine pairing meals with sommelier Erica Landon. ACE Hotel is still a hipster hot spot and has a great communal table eatery called Clyde Common. Ditch the plaid shirts and biker boots for a glam evening at the Nines Hotel – and the top floor restaurant lounge Departure is by far the most sophisticated spot in the area. www.travelportland.com

VEGAS
Spanning over 67 acres the CityCenter complex boasts three top hotels – including a futuristic looking Vdara Hotel and Spa; and dozens of restaurants with more award-winning starred chefs than anywhere on this continent. Book early for Twist by Pierre Gagnaire located in the stylish Mandarin Oriental, as this is his only U.S. eatery and your one chance to try one of his degustation menus. Standouts at the Pelli Clarke Pelli designed ARIA Resort & Casino include toro tartare with caviar at Bar Masa; foie gras crème brulee by Sean Williams at Sage; Valenciana Paella with rabbit and chorizo by Julian Serrano; and literally everything on the menu at AMERICAN FISH by Michael Mina – but if you can only order two dishes, make sure it’s the sea salt baked branzino and the wood grilled angus ribcap. It’s not all about eating at CityCentre, they also have the largest free fine art collection in the world dotted through out the complex. Crystals looks more like a museum than a shopping mall with high end designers from Cavalli to Versace and featuring a night club and restaurant by Eva Longoria Parker. www.crystalsatcitycenter.com

PALM SPRINGS
This desert town keeps reinventing itself and has had more reincarnations over the past several decades than Madonna. The latest and greatest include the Riviera Resort and Spa, where the rat pack used to play in the 1950’s. After a $70 million renovation, the mod-glam décor is drawing a new crop of Hollywood who hang at the massive central pool area, and cozy up in booths at Circa 59 for contemporary surf & turf. Visit on site SpaTerra for Asian inspired treatments, a Buddha Lounge and Watsu pool. For the hard-core party crowd, don’t miss the ACE Hotel for an afternoon or evening of DJ spinning and strong drinks by their funky-retro pool. Once a tacky business hotel, the Hyatt Downtown has been revamped to a chic-modern suites property with a top notch lounge bar area called SHARE. For a special culinary evening, delve even further out to La Quinta where the restaurant has morphed into upscale Morgan’s where celebrated Midwest Chef Jimmy Schmidt brings farm fresh cooking to the dessert. www.visitpalmsprings.com

By Leigh Beecham