A ForageSF-hosted dinner in San Francisco.   (Photo: Robin Jolin)

Sunning and Slurping in Sydney
It’s summer in Sydney, so you can’t really go wrong, hedonistically speaking. But for top-notch carousing, join the models, foodies, and surfer-scenesters migrating from overly touristy Bondi Beach to casually hip Manly. Inside Manly Pavilion, originally a thirties bathing house, hotshot chef Jonathan Barthelmess dishes up sweet native snapper ($39) and superfresh Sydney rock oysters ($39 per dozen; manlypavilion.com.au). Launch your post-beach bar crawl in Surry Hills, Sydney’s answer to the Lower East Side, where Café Lounge serves stiff martinis (from $15) in a courtyard furnished with comfy velvet armchairs (cafelounge.com.au). Ching-a-Lings has the area’s best rooftop views (133 Oxford St.), and Pocket Bar is a hole-in-the-wall serving surprisingly great wines by the carafe ($19 to $44, pocketsydney.com.au). The harbor-hugging Park Hyatt is within walking distance (from $645; sydney.park.hyatt.com).

Sampling New Dishes in New Orleans
New Orleans comeback stories are rapidly becoming cliché, and here’s one more: At 4 a.m. on Le Foret’s (leforetneworleans.com) first anniversary a few weeks ago, a taxicab crashed through its French windows. Twelve hours later, every piece of the ivory-toned room was back in place, and chef Jimmy Corwell was again prepping glorious lagniappes like cauliflower panna cotta with crab and caviar. The city’s rebuilt restaurant scene also includes newcomer Mesón 923, just blocks away (meson923.com), which provides something of an anomaly in this city of po’ boys: light fare, including a fine selection of crudi. There’s also a terrific new muffuletta in town at Donald Link’s Cochon Butcher (cochonrestaurant.com). The charming boutique hotel International House is a short stroll from all three (from $199; ihhotel.com).