In late August 2005, it took us five airplane connections from Iraq to reach the medieval city of Dubrovnik, nestled on the hilly coast of the Adriatic Sea in Croatia. The old town has been restored since the Balkan wars of the 1990s and looks as it did when first completed in the 13th century. One of the most stunning sights is a two-hour walk on top of the city walls where orange roof tiles stretch endlessly into the turquoise water beneath. On an afternoon stroll, we stumbled on then-named Labirint (the restaurant is now named Gil's), the only restaurant back then with tables perched on the city's walls. We decided to return that evening for dinner. The tables were scattered far apart, giving an air of deliberate intimacy and exclusivity. We dined on lobster salad marinated in olive oil, capers and red chili and scallops slowly simmered in a sauce of lemon, black olives and local herbs. The dessert was vanilla ice cream with a touch of lavender, which can be found on the rolling hills nearby. Since our visit, the restaurant has changed its name and gotten a sleeker, trendier look, with more lounge seats scattered on the wall. But the menu's selection remains as we remember. In June 2007, we flipped through the pages of our Malta guidebook searching for a special place to dine on the tiny Mediterranean island south of Sicily. We had picked Malta on a whim, not wanting to travel far from Beirut while craving sufficient cultural distance from the East. Malta charms with its open-air cafés in squares surrounded by Baroque churches, stone-paved curvy roads with cute shops selling handmade lace, and the mythical caves of Calypso. Local legend has it that the nymph Calypso imprisoned Odysseus in the caves for seven years. On that particular afternoon, we were lounging in our hotel room's balcony over afternoon gin and tonics, overlooking Spinola Bay in the resort town of St. Julians. We noticed an old, waterfront stone mansion with a sign that said "Barracuda Restaurant." The interior of the restaurant, which is housed in the drawing room of an 18th-century Maltese mansion, was furnished with slightly grandiose and stuffy furniture when we visited, but has since gotten a modern refurbishing. The restaurant has balconies, including one with a small table just for two. It is possibly one of the most romantic spots for a dinner for two. The menu is Mediterranean with a wide selection of seafood dishes. We ordered barbuljata, a traditional Maltese appetizer made with onion, tomato, eggs and goat-cheese salsa. We shared grilled lobster as an entree, which came with a simple but perfect Thermidor sauce. The desert, my favorite, was pear and ginger crème brûlée. I can safely say that the most beautiful place I have ever seen in the world is the Seychelles, a tiny dot in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa. The idyllic white sandy beaches are interrupted with dramatic rocks and cliff formations and dotted with palm trees. We were snorkeling in Anse Royal, on the east coast of Mahe Island, when we noticed a small beach shack serving lunch on wooden tables on the sand. Kaz Kreol specializes in seafood curry. The décor is funky and kitschy, one side of the wall is a fish and palm-tree mural. One young diner had pushed his plate aside and broken out his guitar, entertaining us with local songs. The crab curry stew served in its shell and a coconut fish were so delightful that I chewed every bite slowly, savoring the flavors that burst into my mouth and not wanting the meal to end. A few months later, we traveled to Sri Lanka in September. The food at Taprobana, a small boutique hotel with nine rooms in the coastal town of Bentota, was so supreme that I begged the chef for a cooking lesson one morning. Taprobana is one of five luxury properties that belong to Sri Lanka's most-famous fashion designer, Taru Bana. The restaurant uses vegetables from its organic garden and is open only to guests. Every morning at breakfast, the staff details a few dishes and guests pick what they'll have for lunch and dinner. There is no menu. Local fishermen arrive by noon with their catch of the day, and the garden provides the rest. Babak and I helped cook a lunch spread that included fish baked in banana leaf marinated with spices, ginger green beans flavored with black pepper, red curried cauliflower, and a coconut and papaya salad. I have cooked the dishes at home in Beirut where I now live and for friends at dinner parties. Mixing the spices, marinating the meat and watching over the pot as it slowly simmers satisfy both our palates as well as our wanderlust." Write to Farnaz Fassihi at farnaz.fassihi@wsj.com

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