2025 Touchpoint Tally Travel Awards - "The Flavor Profile" Category

The "Flavor Profile " Category

Travel isn’t just about the miles logged; it’s about the moments that linger on the palate long after the suitcase is unpacked. We created the Touchpoint Tally to transition from simply "planning" our travels to "curating" our legacy. The Flavor Profile Category awards aren't just about the best food or wine; they are about the stories behind the table—the random shop window that held a rare vintage, the market that felt like the heart of a city, and the meal that made us realize why we travel in the first place.

Our 2025 journey took us from the bistros of Paris to the Christmas markets of Germany and the hidden gems of Cyprus. Narrowing down the "Flavor Profile" was a challenge, but these winners represent the very best of our sensory experiences this year.

The Awards

Award: The Standout Individual Meal

• L’Ange 20 (Paris):A quintessentially French bistro experience that welcomed us to Paris with perfectly executed classics.
• La Cocotte De Grand-Mère (Colmar): A masterclass in comfort, featuring a standout fish dish and a memorable, creamy risotto.
• Hotel Restaurant Au Soleil (Wettolsheim): A mushroom-cream-smothered Veal Vou-la-vent so exceptional we kept trying (and failing) to find its equal.
• L’Onion (Strasbourg): An intimate culinary gem that captures the rustic heart and sophisticated soul of Alsatian dining.

Winner: Hotel restaurant Au Soleil – We went to Wettolsheim, France for a wine appointment with Domaine Barmès-Buecher. We thought we would go early, get off the bus and walk the rest of the way through the vineyards then grab lunch before our meeting. Hotel Restaurant Au Soleil was the only place open. It was quite busy and we had a great server who spoke quite good English. We had a nice Sauvignon Blanc and the Veal Vou La Vent with mushroom cream Sause. We have had this before, but never anything so good. We thought maybe it was a quality level we would find all over France – however, we kept ordering it but nothing matched how good it was at Hotel Restaurant Au Soleil!

Award: Dish We Still Talk About

• Bau Buns at Nomade (Metz) – we altered our walking route to be able to stop in again at opening time the next day.
• Shrimp & Lemongrass Ravioli at Vino Strada (Strasbourg): An immediate "top ten of all time" dish featuring a fusion of flavors we never saw coming.
• "Three in a Bun" (Nuremberg): Peter Löbel’s legendary street food—a chewy, soft, and historic bite of Bavarian tradition.
• Pate at Osada (Luxembourg): A rich, silky discovery that transformed a simple afternoon into a true culinary highlight.
• Vitello Tonnato (Amsterdam): A tuna-mustard cream sauce so addictive we found ourselves chasing the flavor across two different countries.
• Local Catch at La Cocotte de Grand-Mère (Colmar): A masterfully prepared fish dish that stood out as the defining flavor of our stay in the wine capital.
• Mixed Platter at The Donar Bar (Paphos)- we planned to go to another shawarma place and stopped in and then kept coming back!!

Winner: The Donar Bar in Paphos -We kept walking past a few Donor (sandwich) shops as we walked from our apartment to the downtown area of Paphos or the bus station. There was always a line of people at them and busy. We vowed we would stop in, but kept putting it off. Finally, we stopped in and got the mixed meat plate inside a pita with lettuce, tomatoes and grilled onions plus a lot of spices. It was served on a platter cut into four sections and then mounded with French fries. It was enough for both of us to share and even have leftovers. The flavors were amazing and we made sure to come back another time before he closed for the winter season.

Award: Surprisingly Great Random Meal

• The Donar Bar (Paphos): The accidental discovery that was so delicious it completely derailed our other dining plans because we had to get our fill before he closed for the season.
• La Locanda (Nuremberg): A warm, family-style welcome that served up as much genuine hospitality as it did incredible food.
• Brasserie Osada (Luxembourg): A lucky Google search led us to the final table in the house for a hearty, soul-warming Polish meal.
• Hotel Restaurant Au Soleil (Wettolsheim)- Veal dish in small wine village at the hotel. It was the only place open and it was an amazing standout meal.
• Le Boeuf (Metz): A vibrant local atmosphere featuring an endless supply of French fries and perfectly cooked beef.
• Restaurant Zur Sonne (Wintethur): Traditional home-cooked favorites shared with dear friends in their favorite hometown neighborhood spot.

Winner: Brasserie Osada. We did a quick google search of the lower part of Luxembourg which would line up well for when we wanted to stop for lunch. Brasserie Osada came up as a great restaurant so we headed in that direction, sightseeing along the way. We arrived and after a moment’s hesitation, the server let us have the last table. He set a pâté for us to try while we looked over the menu. It was one of the best things we have eaten. The rest of the meal was also spectacular. I asked him for the recipe of the pâté and he laughed. He said even he doesn’t know it and that it’s so popular, Chef gets orders for holidays like Christmas and Easter.

Award: The Golden Decanter (Best Wine/Cellar Experience)

• La Sercle des Arômes (Colmar): Navigating a list of 200 exceptional wines with expert guidance in a cozy, atmosphere-filled wine bar.
• Domaine Baptiste Guyot (Beaune): A deep-dive educational experience into the craft, heritage, and soil of Burgundy winemaking.
• Domaine Seilly (Obernai): A breathtaking 20-wine vertical tasting that set a new gold standard for Alsatian hospitality.
• Trimbach Winery (Ribeauvillé): A "happy accident" tasting that turned a schedule mix-up stop into a trunk full of world-class Pinot Noir.

Winner: Domaine Seilly (Obernai). We had our tasting set up for 9:30 am and the owner and winemaker, Mark, met us to show us around the old production area (with growth he now has a newer one at a different location) before we went in for our tasting. We got settled as Mark pulled out a beautiful cheese tray and started opening wines. We tasted his lineup of varieties and also did vertical tastings to discuss and learn about changing growing conditions and impact to the vintages. We spent a lot of time drinking a lot of wine and eating amazing local cheese and bread, while also learning a lot about Alsacian winemaking, and the history and future of Domaine Seilly. I do a lot of wine tastings and this was a definite standout experience.

Award: Best Wine Find

• Sylvain Pataille: A bottle we spent hours hunting for, only to find the very last one waiting for us in a small shop window that we happened to walk by.
• Louis Sipp 2017 Old Vine Riesling: A rain-soaked tasting session that ended with the prize of the very last bottle from the cellar.
• The Spontaneous Trimbach Selection: Proof that the best finds often come from open-hearted producers.

Winner: Sylvain Pataille: I love Sylvain Pataille’s winemaking and appreciate him for his impact on supporting other winemakers and the industry. I have not been able to get his wines except for when I travel to Chicago. Since we were in Burgundy, Tom and I decided a fun way to check out the different wine shops was also to look for some of his wines. We did find a magnum at one shop, but otherwise they were sold out or didn’t carry it. We were on a random walk to look for hiking socks and happened to go by a very small shop on the outskirts of Beaune. They had an arrangement in their window and the bright purple of Sylvain Pataille’s label caught our eye. We were able to get two of his bottles to enjoy before we left Beaune.

Award: Best Market

• Beaune Market: The quintessential French market experience, bursting with local Burgundy flavors and vibrant local energy.
• Haarlem Market: A charming Dutch gathering that offered a perfect, delicious cross-section of local life and seasonal treats.
• Place de la Cathédrale (Strasbourg): A massive, breathtaking Christmas market set against one of the world’s most stunning architectural backdrops.
• Nuremberg Christmas Market: The historic "gold standard" of holiday magic, filled with the scent of gingerbread and centuries of tradition.
• Munich Medieval Market: A step back in time featuring traditional crafts, open-fire cooking, and a truly unique historical atmosphere.

Winner: Place de la Cathédrale is one of those places that imprints on your memories, no matter what time of year. Being the backdrop of the Christmas Market makes it all that more memorable. There are actually a few markets around the Cathedrale, which are a delight to explore especially at night where the brightly lit Cathedrale takes your breath away.

Award: Meal Worth Traveling For

• Stek (Ghent): An inventive brunch experience so unique and flavorful you won't find it anywhere else on earth.
• Oliver’s (Haarlem): Canal-side dining at its best, where following the chef’s recommendation led to a perfect Dutch evening.
• Pinocchio (Bergen): Michelin-star quality paired with an incredible love story and an unforgettable Nordic ambiance.
• Sa Ki Bon (Strasbourg): A Mauritian seafood surprise that was so good it instantly added a new country to our future travel bucket list.

Winner: Pinocchio. Pinocchio is not an easy restaurant to find by just walking by. It is defiantly a highly rated and reviewed restaurant with amazing reviews for its wine as well as its food. It is just off a main street, and actually used to be a historic prison. They didn’t have a reservation but were lucky enough to get a table in the bar. The nice thing was, it put us close to the one of the owners, who shared with her they story of how she met her Michelin Starred Chef husband in Chicago and started Pinocchio. This was an easy winner for us because we would travel to Bergen to come here again.

The "Flavor Profile" is just the beginning of the tally. While our stomachs were full, our eyes were constantly wandering toward the horizon. Join us for the next installment of the 2025 awards, where we move from the table to the trail.

Continue the 2025Touchpoint Tally:

Part 2: The Flavor Profile

Part 3: The Unfiltered Year

Part 4: The Grand Finale

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