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Contact Lara Dunston 2019-01-03T10:04:52+07:00

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Brief Bio

Lara Dunston is a Cambodia based Travel & Food Writer and has regular gigs with:
The Guardian, CNN, Australian Gourmet Traveller, Feast, Delicious, The Independent, Telegraph, National Geographic Traveler / Traveller, Get Lost, Wanderlust, Travel+Leisure SEA, DestinAsian, AFAR. Read more here.

RELATED WEBSITES

Our travel website:
GRANTOURISMO TRAVELS

Our full service digital media agency:
GRANTOURISMO MEDIA

Our Cambodian retreats site:
SIEM REAP RETREATS

Partner Phtography Site:
TERENCE CARTER PHOTOGRAPHY

LATEST ON INSTAGRAM

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For Siem Reap gastronomes... our friends at @lumorngfarmtotable still have a few tables left from 8pm onwards tonight (early sittings fully booked) for the 4-hands dinner with Lum Orng’s chef Sothea and @chefsopheak Sao of Il Vicolo restaurant, easily one of the most interesting of Siem Reap’s Italian restaurants.
The chefs are cooking up a creative 6-course tasting menu that fuses Cambodian and Italian cuisines. I can’t wait to try this!
AMUSE BOUCHE
COPPA DI TESTA
Italian Coppa di Testa pork sausage served two ways – chilled and deep-fried, coated with Ambok rice crumble, with assortment of homemade pickled vegetables and preserved soya bean sauce
BEEF OXTAIL SOUP
Clear beef oxtail soup with young papaya and braised local beef check ravioli
RICE PADDY CRAB & HERBS RISOTTO
Rice paddy crab risotto with straw mushroom, cherry tomatoes and ma’orm oil
INTERMEZZO
Kaffir lime and basil sorbet with watermelon and dried fish flakes
SNAKEHEAD FISH WITH RIVER CLAMS
Local snakehead fish fillet with zucchini ‘scales’, served on bed of river clams, anchovies and capers
TIRAMISU
Tiramisu with cardamom and star anise, handmade Sicilian Savoiardi biscuits, soaked in Borghetti Italian coffee liqueur

It’s fantastic value too. Just $28 pp or $45+ with wine pairing and they’ve created a vegetarian menu also but you need to let them know when you book. Lum Orng is in Thlok Ondong Village, only a 15-20 min drive from Siem Reap centre, close to Road 60 and Angkor Ticket Office. Or check their site for a map: www.lumorngrestaurant.com They also offer a complimentary tuk tuk service which you can request when you call to book.
Photo by me - that’s their Cambodian carpaccio, which isn’t on the menu tonight but gives you an idea of the possibilities!
#travel #food #foodies #cambodia #siemreap #cambodianfood #cambodian #cambodiancuisine #moderncambodianfood #khmercuisine #contemporarycambodianfood #chef #chefs #cheflife #chefstagram #chefsofinstagram #chefstalk #farmtotable #restaurant #restaurants #gourmet #asias50best #michelin #finedining #gastronomy #gastromeals #organicfood #collabdinner #lumorngfarmtotable #ilvicolo

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Luckiest wife ever, though so much sourdough baking by my husband here that I’m beginning to wonder whether he’s started a secret sourdough bakery I don’t know about. Thanks @terence_carter_photography 😘👨🏼‍🍳And @cathiecarpio for another ‘bread bag’ from @trunkh.cambodia
#sourdough #sourdoughbread #bread #boule #breadmaking #breadbaking #baking #homebaker #baker #sourdoughbaker #sourdoughstarter #sourdoughbaking #sourdoughlove #sourdoughclub #sourdoughbreads #anniversarygift #trunkh

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Since posting about our 2020 trips yesterday, I’ve had quite a few people ask if I’m hosting another Vietnam Cuisine and Culture tour this year. I will be, but later in the year and am currently finding some dates. If that interests, do DM me.

Our small group Vietnam Cuisine and Culture Tour kicks off in Saigon and takes in Dalat, Hoi An, Hue, and Hanoi, with optional extensions to Halong Bay and Sapa.
We’ll be soaking up the history and charm of atmospheric old towns; taking in museums, galleries, temples, and monuments; savouring delicious food at local markets and fantastic restaurants, and doing street food tours and cooking classes with local chefs and cooks. We’ll visit tea and coffee plantations, spend a day crafting and cooking with Hmong women in Sapa, and cruise a quieter part of Halong Bay.

More details about what we’ll be up to, the itinerary, dates, and prices coming very soon. In the meantime, we still have that one room left on the Cambodia trip in April that I’m hosting... #Hanoi #vietnam #asia #travel #food #traveller #foodie #foodies #igfood #traveling #wanderlust #foodietravel #foodtraveller #vietnamesefood #streetfood #vietnamesecuisine #experientialtravel #culinarytravel #traveldeeper #travelgram #traveltheworld #neverstopexploring #femmetravel #dametravelers #sheisnotlost #grantourismotravels

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There’s been so much going on, I seemed to forget there’s still that one room left on our April 2020 small-group 8-night Cambodia Cuisine and Culture Tour, which I still need to fill and we’re offering a discount do so. It can be sold as solo occupancy, twin share or double. DM me for deets/prices.

The pic is of the still waters of the moat surrounding Angkor Thom. It was taken in November at the end of the gorgeous green monsoon season so the grass Banks will be a tad dryer in April but it’s still a magic spot.

These are special trips, which I host with Cambodian guides and in partnership with small local travel businesses and social enterprises so you know your fee is going directly back to the community, so this is about as sustainable, responsible and ethical as tours get.
Expect colourful market walks; mouthwatering meals at Cambodia’s best restaurants, from traditional feasts to contemporary tasting menus; delicious street food tours; and cooking classes with one of the country’s most exciting chefs.
Plus sunrise at sublime Angkor Wat, a once in a lifetime experience that should not be missed, temple scrambles, village strolls, countryside tuk tuk trundles, and more. And you’ll get downtime for massages, swims, snoozes, and shopping.
What will make this trip extra special is that the April tour coincides with Khmer New Year, so you’ll get to observe local customs and even participate in the party if you wish.

I’ve also had queries about our Vietnam trip, a Laos Trip, and our travel and food writing and photography retreat... for the retreat I’m working on new itinerary that includes more downtime for writing and daily classes rather than the first full day of classes we’ve had before. I’ll update you all with dates for those soon. I’m planning some special new experiences so stay tuned!
#cambodia #asia #travel #food #cambodianfood #traveller #traveltoeat #foodie #foodies #foodietravel #foodtravel #foodwriter #foodblogger #culinarytravel #culinaryjourneys #travelwriter #travelblogger #foodblogger #foodiesofinstagram #grantourismotravels #footpathfeasting #angkorwat #angkort#cambodiaculinarytour #writingretreat #photographyretreat

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One for the foodies in Siem Reap... we rarely have four-hands dinners in our emerging little culinary destination so this exciting event is not to be missed: chefs Sothea Seng of the lovely @lumorngfarmtotable restaurant and @chefsopheak Sao of Il Vicolo, Siem Reap’s best Italian restaurant in my opinion, will be getting even more creative than usual on Thursday night.
The chefs are cooking an inventive 6-course tasting menu that combines their own idiosyncratic styles and fuses contemporary Cambodian and Italian cuisines. Both chefs use the best seasonal local produce, and they are sticklers for detail, making everything by hand, from curry pastes to pastas, so we’re in for a very special meal.
The price is super affordable for this kind of creative fine dining too. A 6-course tasting menu is US$28 pp or US$45 with wine pairing and they’re also doing a vegetarian menu.
If you haven’t been to Lum Orng yet this is a great opportunity to check it out. They have a farm across the road and smaller kitchen gardens surrounding the restaurant, and they kick off your experience with a garden tour with drink in hand.

The restaurant is located on the edge of Siem Reap in Thlok Ondong Village, just a 15-20 min tuk tuk ride from the city centre, close to Road 60, Angkor Ticket Office and the provincial government departments.
More details on their social media pages. I’ll be there, so come say hi if you go!
Photo by me taken with the chefs at the market the other day.
#travel #food #foodies #cambodia #siemreap #cambodianfood #cambodian #cambodiancuisine #moderncambodianfood #khmerfood #khmercuisine #contemporarycambodianfood #chef #chefs #cheflife #chefstagram #chefsofinstagram #chefstalk #farmtotable #restaurant #restaurants #gourmet #asias50best #michelin #finedining #gastronomy #gastromeals #organicfood

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I’m so embarrassed to be publishing this post on our 19 Most Popular Posts in 2019 when we’re 11 days into 2020, but we’ve been so busy and I still wanted to share it because we find what you read on Grantourismo so fascinating.

What’s kept us so busy? We’ve partly been preoccupied with the catastrophic bushfires in Australia, obsessively checking the news every chance we get. My sister’s suburb in Perth was a little too close for comfort to the recent Kwinana and Baldivis bushfires. If that wasn’t reason enough to worry, my volunteer firefighter nephews have been out fighting fires. Those fires are now under control but the area isn’t out of complete danger yet.

Readers have been asking if it’s safe to travel to Australia. While you don’t want to put yourself in danger or get in the way of locals tragically cleaning up their communities and beginning to rebuild their lives, Australian tourism has been impacted tremendously and small businesses are suffering. Some communities out of harms' way are calling for tourists to return. I’ll post on that soon.

It’s challenging as Australians living abroad, not only because we’re so far from family and friends, but because we feel helpless. The best way we can help is to raise awareness, share information, and fundraise. Back in early December we shared a post on How to Help Koalas (and Other Wildlife and Australians), which subsequently went viral and has had strong traffic ever since, with many clicking through to the charities. That's heartening. We’ll update that ASAP and we have another post coming.

I also have to confess that the climate crisis has been causing me stress. How about you? I fear I’m suffering from ‘eco-anxiety’. Ever since an Australian friend sent me a post about the condition, I’ve been doing research and will post on that soon too and what we can all do to deal with that feeling of impending doom and helplessness.
Click through to the link in bio to read more and see what the most popular posts were.
Pictured: rice terraces near Ubud by @terence_carter_photography
#travel #traveltips #slowtravel #culinarytravel #localtravel #experientialtravel #grantourismo #grantourismotravels

ALL MEDIA (WORDS AND IMAGES) COPYRIGHT © 2007–2020 LARA DUNSTON AND TERENCE CARTER | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
DESIGNED IN APARTMENT RENTALS, HOTELS AND RESORTS AROUND THE WORLD BY GRANTOURISMO MEDIA. ASSEMBLED IN SOUTH-EAST-ASIA.

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