For the second iteration of this list, we wanted to go beyond the classics—the food everyone tells you to try when you visit—and highlight chefs and cuisines that have had a distinct impact or reflect a noteworthy community in the state. The final result is a list of state-specific cuisines, each based on a longstanding diaspora (like Vietnamese food in Louisiana), an Indigenous community (Abenaki in Vermont), or something totally endemic (New Mexican in New Mexico).

How does one measure the greatness of a place—in miles covered, dollars spent, or visitors captivated? Such metrics can play a part, but also important is something that many travelers aspire to experience: the sense that one has stumbled upon the extraordinary. To compile our second annual list of the World’s Greatest Places, TIME solicited nominations across a variety of categories—including museums, parks, restaurants, and hotels—from our editors and correspondents around the world as well as industry experts. The result: 100 new and newly noteworthy destinations to experience right now, from America’s hottest hometown pizzeria to a Tokyo museum bringing digital art to life.

By Erin E. Evans “How ’bout those biscuits?” chef Brother Luck yelled across the dining room of the illustrious James Beard House. He’d come up from the kitchen after cooking dinner Monday night with three other black chefs from season 15 of Bravo’s Top Chef. Between the second and third courses, Brooklyn-based chef Chris Scott served his famous honey butter biscuits — ones that had won over the judges, as well as fellow contestants, in an episode of the popular food competition series.

By Jessica Furseth At first, there’s nothing about The Kings Arms that suggests it’s anything more than a nice little British pub. I wandered in one night not expecting much more than an after-work drink by Waterloo in South London. It was only when I went to the bar for the second round that I spotted a discreet sign pointing toward the back: Kanchana’s Kitchen. Following its direction, I was thrilled to find the pub open up into a Thai restaurant.

By Kaitlin Menza Though it’s not yet over, we have already learned so much from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s foreign tour to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga. Meghan Markle is pregnant! Prince Harry adores baby gifts, particularly stuffed koalas and tiny Uggs! They loved joining an “anti-bad vibes” circle on Bondi Beach in Sydney! And a whole lot of coordination goes into a visit with 76 engagements, multiple flights and careful outfit choices — as does a whole lot of money.

By Rachel Tepper Paley Two weeks before its grand opening Sept. 28 in Washington, D.C., Eaton Workshop — an ambitious hybrid concept that spans a hotel, co-working space, cultural hub and wellness center — was already fully booked for the night. The appeal of this property, which held a soft opening in mid-August, is plain at first glance: The lobby is an Instagrammer’s dream, draped in chic wood paneling and luxe velvet furnishings.

By Devra Ferst It’s 5 p.m. on Monday at the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York, and a room full of women — and just a few men — are grouped around long wooden tables next to easel-sized sheets of white paper stuck to brick walls with phrases like “Covenant to end wage gap disparity,” “the makeup of a mentor,” and “empowered kitchens are powerful kitchens,” written in marker.

By Kaitlin Menza The other day I argued with a friend over who had it worse. She graduated college in 2008. “2008 was the year,” she said. I retorted that she’d been able to get a full-time job that halcyon spring of 2008, before the world cracked apart. As an ’09 grad, I’d truly suffered because at the precise moment I entered the workforce, every company I applied to alerted me that hiring was frozen.

By Kaitlin Menza When Aretha Franklin passed away on Aug. 16, she left behind the incredible legacy of her five-decades-long career, which includes over 100 hit songs, piles of Grammys and a long list of accomplishments including performances at the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009 and the funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968. She also left behind a whole lot of money.

By Kaitlin Menza It’s hard to grasp what came first in the conversation — workers crying out for paid parental leave, or politicians identifying it as a bipartisan issue — but every day seems to bring another headline on the topic. In early August, Sen. Marco Rubio introduced a bill, the Economic Security Act for New Parents, which would allow new parents to borrow from their Social Security benefits to pay for leave.

By Priya Krishna In 1966, Oakland, California, became the birthplace of one of the most influential activist organizations in American history — the Black Panthers. They rallied against police brutality and food insecurity, making the city a locus for social justice. Half a century later, the spirit of activism is flourishing in Oakland’s dining culture.

By Kaitlin Menza Modern dating is grueling enough as it is. After weeks of swiping and awkward messaging, you sit down across from a stranger and spend about 90 minutes assessing: Am I attracted to them? Am I enjoying their company? Do I want to stab them in the hand with a fork? Something you might not be questioning on the first date — but should be — is whether this person has a good credit score.

By Kaitlin Menza Asking someone how much money they make is like asking to see them naked. It feels like a violation at worst, and deeply inappropriate at best. That conversation can be even more awkward when you ask someone with whom you actually share a manager, a company logo and a smelly office microwave. Why would you want to ask a colleague? There are reasons beyond morbid curiosity.

By Rachel Tepper Paley At 8:45 p.m. on a sweltering Saturday night in early July, the crowd at the Spotted Pig in New York City’s leafy West Village neighborhood appeared at full tilt. Patrons jostled for seats at the moodily lit downstairs bar and a scrum of bodies mobbed the host’s stand. To this onlooker, not much seemed out of place at the perennially popular spot, whose Roquefort-topped bistro burger by chef April Bloomfield has earned cult-like devotion.

By Laura Ratliff It’s been nearly 10 years since the U.S. Customs and Border Protection introduced the Global Entry program in 2008, to great success. According to the CBP’s 2017 report, the agency enrolled nearly 2 million travelers into the Trusted Traveler programs (which include Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI and FAST) in 2017, bringing the total number to 6.8 million. The majority are signed up for Global Entry — considered the agency’s flagship program — and as it gains in popularity, so do the questions around the process, particularly for the growing class of travelers who have had their status denied or revoked.

By Meredith Heil Much has been made about the “Top Chef effect,” a term that describes how Bravo’s food competition show attracts visitors to its host city and contestants’ hometowns. The show, which has previously highlighted Charleston, New Orleans and Boston, has landed in Colorado — rotating between cities including Denver, Telluride and Boulder, for its newest season, which premiered Thursday, Dec. 7.

By Rachel Tepper Paley One night in 2011, on the gilded first floor of New York’s Trump International Hotel and Tower, a pastry chef labored at her station in the Jean-Georges restaurant. Her boss, pastry chef and emerging TV star Johnny Iuzzini, hovered nearby. Without warning, the pastry chef told Mic, Iuzzini was beside her, his tongue in her ear. Iuzzini repeated the offense “three or four times” on separate occasions, said the pastry chef, who worked under him for nearly two years.

By Melissa Kravitz Those brave enough to open the drawer of a hotel nightstand may still find a relic from the days before people traveled everywhere with a digital computer in their pockets: a Christian Bible. Found in chain hotels, motels and inns throughout the United States, this universally accepted hotel accessory is as common as a blow dryer, clean towels and mini soaps.

By Brandon Presser As a month of international Pride draws to a close, let’s consider for a second the places that proudly fly the rainbow flag year-round, long after the parade confetti has been cleaned up off the streets. From the edge of New England to the recesses of the California desert, America has a constellation of destinations for the queer community, all of which came into being well before it was considered socially acceptable to be out and proud.

By Adam Erace In a lyrical French accent, a front desk agent in a dark tailored suit welcomed me to the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme and thanked me for my loyalty. I'd never stayed at a Hyatt hotel before, let alone this particular five-star Hyatt hotel. Located in Paris' tony second arrondissement, the current rate for a weekend night is around $1,000. My hotel budget tends to stay in the $250 or less range.