Behind the exposed-brick counter of The Farm Wholefoods’ café are rows of glass dispensers displaying the pantry’s 250 healthy snacks. This lively self-service venue, inaugurated this May, sells everything from macadamia nuts from Byron Bay to chia seeds from Peru. “We strongly believe that clean eating does not have to be complicated and that balance is crucial: allowing yourself a cheeky treat is fundamental,” says co-founder Josh Thompson. He and his wife Lisa left corporate jobs after being inspired by the family farm where Josh spent many a childhood summer. Their shop’s wooden design, courtesy of architecture firm TomMarkHenry, is adaptable if like-minded entrepreneurs are keen to franchise the business.

Boston Public Market reopened in July after several years of closure and planning. The year-round indoor space dates from 1742 and is stocked exclusively with products from 80 New England farms.

What is the purpose of Boston Public Market?
It’s a community space. Our aim is to connect consumers to the farmers and producers of their food by providing a place where they can meet face to face. We’re also showcasing a range of food from New England.

How has the food scene in Boston evolved?
In recent years we have seen a gravitation towards locally produced foods and an increase in the number of people willing to visit different shops and markets instead of just going to the supermarket. Consumers are adding high-quality produce to their grocery lists.

What is unique about the space?
In many ways it is a return to the original marketplace. All of the produce must either be produced or originate in New England. It’s the first of its kind in the US and we hope that we can show its success and inspire other cities to follow suit.

The coffee scene in the US capital is perking up, with three new shops having opened this spring alone. At Colony Club coffee is made until 17.00, at which point the beans are stored, the lights dimmed and wine uncorked. Owner Max Zuckerman has also established a coffee club. “You pay a fee to be a member and then you come in and get loaded on coffee as often as you want,” he says.

Sandra Wolter hails from a German family and shares her love of coffee-making using a range of techniques. She set up Sweet Science Coffee in the parlour of a Victorian house-turned-furniture boutique called Skynear Designs. On Mondays Wolter holds brewing classes, while coffees are brewed to order throughout the week. Meanwhile, Filter Coffeehouse owner Rasheed Jabr is an avid cyclist so it was only natural that he create his third café in The Bike Rack, the shop where he buys and services his two-wheelers. Filter’s glass-walled corner space is framed by outdoor seating from which it’s possible to while away the time watching passers-by.

1. Colony Club: The sound of ping-pong fills the café: customers play upstairs.

2. Sweet Science Coffee: Coffee aged in whiskey barrels is a speciality.

3. Filter Coffeehouse: Ethiopian, Kenyan, Colombian and Mexican coffees come from Ceremony, a Maryland roaster.

Life on the Princes Islands is calm and car-free – all that mainland Istanbul is not – and that brings with it a slew of restaurants geared towards weekenders. “There are enough places doing fish and raki,” says Eylem Ozkaya. She opened Four Letter Word, a kiosk-sized café and mini-roaster on Burgazada, with sommelier Ria Neri and entrepreneur Kevin Heisner.

On a peaceful sidestreet near the ferry station, a Giesen coffee roaster behind the counter roasts Ethiopian Konga beans bought from growers. Ozkaya returned to the islands after years spent running coffee shops in Chicago and she pins a handwritten note about the beans onto each bag they sell. “This is a tea-drinking community,” she says. “When you sell coffee you have to sell your knowledge too.”

You can smell Butchertown Hall’s grill as soon as you enter the space in Germantown, Nashville (see page 95). The restaurant’s signature dish is beef brisket, which head chef Ben Houk and his team slow-cook for 14 hours over white US oak. There are 30 beers on tap and an array of wines and cocktails too. Owner Terry Raley’s menu pays homage to the area’s German roots as well as the barbecuing techniques he picked up while living in Texas’s Hill Country.

The newly opened Dupain bakery and patisserie may have a polished, contemporary interior but the food here is resolutely homely. Baker Tanguy Lahaye uses organic flour from the Île-de-France and butter from the Charentes-Poitou region of southwest France. Loaves of bread — some long and crusty, others rustic and round — are displayed in frames along the wall, while counter-top vitrines showcase tasty sandwiches, patisseries and viennoiseries.

For those after fruitier flavours, the chausson aux pommes with caramelised apples is advised. And don’t miss out on the éclairs made with Valrhona chocolate and the coffee from Parisian roaster Coutume.

This Scandinavian-inspired 40-seater was started by Erica Indira Swanson. It offers 30 organic loose-leaf and herbal teas, including the Magic Kombucha, sourced from a family farm in Uji, Japan.

The staff help you sift through the bewildering selection on show. There’s a satisfying pop of tapioca in the bubble teas, which are made by the café, and the pastries and bagels from Portland-based Bakeshop and Bowery Bagels cater perfectly to the peckish.

Rupert Holloway opened southwest England’s first gin distillery in Dorset last year. His dry gin is made with British wheat spirit, New Forest spring water and 10 locally sourced botanicals including juniper, elderberries and handpicked gorse flowers. “The world of copper-pot distilling was completely new to me but being ignorant was a powerful starting point because it forced me to take a fresh approach,” says Holloway.

Operating from a warehouse in the town of Southbourne, Conker Spirit is a small-batch distillery, creating just 10 bottles at a time. Holloway considers gin the perfect martini base: “It’s got so much more to say in the glass; and you can’t beat a classic negroni either.”