TravelsinTaste.com recently sat down for a scrumptious meal at Le Bernardin in New York, where we were mesmerized by all the choices, each of which sounded better than the next. Very luckily, we had world-renowned executive chef and bestselling cookbook author Eric Ripert to personally guide us through the menu, which is mostly dedicated to fresh seafood. And guide us he did. Not only did Chef Ripert help us decide what to order, but he also told us the stories behind the delicacies on which we were feasting. What's more, at the end of the meal he answered a few questions about his favorite hidden-gem restaurants -- discovered during his travels -- as well his kitchen staff's fascination with knives, his other business ventures and his forthcoming television show, which will begin airing fall 2009 on PBS.

Although we ended with TV, we began with food, as we saw something on the menu that we knew we had to try: the Salmon-Caviar. "The salmon and caviar is always a good combination," Chef Ripert told us. "For some reason, the smokiness and the fattiness of the salmon complement the caviar, and the fact that we have underneath something crunchy brings texture to the dish. So I think it's a very simple, but very elegant dish that enhances the qualities of the caviar and the salmon at the same time."