Top golf course food and drinks: Travel writers’ favorites

As a writer who travels the globe covering golf, travel and all things food and drink – and who has accumulated 110,000 frequent flyer miles by 2025 – GOLF Contributor Shaun Tolson has visited the world’s most famous golf clubs, resorts and best-kept secrets. Below, on Clubhouse Eats, he shares his favorite bites and drinks from his recent travels.

Pork Milanese at Isabella’s Kitchen at Greyhawk Golf Club

When I think of Phoenix, Ariz., neither my brain nor my taste buds come to Italian food. Usually, I end up thinking about the impressive tequila collections or remembering the world-class tacos – both of which I’ve enjoyed there over the years.

However, on my recent trip to the Valley of the Sun, I was lucky enough to eat at Isabella’s Kitchen at Grayhawk Golf Club. Specifically, I was lucky enough to order the Pork Milanese.

Now, I know what you’re probably thinking. It is a pork cutlet, pounded thin, and deep fried. How memorable can it really be? First of all, the plate of food that was placed in front of me was huge. I’m always a classy guy, but still, this was impressive. Furthermore, the best Milanese is as much about the fresh salad that garnishes the meat as it is about the protein itself; and Isabella’s mix of arugula, pickled red onion, fennel, and grated Parmesan — all tossed in a bright lemon vinaigrette — was amazing.

Tacos at Tingum on the 5th

Speaking of tacos … On a recent visit to The Abaco Club in the Bahamas, I heard mention of a taco truck parked near the beach, beyond the fifth hole of the golf course. I also heard that those tacos have a cult following among team members. Honestly, that’s all I needed to hear.

Jumping into my golf cart, I drove down at nine o’clock. It took me a while – I drove about a mile and a quarter – but I finally arrived at the Tingum food truck. If I didn’t already have tacos on the brain, a cheesy lobster quesadilla would probably be perfect on my plate. But I reminded myself that the truck’s tacos were a treasure.

Classic options like grilled chicken and blackened fish are joined by more creative offerings, like buffalo shrimp (with pickled onions, jalapeño ranch, and coconut slaw) or dry-aged flank steak (with roasted peppers and cheesy crema). The steak came recommended by the chef, so it was settled: two steaks and one black fish. Both were as good as the hype and proved that some things are worth going for – literally.

The Saint James Cocktail

While staying at the Abaco Club, I climbed over the bar of the new Bay Club community of the resort. I immediately spotted a familiar bottle – St George Spirits’ Aqua Perfecta, a delicious basil eau de vie but, in my experience at home, somewhat challenging to mix with. I asked the store manager, James Vil, how he usually puts it in drinks, but I learned that he hadn’t tried it yet.

After drinking it once, he was willing to drink it.

Vil thought for a moment, then whipped out a cocktail shaker and quickly poured two ounces of the vexing eau de vie, much to my immediate surprise. (On the spirit company’s website, several cocktail recipes that use Aqua Perfecta never feature it as a base spirit. Not Vil. He would make a star.) The young bartender then added an ounce of lemon juice, a half ounce of blackberry liqueur, and a quarter ounce of agave nectar.

After shaking the concoction vigorously, he took out a small sample for a taste test, then double-filtered another into a coupe glass and pushed it my way. “Let me know what you think.”

Sweet and subtly tart, this sour-style cocktail had a delicious, albeit understated, flavor. It seemed like the perfect offering for an evening in the Bahamas. “Good,” I told him, nodding as I took another drink.

“Now you have to say it,” he replied.

Luckily, I got to it quickly as Vil always had the recipe for the drink. “The Saint James,” I announced.

He smiled.

Negroni at Orient Express La Minerva

If there’s nothing on the cocktail menu for me, my go-to drink order is a Negroni. It’s been that way for years. I love a good old fashioned one, but I’m particular about how it’s made, and, to be completely honest, I make a pretty good one at home. So I choose.

The Negroni, on the other hand, is almost a no-brainer. Equal proportions of gin, sweet vermouth, and Campari, the proportions are precise and consistent. Sure, I’ll lean a little more heavily on my gin pour if I’m making it at home, but a regular Negroni will never disappoint.

So, you can imagine my delight when my host at the Orient Express La Minerva in Rome asked if I was a Negroni fan. La Minerva bar, he told me, does the best in town; and some kind of vermouth is the bar’s secret weapon.

Unlike Carpano Antica Formula — a sweet vermouth for boozy, spirit-driven cocktails — Mancino Rosso Vermouth, I found, is too sugary-sweet (think roasted tomatoes). That bodes well for a spicy, forward-thinking drink like the Negroni. The drink I was served was rich and robust, and while the bright citrus notes found in Campari were absent, the hint of lemon oil from the twist added just the right amount of acidity.

How much better was it than a Negroni made with regular sweet vermouth? Let’s say when I get home, I go and get a bottle of Mancino, I drop $50, which is a lot of vermouth. But it’s worth every penny, as long as you’re a Negroni lover.

Farell Shot Aboard La Dolce Vita

At the end of the Orient Express’ first golf trip through Italy just before the end of the year, I approached the train’s bartender, Giuseppe Carillo, and asked him if there was a shot or a common drink Italians could have together to say goodbye. It only seemed appropriate to raise a glass with him and his crew after four days aboard the luxury railway, La Dolce Vita.

The question never left my lips and Carillo was already nodding and reaching for the cocktail shaker. In it, he poured a stream of Campari. Seriously, he poured himself a lot of Campari. To that, add a big splash of balsamic vinegar, and a sprinkle of salt. If I didn’t know he was making drinks for his whole team, I would have thought I was about to be spanked.

After loading the bowl with ice and shaking vigorously, the young barman poured a row of ruby-colored shots. We all reached for one and sipped or took it back, and what I tasted was unlike anything I’d ever had before. An interesting combination of bitterness, sweetness, and saltiness, it evokes Italian flavors and the Italian way of putting them together – simple construction, but surprising depth.

If the photo has a name, Carillo has never shared it. Fortunately, it’s easy enough to recreate without having a recipe. Admittedly, I haven’t tallied the numbers yet, but every effort has been fun in its own way. That’s right”Hello!” his.