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This week: Restaurants with a conscience, Just Back from Jackson Hole, family fun in the U.S. Virgin Islands, adventures in Patagonia.

Indagare Bests: Green Restaurants

The concept of green cuisine, which was relegated to health food stores a decade ago, has gone beyond mainstream. In fact, it’s become so gourmet that increasingly, the hot spots in many cities are restaurants that champion local, sustainable and organic fare. Some, like Blue Hill at Stone Barns, north of New York City, have reached cult foodie status; but the bar keeps being raised even higher by newcomers, like Bardessono, an eco resort in Napa, and Rouge Tomate a recently opened restaurant in New York City that is spreading the gospel of “health through food.” For this Food & Wine: Indagare Bests, we have selected five exceptional dining venues—from a field in Bali to a greenhouse in Amsterdam — where the ambience is congenial, the produce organic and the cuisine serious, innovative and gourmet. They also make our list for if you have only a few meals on a city visit, where will you feel truly immersed in the destination.

Just Back From: Jackson Hole

Jackson Hole isn’t the largest ski resort in America (that would be Vail), nor does it have or want the cosmopolitan edge of an Aspen. The draws, as longtime visitors know, are the expansive Grand Teton landscapes and some of the most challenging winter terrain in North America. It’s truly a resort created by—and for—passionate skiers. Which is not to say that it doesn’t have top hotels, including North America’s first Aman and a flawlessly run Four Seasons at the base of the mountain. And the restaurant scene is buzzing as well, thanks to such new hot spots as Osteria, in the eco-chic boutique hotel Terra, and Couloir, a slopeside restaurant that is perched at 9,000 feet (diners arrive via a romantic tram ride).

Family Getaway: U.S. Virgin Islands

With the introduction of Indagare’s booking department, we’ve had an opportunity to really get to know what our members want. And for a lot of East Coasters, it’s that magic combination: a destination that can be reached by a short flight (preferably direct from New York), but feels really far away. Last week, Indagare editor Eliza Harris traveled to the U.S. Virgin Islands and it couldn’t have been easier or more transporting—in short, the best kind of vacation. Highlights of the trip included a snorkeling trip to Buck Island, swimming with sea lions on St. Thomas, and the rediscovery of an ultra-serene, low-key beach resort.

Where to Go Next: Patagonia

“I felt like I had literally traveled to the ends of the world, where the landscapes looked like something out of a dream,” writes Indagare editor Henley Vazquez about her recent trip to Patagonia. Based at the small Eolo Lodge, outside the frontier town of El Calafate, Vazquez spent days exploring the expansive countryside, on horseback and in crampons (when she trekked part of the fabled Perito Moreno glacier). “It was the first time in months that the Dow was furthest from my mind,” she says. “The nature was so ancient and eternal that it made me gain a larger perspective.” Of course, she points out, traveling to Argentina, a country that experienced a crippling crash in 2001 and that managed to recover with surprising strength since, was fascinating overall. “Businesses are certainly concerned with the current global situation,” she reports. “And to lure travelers, even the most in-demand properties in have lowered their prices and are offering special rates, including top hotels in Buenos Aires.” Read about her Patagonia impressions.

New on Indagare: A destination report on Koh Samui, including reviews of the recently opened Four Seasons and the Six Senses Hideaway, CALM kaftans handmade in Lebanon, best vintage shopping in London, an interview with author Dan Baum on his new novel set in New Orleans, and You Asked: Doha.