Gayle King on Heat-weather Escapes, Household Traditions, and the Pursuit of the Good Cheeseburger

Gayle King has constructed a profession on asking questions. From world leaders to cultural heavyweights, she’s spent many years guiding conversations that form headlines and, at instances, historical past itself. And when she’s not within the studio or on location for CBS, she’s a traveler who craves sunshine, a self-described non-adventurous eater with exacting requirements, and a girl who plans household reunion journeys just like the boss she is.

“I like heat, fairly, sunny locations,” she tells Journey + Leisure matter-of-factly in a current interview.

King calls New York Metropolis her “100% dwelling,” the place she splits time between CBS and her work at Oprah Day by day. And but, as a lot as she loves town’s momentum, there’s one other local weather and cadence that pulls at her.

“I do love New York,” she says. “However I’m additionally pining for Los Angeles. I went to highschool within the California space, and I used to love the change of seasons. That’s why Florida’s engaging to me, too. I now not just like the change of seasons. I like heat, fairly, sunny locations.”

Nonetheless, she’s fast to defend town that fuels her. “I don’t assume there’s every other metropolis like New York. You will get something right here, you’ll be able to meet anyone right here, and there simply is a vitality to New York that I don’t assume exists wherever else.”

King spent years of her childhood rising up in Ankara, Turkey, an expertise she says formed her worldview in methods she didn’t absolutely grasp on the time.

“Once you’re just a little child, you simply go wherever your mother and father are,” she says. “I didn’t consider my life-style or what an expertise I’m having. So, I went from Turkey to California to Connecticut to New York. I’ve type of had a really eclectic childhood and eclectic life.”

That early world publicity informs how she thinks about journey at present. “I feel journey and publicity is admittedly good,” she says. “Most individuals on this nation, as stunning as it’s, don’t actually have a passport. And so, I feel that in case you can expose folks to journey, that’s factor.”

When she does journey for work, she’s drawn to locations that align along with her local weather preferences. She just lately returned to Grand Cayman for the Cayman Cookout, the Ritz-Carlton competition curated by Chef Eric Ripert. “I used to be blown away by the meals, the vibe, the climate,” she says. “I’d positively return there.”

“I like heat, fairly, and tropical,” she reiterates. “Some folks like mountains, some folks like snow. I don’t like snow. I like heat, fairly, tropical, lush, and plush.”

Los Angeles stays a frequent cease, each for work and since her son and daughter reside there. North Carolina holds a particular place in her coronary heart as properly, because of her son’s time at Duke—and the sort of hospitality she says lives as much as the hype.

“You assume Southern hospitality is simply one thing folks say, however it’s a for actual factor there,” she says.

Wherever her travels take her, King retains it easy when eating out. She’s in search of excellence, particularly in terms of meals. “After I go to a spot, and so they say, ‘Do you’ve gotten any allergy symptoms?’ I say, ‘I’m allergic to unhealthy meals.’”

She laughs, however she means it. She’s the primary to confess she’s not an adventurous eater. “Realizing that it’s fish eggs freaks me out,” she says of caviar. “Oysters… they simply really feel squishy and slimy.” However whereas she could go on sure delicacies, there’s one dish she actively seeks out in almost each vacation spot: a cheeseburger.

“I all the time like to seek out an incredible burger,” she says. “No matter metropolis I’m in, I like cheeseburger.” Years in the past, a GQ headline—“The 20 Hamburgers You Should Eat Earlier than You Die”—despatched her on a cross-country tasting mission. One of many stops: Le Tub Saloon in Hollywood, Florida.

“It simply reveals you the great thing about cowl line,” she says. “That’s what obtained to me.”

This yr, her burger enthusiasm takes middle stage on the South Seaside Wine & Meals Competition, the place King will function a decide at its prestigious Burger Bash alongside supermodel Ashley Graham, meals influencer Sam Schnur of @thenaughtyfork, comic Bert Kreischer, and others. 

“Are you able to think about you get to decorate in a reasonably sundress and eat a burger?” she says. “I feel that sounds fairly good.”

She has clear requirements. “It begins with the meat for me. You’ve obtained to have an incredible bun. I’m very keen on an onion bun or a brioche bun,” she explains. “You’ve obtained to have nice meat, well-seasoned, and bun. After which I prefer it the place the cheese is type of dripping over the edges.” Too thick? No. Too skinny? Additionally no. She prefers uncooked onions over caramelized, and a mustard-and-mayo combine seals the deal.

“I take this very critically,” she says. “I do know precisely what I’m in search of.”

However for all her skilled journey and culinary adventures, King’s most cherished journey is deeply private. Each Thanksgiving, she gathers her prolonged household—to the tune of 26 members just lately—for a four-day getaway.

“I’m the oldest of 4 women,” she says. “I don’t assume I’m bossy—I feel I’ve good government abilities.” From Wednesday to Sunday, spouses, youngsters, and siblings come collectively for what she calls her favourite trip: “That to me is my finest trip that I actually look ahead to yearly.”

As for the place she nonetheless desires to go? Singapore tops the checklist. “I’ve all the time needed to go to Singapore. I’ve by no means been.” And in Africa, she’s eyeing a selected resort in Kenya the place giraffes famously poke their heads via the home windows, Giraffe Manor.

For now, although, she’s content material. “Nope. I’m simply out right here working,” she says when requested what’s subsequent. “Nonetheless loving what I do and simply working. Completely happy to be on the planet.”