When I travel, my itinerary isn't full of landmarks and tourist attractions — it's focused on restaurants, cafés and bakeries. For me, tasting new things is by far the best part of the journey, and some of my favourite memories are of the delicious things I've eaten along the way. (The biggest challenge is working up an appetite between meals, but that's where those monuments come in handy.)

Road trips are perfect for foodies: you cover a lot of ground; you can make your own schedule (and squeeze in last-minute reservations); and because you're in the driver's seat, you can pull over for any and all roadside delights (hello, farm-fresh fruit stands!).

To pull all of that off, however, you have to do the legwork. And throughout my travels, I've honed my method for trying all the best food I can. So to help you pinpoint the tastiest stops on your road trips this summer, I'm sharing how I do it.

Once I know where I'm travelling to, I take a three-pronged approach to researching food. I promise, it's not as intense as it sounds, and you can do it in as little as half an hour.

First, I'll do a preliminary search online for reputable articles and restaurant lists for the area (try CBC, Frommer's, Maclean's, Condé Nast Traveler and Eater). This is a good starting-off point and will help give you a general idea of the place you're visiting and what it's famous for.

Then I'll search TikTok and Instagram, using prompts like "best Halifax restaurants," "best food in Halifax" and "Halifax food." You could narrow it down if there's something specific you're looking for — "best lobster in P.E.I." or "best Jewish deli in Montreal," for example.

Lastly, I'll do a personal call-out asking for recommendations. This can be as simple as a text to a friend or a post on social media. Nothing beats an endorsement from someone you trust.

Once I've gathered my intel, I look for the common threads between them — the sweet spot where multiple people and sources with no connections to each other are mentioning the same restaurant or menu item. This is where the food magic happens! And you may be surprised at how often this occurs once you start looking. (This was how I discovered the most glorious deep-fried chicken wings at Phnom Penh while travelling through Vancouver, and I still dream of them often.)

This isn't an exact science, but by analyzing some simple numbers from a restaurant's Google reviews, you can get a better idea of what you're getting into. Yelp and Tripadvisor can be great resources too, but I like Google for the sheer volume of entries.

Generally, I'll skip anywhere that has fewer than 4.1 stars. That's not to say the food won't be good if it has a lower rating, but I like to hedge my bets when travelling, and this is the easiest way to avoid disappointment.

Next, I consider how many ratings the restaurant has:

• 10,000 or more ratings = tourist trap. Sometimes these places have tasty food or a good vibe, but proceed with caution.