Cruising Journal

Windstar Cruises: Cruises with Culinary Superstars

The offering of refined cuisine has always been a must for the Windstar experience, which has consistently aimed to reflect the visited destinations in the dishes served on board, featuring quality menus prepared with fresh, locally-sourced ingredients, often handpicked by the onboard chef.

Windstar provides guests with the opportunity to fully savor local life and community while whetting their appetites, and it does so in collaboration with the James Beard Foundation. Windstar is committed to celebrating, fostering, and honoring chefs and other leaders who make American culinary culture enticing, diverse, and sustainable.

As the Official Cruise Line of the James Beard Foundation, nearly three dozen chefs have sailed with Windstar during culinary-themed cruises. These cruises include ample time for personal interaction with the onboard chef and unique experiences such as onboard cooking demonstrations to learn the techniques they use to create a perfect dish, a tour of local markets with the chef to choose ingredients for dinner, listening to their stories, asking for advice, and, most importantly, savoring dishes created not only by a famous chef but by an all-star lineup including Maxime Bilet (The Cooking Lab), Evan Hanzcor (Egg), and Jose Mendin (Pubbelly Noodle Bar, Habitat, Baja Bao).

For culinary enthusiasts who do not want to miss this opportunity, three themed cruises are scheduled:

Legendary Winter in the Mediterranean: A 7-day cruise aboard Star Legend departing on February 4, 2024, from Rome to Barcelona. Special guest for this cruise will be Chef Omar Anani, an Egyptian-Palestinian American restaurateur and chef-owner of the award-winning Saffron De Twah, a James Beard-nominated modern Moroccan bistro on the east side of Detroit. He has been a two-time finalist for the James Beard Award for Best Chef – Great Lakes. His traveling food pickup truck, The Twisted Mitten, was the first traveling halal food pickup truck in Michigan and was recognized as one of the best in the country by USA Today and Food Network, offering cuisine from multiple cultures, merging flavors and textures from around the world.

During this cruise, guests will not only visit iconic cities like Rome, Nice, and Barcelona with overnight stays and a daily stop in Livorno and Marseille but will also enjoy a dinner with Chef Omar, including a wine tasting, two culinary demonstrations with included recipes, and a tour of a local market in his company.

Cuisines & Cultures of Spain, Portugal and France: A 9-day cruise aboard Star Legend departing on May 28, 2024, from Lisbon to Dún Laoghaire (Dublin). Special guest will be Chef Tanya Holland, known for her creative interpretation of modern soul food and comfort classics. She is the executive chef-owner of the Brown Sugar restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area. Author of The Brown Sugar Kitchen Cookbook and New Soul Cooking, she competed for the 15th season of Top Chef on Bravo and was a guest and soul food expert at Food Network’s Melting Pot. As a chef, Holland travels a lot in search of something more and often collaborates with the James Beard Foundation as a writer and cook.

During this cruise, guests will discover the delicious cuisine and spirits of Spain and France, taste the finest European seafood, enjoy dessert in Porto, cognac in La Rochelle, and world-famous wines in Brussels. Most importantly, they will have the chance to dine with Chef Tanya, tour local markets with her, participate in two onboard culinary demonstrations, and attend two enrichment seminars with wine tastings from Denner Vineyards, a Paso Robles favorite producing some of the best wines in this region of California.

Adriatic Archipelagos & Greek Goddesses: An 8-day cruise aboard Wind Surf departing on August 28, 2024, from Venice to Athens. The guest for this cruise will be Chef Loryn Nalic, co-owner of Balkan Treat Box, serving Balkan-inspired cuisine in St. Louis, Missouri. Balkan Treat Box was born in 2017 as a colourful traveling food pickup truck and the physical restaurant opened in 2019. To recreate the classic Balkan recipes, Loryn traveled the region learning from ancient culinary traditions locals. Loryn’s many local awards and accolades include recognition from Food & Wine and Bon Appetit, and she has received two semifinalist nominations from the James Beard Foundation for Best Chef – Midwest.

During this cruise among Greek temples, coastal mountain ranges, and rustic villages, guests will have the opportunity to dine with Chef Loryn and take a tour of local markets with her. Additionally, there will be two enrichment seminars with wine tastings by Louis M. Martini Winery, marking the 90th anniversary of the iconic Louis M. Martini winery in Napa Valley in 2023.

This is Windstar’s James Beard Foundation culinary-themed cruise experience, offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to taste dishes from some of the most renowned chefs associated with the James Beard Foundation.

Stay tuned for more news, updates, and reviews of Windstar Cruises on Cruising Journal with photos, videos, and discounted cruises.

Giorgia Lombardo

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