Windstar Cruises has announced the full lineup of James Beard Foundation-affiliated guest chefs for its series of three themed culinary cruises in 2022. The all-female trio includes Atlanta’s Chef Jennifer Hill Booker, San Francisco’s Chef Tanya Holland and Boston’s Chef Irene Li.
Windstar is the official cruise line of the James Beard Foundation (JBF). The three themed cruises include two cooking demonstrations and four dishes from the JBF chef available at a hosted dinner with wine pairings. The three chefs will also provide multiple recipes to be featured on Windstar’s menus across all cruises.
“In the Wake of the Spanish Armadas” cruise, departing February 6, 2022, features Chef Booker, who has combined her Southern culinary heritage, a belief in healthy and seasonal foods, and her classic French training to create a style of cuisine she calls "modern Southern healthy cuisine with a French accent." Her style is a "reinvention" of Southern cuisine that incorporates the traditional use of seasonal ingredients with French culinary techniques she learned from her training at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Paris. She is also a cookbook author, reality TV personality, culinary educator and business owner. Booker is an Impact Fellow with the James Beard Foundation and currently sits on the foundation’s Food Waste Advisory Council.
The eight-day sailing aboard Windstar’s flagship Wind Surf includes two stops in Colombia, a day in Panama’s Bocas del Toro, and time in Costa Rica’s Puerto Limon. The cruise ends in Colón, Panama—offering guests the chance to tour through the Panama Canal before departing home. Local culinary delights not to be missed in port: Keshi Yena, arepas, bananas and cashews.
Chef Tanya Holland
The “West Coast Epicurean Extravaganza” cruise departs May 10, 2022, and features Chef Holland, who is known for her inventive take on modern soul food and comfort classics. Holland is the executive chef-owner of the Brown Sugar Kitchen restaurants located in the Oakland, CA area. An author, public speaker and lecturer, Holland frequently voices her views on inclusion and equity in the hospitality industry. Having been appointed as a Culinary Diplomat by the United States’ Foreign Service Department for tours in Kazakhstan and Mexico, Holland also has taught classes in France for gastronomic travelers. She is a frequent contributor to the James Beard Foundation as a writer and chef.
The 10-day sailing aboard newly renovated Star Breeze is a sampler platter of delicious West Coast ports of call and cuisine. Small-ship only ports like Portland (accessed via the Columbia River) alternate with stops in Seattle, San Francisco and San Diego; Santa Barbara and Victoria round out the ports of call on this journey, which ends in Vancouver. Local culinary delights not to be missed in port: sourdough bread, salmon and apples.
Chef Irene Li
The “Southeast Canadian Explorations” cruise begins October 12, 2022, and features Chef Li. She opened Mei Mei, a family-run Chinese restaurant in Boston, in 2013. She has founded and served several organizations aimed at helping those in need during the pandemic, and advocated for restaurants by creating tools and resources to support businesses of all sizes to thrive sustainably and equitably. Li and her team have evolved Mei Mei into a packaged dumpling company using farm-focused ingredients primarily from New England. A Boston native and Cornell graduate, she is an Eater Young Gun, Zagat 30 Under 30, and Forbes 30 Under 30 winner. Li is a six-time James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef nominee.
The 11-day voyage aboard newly renovated Star Pride goes from Montreal to Boston, kicking off with an overnight in Québec City. Stops include Gaspé, Cap aux Meules, Louisbourg, Halifax and Lunenburg in Canada before Maine’s Bar Harbor and Portland. Local culinary delights not to be missed in port: Kamouraska lamb, lobster and Halifax donair.
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