A Windstar James Beard Yacht Cruise combines our love of two things: award-winning food with breathtaking travel destinations.
While those two aspects are what piqued our interest in this cruise, we were blown away by the thoughtful culinary immersion throughout the voyage.
Windstar Cruises has been the official cruise line of the James Beard Foundation since 2015, and they’ve mastered connecting guests to the cuisine of the region they’re visiting, along with 5-star global dishes.
What is the James Beard Foundation?
The James Beard Foundation was created to celebrate the chefs, restaurants, and writers who exhibit excellence in the culinary arts.
Much like the culinary Oscars in America, chefs with James Beard nominations or awards represent a high level of culinary excellence and creativity in the restaurant industry.
Many compare a James Beard award to that of a Michelin star, especially in markets and locations where Michelin is not part of the region. It’s a standard of good food.
Ultimately, acknowledgment from the James Beard house is a mark of exemplary epicurean achievement and when a cruise line offers a James Beard Foundation voyage, you know you’re going to be devouring lots of delicious creations.
In 2025, Windstar will celebrate ten years as the Official Cruise Line of the James Beard Foundation.
Windstar Guest Chefs
Various times of the year, Windstar offers a James Beard culinary cruise.
This is the voyage we departed on with Celebrity Chef Loryn Nalic as we sailed from Venice, Italy to the countries of Croatia, Montenegro, and a number of Greek islands, before ending our journey in Athens.
St Louis, Missouri has the largest Balkan community in America and James Beard Semi-finalist Midwest Chef Loryn Nalic specializes in that specific cuisine.
She currently owns and operates many restaurants in the St. Louis, Missouri area: Balkan Treat Box (the food trucks, the restaurant, and the stadium stand at City Park stadium), Telva, and catering at the Ridge Room.
Loryn’s husband is from Bosnia and she traveled to numerous countries to study the ingredients and traditional recipes from the Balkan region, including all of the ports Wind Surf visited.
There is not an overarching agreement on which countries constitute the Balkans, but our cruise stops in Croatia and Montenegro are included in the region, as well as portions of Greece in the Balkan Peninsula.
This made Loryn an outstanding expert with extensive background of the local cuisine during the James Beard cruise.
Loryn even joked about how in her past she would follow Balkan locals around the markets to observe the ingredients they were buying. She asked to come back to their homes to cook with them – which many locals welcomed!
This resulted in her establishing a deep understanding of the region’s culinary traditions on a personal level, which she brought into her delicious cooking.
Windstar is approaching their 10th year as the official cruise line of the James Beard Foundation and has featured over 30 celebrity chefs.
All of their talented guest chefs have James Beard Foundation Nominations or Best Chef Awards and a number of them have been on the television show Top Chef or Top Chef Masters or have been Food Network chefs.
Some of our favorite epicurean superstars who have been Windstar James Beard Foundation chefs are Hugh Acheson, Renee Erickson and Jamie Leeds.
James Beard Chef Featured Menu Items
We loved how Windstar continues to showcase featured recipes from their past James Beard Foundation-affiliated guest chefs on the menus of the dinner restaurants.
This allows you to taste some of the best chefs in America (James Beard award winners) all in one place!
These dishes are featured in Amphora Restaurant and the menus are together by Peter Tobler, Windstar’s director of hotel operations, and his expert Windstar team!
Every night at dinner, Windstar’s Amphora menu features 3 dishes from past James Beard chefs and they rotate every evening.
Some of our favorite dishes from the award-winning chefs were the seared salmon with corn cream, tomatoes and basil from Maria Hines, a tomato soup with a goat cheese dumpling from Jennifer Jasinski, and the grilled branzino with potato confit with basil and tomato caponata from Amy Brandwein.
James Beard nominated Chef Nalic also prepared specialty dishes during a special chef-hosted dinner with wine pairings including extraordinary dishes like shrimp buzara, a tasty take on a shrimp scampi with tomatoes made with brown butter.
She also crafted a unique take on a traditional Greek salad with a sesame brittle for the salad course.
When it came to entrees, Chef Nalic wowed everyone at the table with her dry-cured lamb chops, smoked lamb belly and pomegranate molasses.
For dessert, we enjoyed a traditional Kuneefe, which is cheese encased in shredded phyllo dough.
When it comes to all of these menu items, come hungry because if you’re like us you will order seconds.
Windstar Cruise Culinary Market Tours
As food-obsessed travelers, we love taking a tour of local markets. It’s an easy way to immerse yourself in the culture of the destination you’re visiting.
While in Rio De Janeiro, we savored new fruits and juices that we never even heard of.
In Mexico City, we tasted crickets and a special flying ant which was considered a delicacy.
And while on a Windstar James Beard Foundation cruise we (alongside other food-fanatic ship guests) were able to partake in a Shopping With The Chef local market tour.
During the tour, we tasted foods, learned about local ingredients and even picked up some practical cooking tips from the visiting chef.
Bites of the biggest, sweetest figs we’ve ever tasted, sips of local wines, and morsels of interesting local cheeses all complimented the tour alongside Chef Loryn, the ship’s Executive Chef, and the Culinary Director.
This was a complimentary culinary experience in Kotor, Montenegro as well as Corfu, Greece ports of call for all passengers of the ship.
The local food market tour was robust, much like a paid cruise excursion that we’d easily pay for!
It was one of the many culinary adventures that you’ll enjoy on the cruise.
Local Epicurean Experiences
Since this Windstar yacht cruise was tailored to foodies, we really appreciated that many of the shore excursions highlighted local culinary immersion.
From cooking classes at a Greek villa, to winery tours, to an olive oil tasting and production experience, your epicurean experiences can continue even after you disembark into port at all the gorgeous destinations.
The lunch buffet onboard the ship changed every day and showcased many regional dishes from the ports of call.
From Greek gyro meat being carved off of a spit, to Croatian soups, Baltic goulash, and local fruits, meats, and cheeses being added to the salad bar, your immersion to local cuisine happened both on the ship as well as on the shore.
James Beard Yacht Cruise Culinary Demonstrations
Another reason why Windstar is the ultimate cruise for foodies are the cooking demonstrations.
Two times during our cruise, Chef Loryn took the stage to demonstrate recipes that were influenced by the region where we were traveling.
First, we learned how to make a traditional Greek dish of fried cheese wrapped in dough that we savored and adored on a previous trip to Santorini and Milos.
What set this recipe apart was her urfa chili crisp. It took a trendy condiment and added in regional peppers and spices to elevate the dish.
The second of the culinary demos was a Croatian Palacinke, which was a Croatian crepe filled with rose custard and served with fresh fruit.
A copy of the recipes from the culinary demonstrations are provided for all cruise guests to make at home.
Additionally, the dish from the cooking demo is available throughout all the restaurants for guests to try that day (and yes every single person at every table ordered these dishes)!
Wine Tastings & Pairings
Compared to other cruises we have embarked on, it’s obvious that Windstar takes great care in their wine program.
The number of wines by the glass offered in the restaurants is substantial and well curated.
Most restaurants offer over 30 different wines by the glass to provide expert wine pairings with the gourmet dishes.
There are also numerous wine demonstrations and tastings throughout the voyage since our itinerary was a designated Gallo LUX Division cruise.
We attended a wine demonstration with a tasting from Louis M. Martini, a premier Napa Valley winery.
It’s a winery with lots of history; the first post-prohibition winery and also the first winery to make and name a bottle of Merlot.
This winemaker offered the opportunity to order wine onboard with free shipping to your home, additional discounts to Windstar guests, and even specialized wine dinners.
We always add culinary immersion activities into our travel itineraries no matter where we go, so this cruise is a perfect fit for any food-obsessed travelers like us.
Sailing on a small ship from Venice, to Croatia, to Montenegro, to Greece was an incredible way to experience new cuisines and flavors.
Don’t miss all the upcoming Windstar James Beard Foundation cruise itineraries and start planning your culinary getaway.
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