Foodie cities and scenes
A culinary focus commands travelers’ attention (and appetites)
BY PATTI NICKELL
Remember the days when travel was all about the destination and the sightseeing it offered? Do you recall
when food was just something you partook of between museum visits … or when travel was all about feeding
your intellect and your craving for adventure—and not your stomach?
Well if so, then you’re remembering travel before the advent of the slow food movement, the farm-to-table
evolution or even the farm-to-fork renaissance. These days, destinations are often selected—at least in part—
for their commitment to unique food and drink experiences as essential travel components.
These five NTA-member destinations have plenty to offer tour operators whose clients are a hungry and
thirsty bunch.
It’s no secret that, with 400 wineries,
Napa Valley is one of the premier wine
destinations in the world. But what
some don’t know is that the long, slen-
der valley has more Michelin-starred
restaurants per capita than any of the
world’s other wine regions.
Your group can eat and drink to their
hearts’ content on specialty tours such
as True Taste of the Napa Valley. If
tour operators book by May, they can
work with a Napa food and wine
expert who will curate an
experience designed just
for their group.
“Walk. Taste. Sip,” is the slogan of
the Napa Culinary Crawl, offered every
other month starting in February.
Groups can enjoy downtown Napa’s
wine tasting rooms and restaurants,
with each stop featuring specially pre-
pared bites paired with specialty drinks.
Two fall events showcase the best of
the valley. Celebrate September harvest
with Calistoga’s Harvest Table. A 1,000-
foot long table is set up in the center of
Lincoln Avenue, offering bounty from
20 of the valley’s top restaurants, and
libations from 40 of its wineries and
breweries.
After the grapes come the olives.
Bring your group in November, and
you can experience the olive harvest.
One of the best places to do so is at
Round Pond Winer y, where guests can
taste the estate’s hand-crafted olive oils
paired with seasonal bites.
If you want an experience you can
get nowhere else, book your group
on the Napa Valley Wine Train, which
offers a range of tours including a
six-hour journey that features a four-
course meal as well as tours and tast-
ings at three wineries.
Finally, you can arrange a cooking
class at the house conceived by two leg-
ends—Julia Child and Robert Mondavi.
Greystone in St. Helena, once home to
the Christian Brothers Winery, is now
part of the Culinary Institute
of America, and it offers
classes
for
Calistoga’s
Harvest Table
24
April/May 2018
Napa, California:
We’ll take food with that wine