Windstar’s Partnership with James Beard Basis, 10 Years Sturdy, Continues Evolving

For Windstar, celebrating 10 years of its partnership with the New York-based James Beard Basis®, means it’s spent the final decade not simply considerably upgrading the delicacies served onboard its ships, but additionally introducing vacationers to cooks with various backgrounds and approaches to meals.
“The partnership with the James Beard Basis has elevated our meals tradition,” says Peter Tobler, Windstar’s director of resort operations (pictured above in Might 2024 on Star Legend, when he traveled with James Beard Basis chef Tanya Holland). ”We host cooks with different delicacies specialties, typically a match to the crusing area, to spotlight the flavors and regional dishes discovered world wide.
“By the tip of 2025, near 40 James Beard cooks could have participated since we began the partnership.”
Past specially-themed voyages, Windstar’s partnership with the inspiration incorporates its cooks and recipes into all of its dinner menus at Amphora. “Out of the 24 dishes on our Amphora each day menu on our Star Class ships,” Tobler tells us, “at the very least two to a few are creations of a James Beard Basis chef. On Wind Surf, Amphora will characteristic three dishes every evening.”
We just lately had an opportunity to sit down down with Peter and chat about James Beard, uncover extra concerning the basis and find out about what’s subsequent and new within the partnership.
I’m assuming that friends who’ve traveled on Windstar’s James Beard Basis cruises know the signification of the person and the inspiration, however are you able to fill us in?
I significantly love this description of Portland, Oregon-native James Beard: “Often known as the Dean of American Cookery, James Beard hosted the primary televised cooking program. He’s the writer of 26 cookbooks and plenty of journal and newspaper articles, he paved the best way for at present’s superstar cooks. As Julia Youngster proclaimed, ‘To start with, there was Beard.”
The James Beard Basis itself was created almost 40 years in the past as a solution to channel Beard’s passions across the culinary arts. It celebrates meals tradition however goes manner past that, to supporting the trade by initiatives that vary from range to advocacy and past.
The nonprofit group’s mission is to have fun, help, and elevate the folks behind America’s meals tradition, whereas championing an ordinary of fine meals anchored in expertise, fairness, and sustainability. The Basis firmly aligns with Windstar’s dedication to contemporary and native epicurean experiences world wide.
Describe for us how a James Beard-influenced cruise is totally different from different Windstar voyages.
There’s a vigorous onboard environment surrounding the culinary arts as a result of, along with the visiting chef, we have now members of Windstar’s meals and beverage workforce onboard, too. Between the partnership with the James Beard Basis we additionally have fun one other pretty partnership, this one with the posh division of Gallo to include its sommeliers, and winemakers into the Windstar expertise on choose JBF chef theme cruises.
The conversations between all of us – particularly with our friends – are spirited, enjoyable, insightful. By the point we do our first official culinary demonstration or wine tasting and seminar, our 180-passenger principal lounge is packed. Past the 2 reside culinary demonstrations, there are two official wine seminars, chef-hosted dinners, and an onshore “procuring with the chef” tour.
And it’s vital to level out that every one the occasions (apart from the chef-shopping shore tour), are scheduled for both early within the day – or later within the afternoon so that they don’t affect the ports of name we’re visiting.
It’s vital for Windstar to proceed to put money into the connection and what it means for our friends. The culinary motion for us is regularly evolving and vacationers are eager to strive new and adventurous dishes.
“Buying with the Chef” onboard experiences are one in every of my favourite methods to spend a day in port. Are you able to describe it for us?

In a single port on each culinary cruise, the visitor chef, together with the ship’s resident chef, hosts Buying with the Chef. They take friends to an area market, introducing them to the method of how they decide and select contemporary fish, seafood, greens. They present them native artisan objects that we need to convey again on board to characteristic on the menu the identical night or within the days that comply with.
The identical night of that demonstration we characteristic the dish within the Amphora and all our different venues.
The 2025 schedule of JBF-themed cruises contains voyages to the Caribbean, Europe and Mediterranean and can characteristic a few of our friends’ favourite previous cooks, in addition to an extra-special journey hosted by legendary chef, Larry Forgione. which is able to journey by way of the St Lawrence Seaway and down our Northeast coast, terminating in New York Metropolis, the Basis’s residence. Anticipate many extra enjoyable surprises and particular alternatives all 12 months as we have fun this momentous anniversary.
For extra data on the James Beard Basis partnership with Windstar click on right here.