Some of the widespread themed cruises Windstar has supplied over the previous decade, its chef-led partnership with the James Beard Basis, continues in 2025.Some of the widespread themed cruises Windstar has supplied over the previous decade, its chef-led partnership with the James Beard Basis, continues in 2025.
The 5 acclaimed cooks — Jamilka Borges, José Mendin, Jennifer Hill Booker, Jennifer Jasinski and, new to Windstar, Amy Brandwein— will deliver their regional culinary experience and signature dishes to sea and host market excursions on their itineraries. And it’s greater than that: The enchantment of Windstar’s culinary-themed cruises, friends can take part in cooking demos, take pleasure in particular dishes impressed by the visitor chef, and, some of the widespread actions of all: buy groceries with the chef.
When you’re contemplating a James Beard Basis cruise in 2025, we thought you may take pleasure in a rundown on every of the 5 visitor cooks:
March 15, 2025, Caribbean: Windward Methods and Tobago Cays with chef Jamilka Borges
The journey: This seven day Caribbean cruise travels from Aruba’s Oranjestad to Barbados’ Bridgetown. Different locations embody Curacao, Bonaire, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad.
She started her profession as prep cook dinner on the industry-leading restaurant Legume and rose to the place of chef de delicacies. After leaving Legume, Borges held government chef positions in among the Pittsburgh’s most artistic and progressive kitchens: Bar Marco, Spoon, Unbiased Brewing Firm, Hidden Harbor and Lorelei. At every restaurant, Borges found one other piece of her culinary voice.
Enjoyable information: “Somebody mentioned to me years in the past, ‘Oh my God, you’re such a wild little one!’ It’s at all times sort of stayed at the back of my thoughts. I’ve at all times performed issues in a really nontraditional approach.”
April 12, 2025, Mediterranean: Spanish Symphony with Chef José Mendin
The journey: On Wind Surf, the eight day Spanish Symphony James Beard itinerary travels from Lisbon to Barcelona, with calls at Cadiz (for Seville), Gibraltar, Malaga, Almeria, Cartagena and Palma de Mallorca.
Your chef: Miami-based chef José Mendin, a local of Puerto Rico, who traveled to Spain to work with chef Jesus Ramior in Valladolid and, later, with chef Juan Pablo Felipe, of Madrid’s Michelin-starred El Chaflan. He additionally helped open Nobu Miami and Nobu London, with cooks Mark Edwards and Thomas Buckley.
At present, he’s proprietor/companion of Pubbelly World, which features a portfolio of eating places in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Paris. He’s a five-time James Beard Award semifinalist.
Enjoyable stuff: Chef Mendin first found his curiosity in cooking whereas on a volleyball scholarship in school in Puerto Rico. He has appeared as a choose on Telemundo’s MasterChef Latino. And he likes to wind down after a protracted day by watching episodes of “Seinfeld.”
June 29, 2025, Northern Europe: Baltic Magnificence with chef Jennifer Hill Booker
The journey: On this 11 day Baltic cruise from Stockholm to Copenhagen, Star Legend will go to locations reminiscent of Helsinki, Estonia’s Tallinn, Latvia’s Riga, Sweden’s Visby, Lithuania’s Klaipeda, Poland’s Gdansk and Germany’s Warnemunde.
Your chef: Jennifer Hill Booker, based mostly in Atlanta, is understood for including a French accent to her Southern culinary heritage — all geared toward creating dishes that replicate a seasonal, wholesome strategy. She educated at Paris’ Le Cordon Bleu Faculty of Culinary Arts, and has printed cookbooks reminiscent of “Subject Peas to Foie Gras: Southern Recipes with a French Accent,” and “Dinner Déjà Vu: Southern Tonight, French Tomorrow. “ She is president of the celebrated Atlanta chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier Worldwide, a member of Gradual Meals-Atlanta, Atlanta’s No Child Hungry Atlanta Society, and the James Beard Basis Meals Waste Advisory Council.
Chef Booker has printed authentic recipes in publications reminiscent of Waste Not Cookbook, Southern Residing, Backyard & Gun and Essence. Throughout her Meals Community debut, as a finalist on “Cutthroat Kitchen,” she showcased her mélange of French and Southern inspirations.
Enjoyable stuff: In her first illustrated youngsters’s e-book, “Jelly Fries A Fish For Dinner,” (Tallahatchie Tales, March 2021), Booker highlights the meals of the Mississippi Delta by the eyes of her daughter Jenelle. The chef discovered about French delicacies when residing in Europe, the place her then-husband, a U.S. Military officer, was stationed.
August 27, 2025, Mediterranean: Adriatic Archipelago and Greek Goddesses, with chef Jennifer Jasinski
The journey: This nine-day cruise from Venice to Athens takes place aboard Star Legend. Ports of name embody Croatia’s Zadar, Cut up and Dubrovnik; Montenegro’s Kotor, and Greece’s Corfu, Katakolon and Monemvasia.
Your chef: Denver-based Jennifer Jasinski owns and operates a lot of award-winning eating places reminiscent of Rioja, Bistro Vendôme, Ultreia, and Stoic & Real. Every restaurant’s delicacies (reminiscent of Rioja for Spanish dishes, Bistro Vendôme for French, and Ultreia for tapas and Portuguese petiscos) displays Jasinki’s ardour for journey and world culinary cultures.
The chef was honored with a James Beard award for greatest chef within the Southwest and was a finalist on Prime Chef Masters.
Her philosophy is {that a} incredible restaurant expertise is greater than the delicacies. “You possibly can have nice meals, however when you have unhealthy service, no person will come. Our philosophy is easy. On cooking, it’s simple: good components, properly executed. On the restaurant, it must be a spot the place you may come and get taken care of, the place the standard of service is at all times the identical, the place there’s nice consideration to element, and the product and repair are at all times considerate and thoughtful. We prepare our employees to behave like they’re welcoming somebody into their house. I’m at all times out within the eating rooms of my eating places, speaking with friends in regards to the menu, about our merchandise, or about Denver and Colorado.”
Enjoyable stuff: “In highschool in Santa Barbara, I used to be both going to be a chef or a musician,” she mentioned in an interview for Denver.org. “I thought of being a ravenous artist and figured, if I grew to become a chef, at the least I’d at all times have meals! My first cooking job was at Taco Bell.”
October 7, 2027, Canada/New England: Southeast Canadian Explorations with chef Amy Brandwein
The journey: Chef Amy Brandwein is visitor chef on the 12-day voyage onboard Star Satisfaction. The cruise from Montreal to New York calls at ports reminiscent of Gaspé, Cap-aux-Meules, Louisbourg, Halifax and Portland, Maine.
The Chef: Chef and proprietor of Washington D.C.’s Centrolina and Piccolina da Centrolina, Brandwein focuses on Italian delicacies by the seasonal lens of the Mid-Atlantic rising seasons. She’s devoted to utilizing responsibly and regionally sourced components and has been an early companion of DC City Greens, a nonprofit city farm situated in Ward 7 and eight, that gives recent and reasonably priced produce to the local people (Centrolina and Piccolina are DC City Inexperienced’s solely wholesale shoppers).
An advocate for charities that assist wholesome consuming and ending starvation, Brandwein can also be an lively supporter of World Central Kitchen, DC Central Kitchen, Martha’s Desk, and So Others Would possibly Eat. She is a longtime member of Les Dames d’Escoffier, James Beard Basis Girls’s Entrepreneurial Management Program, Concerning Her, and a mentor at The LEE Initiative.
Enjoyable stuff: Chef Brandwein is a fierce advocate for supporting girls within the restaurant enterprise; Centrolina, based on The Huffington Submit, has a one hundred pc feminine management group.
Editor’s Be aware: For extra data on Windstar’s 10 12 months partnership with the James Beard Basis, take a look at our Q&A with Peter Tobler.
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