Windstar has announced its selections for Chefs on the 2023 James Beard Foundation Culinary theme cruises. The highly awarded chefs will each host an itinerary that will feature two onboard culinary demonstrations, one hosted dinner with four signature dishes with wine pairings, a chef-accompanied visit to shop for local ingredients, and multiple dishes featured on Windstar’s menus (available fleetwide).
Chef Jerome Grant
Grant is a 2019 James Beard Restaurant and Chef Award Semifinalist for Best Chef Mid-Atlantic. Sweet Home Café is a 2017 James Beard Restaurant and Chef Award Semifinalist for Best New Restaurant, and the restaurant is the inspiration for the 2019 James Beard Media Award Nominated “Sweet Home Café Cookbook.
Grant brings his considerable experience to Star Legend on March 4th, 2023 for a seven-night Itinerary from Panama to Aruba.
Chef Ayesha Nurdjaja
The talented executive chef at Shuka in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood, as well as sibling restaurant Shukette. This Brooklyn native is the daughter of an Indonesian father and an Italian mother. Ayesha has melded the culinary traditions of her family and added her own flare while serving as the executive chef at Brooklyn favorites, Red Gravy, and A Voce. She is also a James Beard Restaurant and Chef Award Nominee for Best Chef: New York (2022).
Ayesha Nurdjaja will join the June 17th, 2023, 7-night Mediterranean itinerary departing from Venice to Athens aboard Wind Surf.
Chef Tracy Chang
Chang is an alumna of the James Beard Foundation Chef Bootcamp for Policy & Change, James Beard Foundation Women’s Entrepreneurship Leadership Program, and a 2020 James Beard Restaurant and Chef Award Semifinalist for Best Chef: Northeast. She is also the owner of PAGU restaurant in Cambridge Mass. Guchi’s Midnight Ramen, a pop-up concept.
Tracy Chang will apply her talents on the Star Breeze sailing on September 21st, 2023 for 9- nights from Tokyo to Osaka, Japan.
James Beard Foundation
For 30 years this non-profit organization has supported and celebrated the people who drive American Food Culture while raising the bar for creative and delicious culinary standards. The James Beard Foundation strives to create and support a resilient and diverse culinary community while showcasing the centrality of food to American culture.
Windstar Cruises is a proud partner of the James Beard Foundation.
