Among the bevy of food festivals that take place throughout the year, the Bahamas Culinary & Arts Festival stands out for going a step beyond celebrity chef demonstrations, wine seminars, and food and beverage tastings to also offer experiences that are intimate and truly unique.
This year, Bon Appétit is partnering with the festival, taking place Oct. 22–26, to present the Kitchen MasterClass Series at the Baha Mar Resort in Nassau.
“Readers have the opportunity to cook alongside chefs they admire,” said Jamila Robinson, the editor in chief of Bon Appétit and Epicurious. Robinson will host a cooking class alongside Carla Hall, the chef, television personality, and author who celebrates Southern cuisine and soul food traditions.
The classes cover an array of international dishes and will be led by instructors Maneet Chauhan, who will make distinctive Indian dishes from chaats to lassis; Amanda Freitag, who will teach how to make a classic beef Wellington; Tevin Kemp, a lauded Bahamas-based chef also joined by Robinson of Bon Appétit, will teach about Caribbean fare; and Geoffrey Zakarian, who will show students how to make a classic niçoise salad, which will be paired with his iconic French 75.
The Kitchen MasterClass series is an “intimate and immersive experience,” Robinson says, with class sizes capped at just 16 people. “This is unlike other festivals where chef interactions often take place from a distance, with MasterClass the stage is your workstation.” Plus, attendees can ask questions and get direct feedback and strike up a friendship with fellow classmates.
Chef Daniel Boulud addresses the crowd before his four-course truffle dinner.
Courtesy Baha Mar
This interplay between fine dining and entertainment is where Baha Mar Resort excels. There are more than 45 global restaurants and bars set across the 1,000-acre property where sweeping views of white sand beaches are endless. The festival is just as thoughtfully integrated into the resort’s curated approach to luxury and refined hospitality.
Fine dining experiences will be offered by the resort’s resident chefs too.
There’s the annual truffle dinner with Daniel Boulud of Café Boulud within the Rosewood Baha Mar, where a four-course menu features truffles sourced from Alba, Italy; cocktails with Marcus Samuelsson of Marcus at Baha Mar Fish + Chop House; and a lunch with Dario Cecchini, the world-renowned butcher of Carna. Each of these events are presented by resident chefs at Baha Mar.
Also in attendance will be North America’s foremost spirits expert and author Noah Rothbaum and Bahamian mixologist MisterMixx Bahamas.
Truly a global festival, there’s an equal commitment to bring together the world’s top chefs while also shining a light on what Samuelsson—a James Beard Award–winning chef—describes as “Caribbean cuisine at its best.” More than 15 Caribbean nations will be represented at the festival.
“We’re trying to infuse as much of the [Bahamian] culture in the food that we have here,” says Garrette Bowe,
