WHAT WE DO

Stir the pots. Meet the characters. Listen to the stories. Flavor Forays plans, organizes, and executes extraordinary culinary adventures that bring together the top leaders in the restaurant and hotel industry and suppliers for immersive, unforgettable experiences in food meccas all over the globe. Our goals are education, inspiration, and appreciation of culinary cultures.

The premise of these conferences without classrooms is to create new relationships and enhance existing ones between the kingpins of the restaurant and hotel world while jointly experiencing unique regional cultures and flavors.

 Industry conferences, while interesting, can’t compete with getting out of the classroom and meeting the farmers, the fishermen, the winemakers, and the producers who make these food cultures unique. Food Arts magazine’s closing become the impetus for us to continue our relationship with our readers and sponsors at live events that connect attendees to these artisans. Thus Flavor Forays was born. 

Our first foray, called NOLA’s Backyard, was an immersion in Louisiana Bayou country. Most people in the food world have been to New Orleans but few have experienced the Bayou country. We joined forces with Chef John Folse...(it is not just a term, he really is a force to be reckoned with!) a food historian, and renowned authority on Cajun and Creole cuisine and culture. We corralled the best and the biggest names in the foodservice world, and assembled a knockout itinerary that couldn’t help but build everyone’s businesses. Together we discovered a unique food culture and learned of the seven nations that contributed to the delicious gumbo that is Louisiana cuisine today.

Our next Flavor Foray, called Grits, Gullah and the Three O’clock Dinner, takes place in the low country of Charleston, South Carolina, spanning from bountiful coastal waterways to gracious historic homes. Participants are promised: a biscuit throw down between the two Southern baking queens Nathalie Dupree, author of the Southern Biscuit Cookbook, and Carey Morey, owner of Callie’s Charleston Biscuits; a visit to the only tea plantation in North America and a lesson in the art of tea tasting; and an exploration of the lore of the low country. As always, there will be no sitting in conference rooms. The group meets the characters and the cooks, the farmers and the fisherman who make this storied region one of the most vibrant food cities in the United States today.

Flavor Forays of the future: We’re exploring the possibility of future Flavor Forays to Brooklyn, New York, Portland, Oregon, Nashville, Tennessee and more—they’re secrets for now. (Who’s up for a truffle hunt in Italy?). We’ll keep you posted.