Savor Local Flavors & Perfect Pours: Food and drink-focused escapes for travelers who pack their appetite first.

SAMPLE ITINERARY
Dec 31, 2025
6 min read

If food is your love language — or if you’ve ever planned a trip around a dish, a drink, or the promise of both — welcome home.

Across the U.S., resorts are redefining what it means to “eat local,” turning culinary craft into a full-blown getaway.

Here, the chefs know their farmers, the bartenders know their botanicals, and every plate and pour feels like an inside look at the place you’re exploring.

Below, we’ve gathered a short list of resort experiences that deliver big on flavor: hands-on cooking classes, iconic cocktails, locally driven menus, and oceanside feasts.

Ready to savor the local flavors and perfect pours? Let’s dig in.

Andaz Wailea Resort

Wailea, Maui, Hawai‘i

A modern Maui sanctuary that treats food as its most expressive art form. Andaz Wailea is home to some of the island’s most celebrated dining — from Morimoto Maui’s oceanside sophistication to Ka‘ana Kitchen’s hyperlocal menus built around Maui farmers and purveyors.

It’s featured here because it lives and breathes Hawai‘i’s foodways, offering culinary experiences that travelers remember long after the tan fades.

The Feast at Mōkapu

A luxury, oceanfront luau experience unique to Andaz, blending traditional Hawaiian dishes with contemporary preparation. Set on the resort’s private lawn, the evening unfolds with multi-course dining, storytelling, and cultural performance — a deep, delicious dive into Maui’s past and present.

Ka‘ana Kitchen’s Locally Sourced Dinner Program

Nightly menus spotlight Maui’s farming and fishing communities, with dishes built around regional ingredients like upcountry vegetables, fresh-caught fish, and artisanal island products. It’s not just dinner — it’s a curated introduction to Maui’s food ecosystem.

Additional Culinary Possibilities

Depending on season and resort programming, guests may also encounter chef demonstrations, mixology spotlights at Lehua Lounge, or ingredient-forward tastings featuring Maui-grown botanicals. These offerings rotate, but they always celebrate Hawai‘i’s sense of place.

Cavallo Point—The Lodge at Golden Gate

Sausalito, California

A national-park-adjacent hideaway with one of the most respected culinary programs in Northern California. Cavallo Point is home to an acclaimed cooking school, a vibrant restaurant scene, and a philosophy that ties flavor to the land.

It’s featured here because it doesn’t just serve incredible meals — it shows you how they’re made.

Cavallo Point Cooking School — Hands-On or Demonstration Classes

One of California’s premier resort-based culinary schools, offering regularly published classes that span global cuisines and regional Northern California specialties. Guests cook side-by-side with expert instructors using fresh, local, seasonal ingredients — a foodie’s dream brought to life.

Seasonal Wine or Beverage Pairing Events

Cavallo Point often hosts published tasting sessions that highlight boutique Northern California winemakers and craft beverage producers. These intimate gatherings offer a sommelier’s perspective on terroir, pairing, and the artistry of small-batch production.

Additional Culinary Possibilities

Throughout the year, the resort may introduce guest-chef dinners, outdoor cooking demonstrations, or market-inspired workshops tied to Bay Area seasonality. These offerings change often — an ever-evolving expression of California cuisine.

The Ranch at Laguna Beach

Laguna Beach, California

Tucked between canyon walls and the Pacific, The Ranch blends surf-town ease with a strong culinary identity shaped by Southern California’s produce and coastal flavors.

With Harvest — its signature restaurant — the resort has become known for farm-driven dishes, craft beverages, and a dining program that celebrates its canyon setting.

Harvest Restaurant’s Seasonal California Cuisine

Menus shift with the coastal seasons, spotlighting ingredients from local farmers, citrus growers, and purveyors across Orange County. Expect vibrant plates, thoughtful preparations, and that unmistakable California brightness.

The Porch Bar & Ben’s Pantry — Local Sips and Casual Flavor

These relaxed venues offer craft cocktails, regional beers, and wines from Southern California and beyond. They’re beloved for their canyon views, easy atmosphere, and menus that tell the story of the region’s growers and makers.

Additional Culinary Possibilities

The Ranch occasionally hosts seasonal events — such as outdoor live-music evenings with specialty food offerings or holiday-inspired menus — that spotlight local seafood, produce, or artisanal products. These experiences are not always scheduled year-round, but they add a layer of flavor for travelers lucky enough to catch them.

Ocean House

Watch Hill, Rhode Island

A grand New England seaside retreat where culinary craftsmanship is woven into the resort’s DNA. Ocean House is home to the renowned Center for Wine & Culinary Arts, a dedicated tasting and teaching space that celebrates regional ingredients, local makers, and classic coastal flavors.

It’s featured here because the food isn’t just exceptional — it’s experiential, educational, and deeply tied to Rhode Island’s sense of place.

Hands-On Cooking Classes at the Center for Wine & Culinary Arts

Guests step into a professional demonstration kitchen for intimate, chef-led workshops highlighting seasonal New England ingredients. Each class blends technique, storytelling, and delicious tasting moments — a chance to cook like a pro while savoring the coastal bounty.

Wine & Spirit Education Sessions

Led by in-house wine and beverage experts, these guided tastings dive into varietals, regions, and pairings. Whether it’s a focus on Old World classics or rising American producers, sessions are built to expand your palate and sharpen your sipping skills.

Culinary Demonstrations & Tasting Experiences

Ocean House regularly hosts themed culinary showcases — from seafood tutorials to pastry-focused demos — where chefs reveal the craft behind signature dishes. Guests enjoy bites along the way, making it a flavorful crash course in New England cuisine.

Additional Culinary Possibilities

Depending on the season, the resort may offer special chef dinners, holiday tasting events, or farm-and-vine collaborations that highlight Rhode Island’s growers and artisans. Programming evolves throughout the year, ensuring there’s always something fresh simmering on the schedule.

Signature Sips & Bites Across The U.S.

Want more? Here’s a list of signature dishes and drinks that people actually build their travel plans around. While not all originate from a “resort” hotel, they deliver that same resort-level magic — the kind of flavor you simply have to go to the source for.

The Fredrico

Mauna Kea Beach Hotel—Hawai‘i

A classic tropical cocktail created in the 1980s at the historic hotel’s Hau Tree Gazebo Bar. Blending Jack Daniels with tropical juices, it was crafted for a thirsty golfer and has since become a beloved island favorite, embodying the Spirit of Aloha with every pour.

Roosevelt’s Revenge

Westin Portland Harborview—Portland, Maine

An iconic riff on a Harvey Wallbanger served at the Top of the East Lounge. With local Ice Pik vodka, Galliano, and fresh orange, this house drink is deeply rooted in the hotel’s historic legacy and a favorite for toasting coastal sunsets.

Grand Pecan Ball

Grand Hotel—Mackinac Island, Michigan

A beloved classic at one of America’s most storied summer resorts, the Grand Pecan Ball has been a signature dessert at the Grand Hotel since the 1940s. This rich, sweet treat is so iconic that the resort serves tens of thousands of them each year, and guests and locals alike consider it a must-try indulgence when visiting the island.

Mediterranean Mule & 1926 WIT

The Boca Raton—Boca Raton, Florida

Two standouts from this storied Florida resort: the Mediterranean Mule, a vibrant vodka and Montenegro amaro cocktail with lemon and muddled strawberry, and the 1926 WIT, a signature beer brewed just for the hotel with hints of orange peel and coriander.

Piña Colada

Caribe Hilton—Puerto Rico

While technically just outside the mainland, this is one you must celebrate: bartenders at the Caribe Hilton invented the Piña Colada in 1954 — a rum, coconut, and pineapple cocktail that went on to become Puerto Rico’s official national drink.

Country Captain

The Atlantic Room—Kiawah Island, South Carolina

At The Atlantic Room — one of the signature restaurants at Kiawah Island Golf Resort — the Country Captain dish delivers true Lowcountry flavor: fresh catch, shrimp, mussels, clams, and crab all simmered in a thoughtfully spiced curry broth, served over Carolina Gold rice. It’s a local take on a classic with deep coastal roots and a taste that reflects its setting.

Honey Deuce

U.S. Open Racquet Bar (Exclusive Drink at IHG Hotels)

Though tied to the U.S. Open rather than a single resort property, this lemonade-vodka cocktail with raspberry liqueur has become synonymous with the summer season and hotel bars hosting the tournament — a fun pop-culture-meets-cocktail moment travelers recognize.

TRAVELER NOTE: Many resorts also rotate seasonal signature cocktails or highlight house creations tied to local ingredients. These change through the year and are worth spotlighting in menus or social posts — for example, rum or botanical drinks inspired by island flavors in the Caribbean or craft cocktail specials in boutique mountain lodges.