If you’re going to mark anything in your 2014 Holiday Calendar, be sure it’s the Montage Resort’s Sip and Savor series the first two weeks of December, 2014. It is absolutely awesome.
Each year, the Montage Laguna Beach Chefs and Sommeliers offer a great new series of “flavors and spirits of the season with six afternoon “Sip and Savor” events.
Through December, register for 2-hour, interactive cooking and champagne demonstrations that offer new ideas and fun education to add even more sparkle to your holiday events. Each course is $45, and the Montage Laguna Beach asks for your RSVP at (949) 715-6420.
This year, the Sip and Savor schedule is as follows …
Dec. 6th, 10 a.m. – noon, Party Ready Pastries with Pastry Chef Lee Smith (he’d better be showing us how he does that amazing Montage almond croissant)
Dec. 7th, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., Champagne Tasting with the world’s most celebrated champagnes
Dec. 12th, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., Holiday Spirits with popular spirits of the season
Dec. 13th, 10:00 a.m – noon, Make Your Own Gingerbread House, where you learn the secrets to making these edifices actually stand (small talent, right.)
Dec. 14th, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., Champagne Tasting with Sommelier Troy Smith on a whole new set of champagnes.
In December 2013, the Montage offered courses in cheese making, holiday side dishes, champagne tastings, holiday meat demonstrations and gingerbread house baking and construction.
For the record, I was the ONLY person to show up for the Holiday Meats cooking demonstration in December 2013, and I shake my head in sorrow for the nine other people who reserved and were no-shows. Boy, was that ever a mistake. For two full hours, Loft Chef de Cuisine Casey Overton and Sous Chef Ben Marinek walked me through the prep and cooking of Stuffed Leg of Lamb, Salt-Crusted Branzino, and a Holiday Ham glazed in the most original concoction imaginable and THEN fired like a Creme Brulée to a crispy, hard shell with a series of other ingredients I swore I’d never reveal.
They patiently answered every stupid question I asked, and the feeding was sheer heaven, let me assure you. What an amazing afternoon! Had I known how great these courses were, I would have signed up for every one the Montage offered. It is by far the best cooking class I’ve ever attended.
As I say, a true gem that few locals have discovered – get in on these great classes!