Lake Austin Spa Resort Serves Up Five Star Culinary Experience™ Program

Week-long Celebration Features Star Chefs and Delicious Experiences

AUSTIN, TX – Distinguished by a menu that successfully marries “health” and “gourmet”, Lake Austin Spa Resort shares secrets of preparing deliciously healthful cuisine for one week every month during its celebrated Culinary Experience ™ program.

The popular week-long series begins on the second Monday of every month, year round.  Lake Austin Spa Resort’s culinary team is joined by renowned restaurateurs, cookbook authors, James Beard award winners and acclaimed television personalities in a very intimate setting, providing guests unforgettable culinary experiences. Additionally, Lake Austin Spa Resort welcomes Executive Chef Stephane Beaucamp to the Culinary Experience line up. Chef Beaucamp, who began his culinary training in Paris, France, will share his passion for healthy living and clean, fresh food with resort guests during his classes.

During a Culinary Experience week, in addition to daily cooking demonstrations, other activities may include an organic garden tour, tea tasting, cooking from the garden class, fresh pestos and salsas class, wine seminars, cheese and olive oil tastings, and classes on remodeled recipes, hands-on spring rolls and sushi, All About Herbs and Composting 101, to name a few. The Culinary Experience program is complimentary to overnight guests of the award-winning 40-room destination spa.

Upcoming guest chefs include

• April 9-15, 2012: As executive chef at Lake Austin Spa Resort from 1992 to 2011, and with 30 years of experience at mainstream restaurants in Austin, ranging from barbecue to New Orleans, Caribbean, Mexican and Continental cuisine, Chef Terry Conlan’s philosophy is to produce healthy, low-fat food that people will enjoy eating, and will be able to maintain as part of an overall healthy lifestyle…not as a short-term diet. Chef Conlan regularly teaches cooking classes throughout Texas, and has published articles and recipes in magazines such as Cooking Light, Eating Well, Shape and Prevention, and has also been acknowledged with a five-star review from Weight Watchers magazine, as well as been featured in Cooking Light and other culinary magazines. In addition to these efforts, he has been featured on national television with appearances on both The Learning Channel ("Laurie's Light and Easy") and the Food Network ("The Best Of" series), as well as numerous interviews on a variety of Texas radio and television stations. On November 1, 2003, Chef Conlan’s first hardback cookbook published in nine years was released– FRESH, Healthy Cooking and Living from Lake Austin Spa Resort – and is available in retail outlets and bookstores nationally, as well as at the resort and through the website. Prior to that, Chef Conlan authored Lean Star Cuisine, as well as the 1998, 2000, and 2002 Summer Cooking Series recipe books.
  The BBQ Queens, Karen Adler and Judith Fertig, finally figured out that their working tiaras made darn good sun visors, too, even if the rhinestones can be a little dazzling.  In their newest book The Gardener and the Grill, these fun friends take fresh foods from seed to sizzle, appetizers to desserts. The BBQ Queens will bring more stories of their bbq adventures (this is their ninth bbq book written together) and recipes that guarantee garden-to-grill-to-table deliciousness.

• May 14-20, 2012: America’s premier food team, Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough authors of the comprehensive book: Real Food Has Curves: How to Get Off Processed Food, Lose Weight, and Love What You Eat. It’s a step-by-step plan to get all the chemicals out of your diet, to find satisfaction more quickly at the table, and to return food to its pure, elemental pleasure without resorting to a raw food diet or any quasi-scientific shenanigans. Everyone’s hot on the idea that better food is less processed. But how do you make real-world changes? They’ve got seven steps that will revolutionize your diet. For two years, Bruce and Mark provided the food content for Your Morning, the morning show on CN8, the default channel for the Comcast Cable Network. They have also appeared regularly on NBC’s The Today Show, Weekend Today, CBS This Morning, The View, and Seasonings with Dede Wilson (PBS). They have also launched a blog that has already attracted Haagen Dazs, as well as other corporate brands, to its mission of providing real food, an alternative to our processed culture. Bruce and Mark have been spokespeople for JIF, Bacardi, Splenda, the California Milk Advisory Board, amazon.com, Solae, and the National Honey Board. They have been the on-air talent for three SMTs for the US Potato Board as well as numerous editor tours. They have also created a series of quick-cooking potato recipe videos for the board.
  Sticky Fingers is the food-child of Doron Petersan, junk-foodie genius. And DORON PETERSAN is a character! Living the life as an Italian-Jew from New York-turned-vegan was ever so challenging. Craving traditional guilt laden foods, she was determined to unlock the secrets of creating their animal-free counterparts for everyone to enjoy. With a degree in Dietetics from the University of Maryland, Doron brought memories of favorite treats to vegan reality. To burn off some steam and keep the brownies from piling up, Doron rides her bike and races competitively with ‘Team Sticky Fingers’.  The bakery-sponsored team is made up of ‘Eight ladies with mutually dependent cycling, eating, and drinking habits’.  Doron is a category 4 racer in Road and a category 3 on the Cyclocross.  Everything Doron does is so she can eat, create, cook and feed. She is ever working on expanding the biz and coming up with creative ways to be sure Sticky Fingers gets in the tummy of everyone. Residing in DC with her husband, she works rigorously to balance her love of food, her companion animals, competitive cycling and wine. Accolades for the bakery include the past three years being voted Washington City Paper Best of DC bakery and vegan restaurant, as well as ranking in The Washingtonian’s ‘best eats’.  Most recently, Doron and Head Baker, Jenny Webb teamed up on the Food Network’s Cupcake Wars and took home the prize in the second season’s finale.   

• June 11-17, 2012. Rebecca Lang is a cookbook author, cooking instructor, and food writer. Her newest book, Quick-Fix Southern (Andrews McMeel), will be released in March 2011. She is also the author of Southern Entertaining for a New Generation (Cumberland House 2004) and Mary Mac’s Tea Room (Looking Glass Books 2005). As a Contributing Editor for Southern Living, Rebecca is featured in weekly cooking segments on the nationally syndicated show Daytime. She is also a Contributing Editor for myrecipes.com and writes a monthly column, “Girls’ Night In,” for the site. Rebecca edited cookbooks as an assistant food editor for Oxmoor House. She is a former apprentice of Nathalie Dupree and is a graduate of The University of Georgia. She also earned a culinary arts degree from Johnson and Wales University.  Rebecca is a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier, Georgia Organics, Southern Foodways, and IACP.
  Spending time in her grandmother’s kitchen as a young girl, Casey Thompson never imagined she would one day become a chef with national acclaim. Learning from celebrity chef Dean Fearing at Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, Thompson worked her way up from prep cook to sous chef before leaving to accept the executive chef position at one of Dallas’ most popular Asian restaurants, Shinsei. As a finalist on Bravo’s Top Chef Season 3, Chef Casey not only won America’s heart by being voted America’s favorite, but she also showed the culinary world that she can take the heat and keep cooking amongst some of the most-revered chefs. Winning over critical chefs including Eric Ripert and Anthony Bourdain with her tasteful creations, often prepared with little time and equipment, Casey made herself a star on the ever-popular culinary scene. In 2010, Thompson returned to Top Chef to compete against an all-star cast in New York City in Season 8 of Top Chef All-Stars.

• July 9-15, 2012. Sara Moulton worked for two years as an instructor at Peter Kump’s New York Cooking School (renamed the Institute of Culinary Education), where she discovered her love of teaching, a passion that would give focus to her subsequent work in television. Sara Moulton is one of the most trusted names in the food biz.  As the host of Cooking Live, Cooking Live Primetime, and Sara’s Secrets between 1996 and 2005, she was a founding Food Network personality. She’s been food editor of ABC-TV’s Good Morning America since 1997.  In the spring of 2008, she hosted Sara’s Weeknight Meals for public television.  Sara was Gourmet’s executive chef from 1987 until the magazine was shuttered in October of 2009.  She is the author of Sara's Secrets for Weeknight Meals and Sara Moulton Cooks at Home.  Her latest cookbook, Sara’s Everyday Family Dinners, was published by Simon & Schuster in the spring of 2010.
  Jeffrey Elliot has a degree from the Culinary Institute of America and has cooked at prestigious restaurants such as Le Cirque, and Le Bernardin in New York. Since leaving the kitchen, he’s owned an antiquarian bookstore, gotten an MBA, been a stockbroker, and worked for Share Our Strength www.strength.org, a not-for-profit dedicated to eradicating childhood hunger in America. Currently, Jeffrey is the Director of Culinary Relations for Zwilling JA Henckels, Demeyere, and Staub, as well as the Executive Chef and Brand Ambassador of Zwilling JA Henckels USA. He’s the co-author of The ZWILLING J.A. HENCKELS Complete Book of Knife Skills, a 400-page guide to use techniques and care published by Robert Rose.

• August 13-19, 2012. Andrea Beaman is a Natural Foods Chef, spokesperson, author, and television host dedicated to spreading knowledge about alternative healing and green and sustainable living.  Andrea was a featured contestant on Bravo’s hit reality show, Top Chef (seasons 1 and 5).  She is the food and health expert on CBS News, and has appeared on Barbara Walters’, The View.  She is the host of Wise UP! a health and wellness show that travels across the country in search of life-enhancing activities, alternative therapies, holistic health and organic foods.  And, she is the host of the Award Nominated Fed UP! an organic whole foods cooking show that teaches people how to cook for, and cure, their bodily ailments. Andrea is featured in the Top Chef Cookbook, Escape From Corporate America, and the Integrative Nutrition Case Histories books.  She has contributed articles to Women’s Health magazine, Forbes Traveler, Dish Du Jour, Physician Assistant magazine, Quick & Simple, Delicious, Nick Jr. magazine, Energy Times, Delicious Living, and many others. Andrea is the author of The Whole Truth – How I Naturally Reclaimed My Health, and You Can Too! and The Eating and Recipe Guide – Better Food, Better Health.  Her third book Health is Wealth – In Tough Financial Times The Best Investment is in Yourself is on the way.
  Ellise Pierce’s Cowgirl Chef: Texas Cooking with a French Accent (Running Press) is about the adventures (and mishaps) of a displaced Texan in Paris -- yes, it's a cookbook, but one with stories -- and it chronicles the struggles of dealing with the French (including Ellise’s picky eater boyfriend, X) and her own homesickness for Texas, which she cured by making salsa, tortillas, and starting a Tex-Mex catering and cooking class business out of her teensy, subterranean 16th arrondissement apartment... The result: A cookbook that’s as fun to read as it is to cook from. With stories and recipes inspired by both sides of the Atlantic, the first Cowgirl Chef cookbook gives the armchair traveler – and foodie -- plenty to chew on. From Cauliflower Galettes with Chipotle Crème Fraiche to Mom’s Black-Eyed Peas and Jalapeño Cornbread, Ellise’s recipes are fun, easy, and as approachable as her breezy, conversational writing style. An award-winning journalist, Ellise develops recipes for her own blog, CowgirlChef.com, and the Cowgirl Chef column, which runs in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and is distributed to more than 300 newspapers. She has also written for Newsweek, People, and Texas Monthly. Ellise lives in Paris and makes frequent trips back home to Dallas to see family and friends … and to stock up on jalapeños.
  As Texas’s renowned Chinese cooking teacher, Dorothy Huang has taught thousands of students to cook Chinese in their own homes. Her gorgeous cookbook, Chinese Cuisine Made Simple, is the most sought-after cookbook in Chinese Cuisine. It contains 160 mouth-watery recipes that emphasize nutritional values, easy preparation, and taste appeal. Her classes are always informative, entertaining, and delicious! Huang has developed recipes for major cookware and food companies. She is a member of the Houston Culinary Guild and the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

• September 10-16, 2012. Coined as the next inspiring food guru of her generation, Candice Kumai encourages men and women of all ages to obtain optimum health and wellness through their food. Culture, quality, balance and moderation are her guiding principles for great food and a happy life. After appearing on the premiere season of Bravo’s Top Chef, Kumai, the founder and creative artist behind www.StilettoChef.com became the Host of Lifetime’s hit series, Cook Yourself Thin and contributing writer to the #1 New York Times bestseller, Cook Yourself Thin: Skinny Meals You Can Make in Minutes. She is currently the newest host to TLC’s Home Made Simple, food TV personality for Cooking Channel’s Unique Eats and writes for various food and lifestyle publications.
  Chocolatiers John and Tracy Wood Anderson discovered their passion for fine European chocolates while attending college abroad in London. They create unforgettable confections from the finest ingredients, which are presented like fine jewelry in a shop reminiscent of an 18th century Parisian salon. Tracy honed her skills at the California Arts Program at the California Culinary Academy, where she specialized in pastry.  Today they both have followed their passion to chocolate as Tracy uses her skills to create the chocolates and John tends to the business side of things.

• October 15-21, 2012. Grace Young has been called the Stir-Fry Guru by the New York Times, the Wok Queen by the Washington Post, and the Wok Evangelist by the website Chow.com. Her newest cookbook Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge won the 2011 James Beard Foundation’s Best International Cookbook Award. It was also named one of the top cookbooks of the year by NPR, Washington Post, Good Morning America, and Huffington Post. Young is a three-time IACP award-winning writer, including the Jane Grigson Award for distinguished scholarship, recipient of the World Food Media Award, and the eGullet Culinary Journalist Scholarship. She is the award-winning author of The Breath of a Wok and The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen. Young has been featured in the New York Times, All Things Considered, and on CBS News Sunday Morning, in addition to appearing as a guest on the Martha Stewart Show. She is a contributing editor for Saveur magazine and her work has appeared in Saveur, Food & Wine, Bon Appétit, Gourmet, and Eating Well. She has lectured at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, New York University, Culinary Institute of America Greystone, James Beard Foundation, and the French Culinary Institute. For seventeen years Young was the Test Kitchen Director and Director for Food Photography for over forty cookbooks published by Time-Life Books.

• November 12-18, 2012. Sara Moulton worked for two years as an instructor at Peter Kump’s New York Cooking School (renamed the Institute of Culinary Education), where she discovered her love of teaching, a passion that would give focus to her subsequent work in television. Sara Moulton is one of the most trusted names in the food biz.  As the host of Cooking Live, Cooking Live Primetime, and Sara’s Secrets between 1996 and 2005, she was a founding Food Network personality. She’s been food editor of ABC-TV’s Good Morning America since 1997.  In the spring of 2008, she hosted Sara’s Weeknight Meals for public television.  Sara was Gourmet’s executive chef from 1987 until the magazine was shuttered in October of 2009.  She is the author of Sara's Secrets for Weeknight Meals and Sara Moulton Cooks at Home.  Her latest cookbook, Sara’s Everyday Family Dinners, was published by Simon & Schuster in the spring of 2010.

ABOUT LAKE AUSTIN SPA RESORT

Nestled along the shores of scenic Lake Austin in the beautiful Texas Hill Country, Lake Austin Spa Resort offers guests the sanctuary of a world-class spa and the warmth of a best friend’s lake house. Lake Austin Spa Resort offers all-inclusive vacation packages, which include accommodations in one of 40 charming lakeside guest rooms, three gourmet meals daily, indoor and outdoor fitness activities and classes, and a selection of spa and body treatments.

The resort has received numerous awards from prestigious national travel and spa magazines since its multi-million dollar renovation and expansion in 2004. Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, Allure, the Zagat Survey, Health, Garden Design, SpaFinder Lifestyle, Spa Magazine and American Airlines’ Celebrated Living magazine have recently honored Lake Austin Spa Resort as one of the best in the country and in the world.

For additional information and reservations, call 800-847-5637, or visit www.lakeaustin.com.

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