Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
host to 26 presidents as well as royalty such as the Prince of Wales (in 1919) and celebrities
like Bob Hope. The hotel even has a secret underground bunker from the Cold War era that
was designed to house members of Congress in case of nuclear attack.
The Greenbrier was the country's first resort to offer cooking schools. BBQ U, which
has logged four popular seasons on PBS television, is held several times a year (May, June,
and August in 2007) and the cost to attend the three-day event is $2,349 per person. This
price includes accommodations, welcome reception and dinner, and daily lunch tastings. In
addition to BBQ U, the Culinary Arts Center offers such classes as “The Perfect Picnic,”
“Brilliant Brunch for a Bunch,” and “Hors d'Oeuvres to Impress.” The Greenbrier also has a
falconry academy, an off-road driving school, and an afternoon tea with concert that has been
held since 1931.
Greenbrier Culinary Arts Center,
300 W. Main Street, White Sulphur Springs, WV
24986, 800-228-5049, www.greenbrier.com.
Hugh Carpenter's Camp Napa.
At this weeklong gourmet camp, you'll get an insider's
tour of the Napa Valley's elite small wineries. The daily hands-on cooking classes are held
at such unique places as Cakebread Cellars (any celebrity chef worth his or her apron strings
has cooked in Jack and Dolores Cakebread's wonderful kitchen) and the 19th-century estate
property of Georges de Latour, founder of Beaulieu Estates. You'll make such scrumptious
delicacies as tuna carpaccio with capers, chilies, and ginger; Tex-Mex wontons with New
Age guacamole; Brutus Caesar salad; and coconut curry soup explosion.
The week starts with a dinner party welcome at the home of your tour guide, Hugh
Carpenter, author of 14 cookbooks. Along with his wife, photographer Teri Sandison, Car-
penter serves pizzas from his outdoor wood-burning oven, chilled prawns, pan-fried dump-
lings, smoked baby back pork ribs, chilled soup with lobster, homemade ice cream, and, of
course, Napa Valley wines.
Also included in the weeklong workshop are five cooking classes, a croquet tournament,
a bocce tournament, and special tours that in the past have included such private estates as
actor Fred MacMurray's 19th-century ranch (it's now owned by the Gallo family and not
open to the public) and the home (recently featured in
Architectural Digest)
of Fred and Mary
Constant, owners of Constant Wines, producers of what the
Wine Spectator
calls “can't-be-
missed Cabernets.”
Afternoons at Camp Napa are free so participants can partake in Napa's luxurious spas,
artists' studios, and balloon rides over the vineyards. The seven-day camp includes lunches,
receptions, dinner, tours, and cooking classes for $2,100. Sessions are held in July, Septem-
ber, and October.
