This year's South by Southwest took place March 10 to 19 at various venues in Austin, Texas. At the Sony Wow Factory, the company spotlighted several of its projects, including many still in development with its Future Lab Program, to the public with its venue at Trinity Warehouse. It also demonstrated a virtual-reality music video through Playstation with the Chainsmokers. Guests could record their “wow experience” on a massive plywood wall.
During this pre-dinner interactive experience from Wolfgang Puck Catering, guests break into groups and move from station to station pickling their own ingredients. Two weeks later, the jars are ready to eat. The catering company also provides recipe ideas with ways to use the new pickled ingredients.
At Kimpton Taconic's adult summer camp in Manchester, Vermont, guests spend a weekend participating in outdoor activities, including hiking, kayaking, yoga, kite making, glass blowing, and zip-lining. Plus, attendees learn how to master the pit with alfresco barbecue lessons. The hotel offers two camp sessions (June 23 to 26 and August 25 to 28), with other weekends available upon request with three weeks’ notice. The cost is $418 a night per person.
Launching this fall, the Hilton New Orleans Riverside will be offering hands-on mixology classes in Public Belt, the speakeasy-style piano lounge on the hotel’s second floor. The crash course begins with a cocktail history lesson, followed by an interactive demonstration of the city’s signature drink: the old-fashioned. Participants receive recipe cards and a Public Belt T-shirt. The fee is based on group size, with a maximum of 20 meeting attendees. And across the Mississippi at Whiskey and Rye at the Omni Fort Worth Hotel in Texas, groups learn how to make a local favorite: the Depot. The cocktail is served with Texas whiskey, muddled blackberries, Grand Marnier, lemon juice, and sugar.
The Thompson Playa del Carmen in Mexico offers up a “Catch of the Day” program, where guests team up with local fishermen to catch fresh fish offshore, which can then be grilled or made into ceviche or sushi for the group dinner. In addition, guests can pair their fish dishes with the hotel's tequila and mezcal flight-tasting classes.
At the Towers of the Waldorf Astoria New York, small groups can book an exclusive beekeeping experience, where they can explore the hotel's rooftop hives with a culinary team member and learn how the honey is incorporated into their three-course lunch of honey-infused dishes.
At the Marriott Harbor Beach Resort in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, groups head to the hotel’s herb garden to handpick their own mint to be muddled into cocktails during mojito mixology classes. And in Michigan, groups can create a farm-to-flute pineapple sage mojito at the JW Marriott Grand Rapids’ bar Jdek, which features an outdoor garden [pictured] and a living wall of herbs, fruits, and vegetables where participants learn how to pick pineapple sage and muddle it with fresh fruit.
In their spacious shop, the owners of Jersey City, New Jersey-based Bucket & Bay Craft Gelato Company teach guests how to make the company's inventive flavors from scratch, including gelato made with seasonal ingredients and infused with spirits like whiskey, rum, or mezcal. Bucket & Bay offers one-of-a-kind flavors such as Rose Latte (rose-petal-infused milk gelato); Purple Sticky Rice (black sticky rice and lemon grass); and Black Label Vanilla with Johnnie Walker Black Label.
At the Waldorf Astoria Orlando and Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek, guests create seasonal meals by plucking produce from an indoor herb wall and vegetable garden. Elsewhere in Florida, the Hilton West Palm Beach offers an experiential Mason jar salad-making class where attendees handpick oranges from the potted trees located on the Palm Deck to make a flavorful citrus dressing.
Denver-based winery the Infinite Monkey Theorem offers a blending trial at its Austin, Texas, location in which groups create their own vessel of wine. Guests can then take home two growlers of their custom blend.
The historic Clifton Inn in Charlottesville, Virginia, offers guests the opportunity to explore the 100-plus-acre property with hands-on foraging sessions and cooking classes as part of its two-day “Forage & Feast” package. In addition, guests learn basic culinary lessons, such as how to sharpen knives and how to clean and prepare fresh fish. The package costs $4,000 and requires a minimum of six guests.
Through its partnership with Wicked Dolphin Rum, guests of the Westin Cape Coral Resort at Marina Village in Florida can tour the distillery, learn the art of making rum, and sample specialty flights. Groups are provided with recipe cards and challenged to craft a cocktail with the company's rum and seasonal ingredients.
