Vacationing Foodies Can Cook with Mark Bittman in Cancun

Where: Retorno del Rey, 36, Cancun, Mexico, 77500

October 17, 2008 at 9:14 AM | by ChristineM | Comments (0)

After all the recent slipping and sliding on Wall Street, our 401K plans aren't looking too healthy. But the good news is that what's left can be spent on the Ritz-Carlton Cancun's weekend of "Cooking and Conversation Classes" with food writer and chef Mark Bittman.

The one-time-only event will be held from Nov. 13 to 16 and is limited to 16 guests. But for a mere $5,800 per couple, you too can shop at local fish and produce markets alongside Bittman, who then schools participants at the hotel's Culinary Center on how to turn the ingredients into a meal, which is enjoyed by Bittman and the group along with a selection of Mexican wines.

These culinary underachievers will also be able to grill side-by-side with Bittman during a casual beach barbeque that will include tequila tastings from the hotel's collection of more than 100 different bottles (that's a lot of tequila shots!)

And if that's not enough to make you want to check into the Betty Crocker Clinic, the cost also covers a dine-around at the resort's restaurants, featuring menus created by Bittman and prepared by the resort's chefs. Of course, accommodations are part of the deal, too.

Seriously though, you'd have to be a major Bittman follower to drop almost three Gs a person to shop at Mexican food markets and do tequila shooters during a beach BBQ.

Clearly, cooking with the author of "The Minimalist," Bittman's weekly New York Times dining section, is not an everyday event, and if you're a ferocious foodie, then maybe it's money well spent. But for the rest of us, barbeques and tequila are the stuff that the summers of our college years were made of and no one was shelling out six digits on those weekends.

For those of you who just can't help but to indulge yourselves, call the hotel directly at 52-998-881-0808 to book or visi the website.

HotelChatter

Select a Destination:

Ritz-Carlton Hotels / Celebrity Chefs / Hotel Packages / Culinary Hotel Packages / Mark Bittman / → All Tags