We at Pursuitist love a good food weekend. And when you combine that with an award-winning portfolio of chefs, a luxury hotel stay, and wine from one of our favorite regions (Willamette Valley, Oregon) … let’s just say we can’t wait to attend. For the third year, the award-winning Allison Inn & Spa’s annual Cuvée Weekend will take place February 24-25, 2017.
The Food
New this year, The Allison’s Executive Chef Sunny Jin, whose pedigree includes stints at The French Laundry in Yountville, CA; Tetsuya in Sydney, Australia and El Bulli in Spain, will collaborate with four all-star chef friends who have worked together in the past and are alumni of The French Laundry. The seasoned culinary line up for Cuvée Weekend 2017 at The Allison Inn & Spa and JORY includes:
- Chef Rodney Wages, most recently Chef de Cuisine at Morimoto Napa, Saison and Atelier Crenn, who has opened his own pop up R.T.B Fillmore in San Francisco.
- Chef Jonathan Mizukami, whose background includes stints at El Bulli, Alan Wong’s, Per Se in New York, The Vintage Cave, Grant Achatz’s Alinea in Chicago and Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, England.
- Chef Joel Stocks, previously Sous Chef of the two Michelin-starred Graham Elliott Restaurant in Chicago and of Holdfast in Portland.
- Executive Pastry Chef Courtney Schmidig of Benu in San Francisco rounds out the team. Prior to her time at The French Laundry, Courtney also spent time at The Fat Duck and Le Manoir in England, Le Meurice in Paris and Arzak in Spain.
The Activities
Naturally, the weekend is about more than just food. Starting Friday, there’s the Cuvée Stroll, where guests will taste their way through 14 wineries with 20 artisan food and beverage purveyors.
That Saturday, there’s the Oregon Chardonnay Celebration, which offers oenophiles an educational seminar and wine sampling from over 40 premier Oregon producers. That evening, visitors are invited to partake in a five-course, prix fixe dinner featuring the region’s top wineries. For one night only at the resort’s signature restaurant JORY, Executive Chef Jin will collaborate with Chefs Wages, Stocks, Mizukami and Schmidig to offer one course from each chef, with top tier Oregon wine pairings.
“We are dedicated to providing the best cuisine and wine from the Willamette Valley and are delighted that this year we will be collaborating with a group of celebrated chefs for the third annual Cuvée Weekend at The Allison,” said Pierre Zreik, Managing Director of The Allison Inn & Spa. “We are committed to giving back to our community and look forward to offering guests access to exceptional local wineries and purveyors at Cuvée Stroll, as we showcase what makes the Willamette Valley truly special.”
The Accommodations
Much of the event takes place at The Allison Inn & Spa, a gorgeous luxury resort in the heart of Oregon wine country, which features fewer than 100 intimate yet luxurious guest rooms, a posh 12-room spa with wine-themed treatments, indoor swimming pool, the signature JORY restaurant, and more.
