Tag Archives: Four Seasons Resorts

Asia/Pacific, experiential travel, food-and-wine travel

Learn to Cook Indonesian Style at Four Seasons Bali’s Newly Opened Jimbaran Bay Cooking Academy

Four Seasons Bali is the only resort on the island to feature its own stand-alone cooking school.
Four Seasons Bali is the only resort on the island to feature its own stand-alone cooking school.

Delicious local food is one of Bali’s most famous attractions and now visitors can take home the authentic flavors of Indonesian cuisine, thanks to a new Jimbaran Bay Cooking Academy which has opened at the Four Seasons Bali at Jimbaran Bay.

“Four Seasons is the only resort on the island to feature its own stand-alone cooking school. We wanted to go beyond offering casual lessons in the kitchen to providing a full professional-quality training facility. Our classes are designed for novice and experienced cooks alike – creating a focused learning environment for a maximum of 10 students per session,” says Michael Branham, General Manager.

“Food is a great way to create a deep personal connection and also enhance people’s cultural appreciation of Bali and Indonesia. Many of the recipes are based on old family traditions. Now our guests can take these recipes home and share these authentic dishes with their own family and friends.”

Set in its own building, the Jimbaran Bay Cooking Academy features a charming stone-paved courtyard and herb garden at its entrance. Enormous glass doors lead into the air-conditioned kitchen, equipped with gleaming state-of-the-art appliances and a large, kidney-shaped, black granite preparation unit with induction hot plates. Students can sample their creations at the communal dining table or outdoors in the shaded courtyard. All graduates receive an official certificate of achievement, as well as copies of the recipes in a beautiful hand-drawn booklet.

The Jimbaran Bay Cooking Academy provides a hands-on opportunity to learn about the secret techniques and distinctive ingredients of Indonesian cuisine. Recipes are sourced from the resort’s team of Four Seasons chefs who come from various regions across Indonesia, including Bali, Sulawesi and Sumatra. All classes are taught in English only.

Classes are led by Chef Anak Agung Kristya Yudha, a Balinese native who has been preparing delicious meals for Four Seasons guests for more than 20 years. Caring and passionate with a charming sense of humor, Kristya enjoys engaging with students and sharing his knowledge of Indonesian cuisine and culture.

In each half-day session, students learn to prepare a full five-course meal according to traditional menus representing Bali, Java, Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi and Sumatra. Highlight dishes include: “Sate rembiga” (traditional beef satay skewer with spicy sauce) from the Nusa Tenggara region; “Bebek betutu”(roasted duck with wrapped in banana leaf) from Bali; and a dessert of “Es doger” (young coconut, tapioca pearls and cassava with sweet milk) from Java.

As part of the day, students can visit the Jimbaran Fish Market – about 10 minutes from Four Seasons – to see how locals shop for the freshest seafood. Students can also pick indigenous ingredients from the academy’s herb and spice garden that grows Thai lemon basil, tamarind, pandan leaf, ginger and garlic.

Taking a class at the Cooking Academy is ideal as an interactive family activity. Once a week, the school offers a kids’ pastry class, focusing on Indonesian desserts.

After an optional market tour at 8 a.m., students gather in the kitchen at 9:30 a.m. to create an authentic Indonesian meal. There are six regional menus (including two different Bali menus), rotating on a daily basis, seven days per week. Special pricing is available when booking multiple sessions, starting at IDR 900,000++ per class. Classes are open to a maximum of 10 participants. Non-resort guests are welcome to attend with advance reservation.

Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay sits along Bali’s southern coast in 35 acres of oceanfront gardens. Accommodations include 147 villas and nine grand-scale residence villas that can accommodate up to 10 in palatial 11,000 – 24,000-square-foot spaces with 24-hour butler service. Memorable dining options include four restaurants and lounges featuring Indonesian, Thai and global cuisine, in-villa and in-residence dining and specialty meals accompanied by traditional Balinese dance. Cooking classes offer novice to expert instruction in Balinese, Indonesian and Asian dishes as well as the culinary secrets of pastry. The oceanfront Spa features an array of treatments that demonstrate the curative powers of water, including Balinese ayurvedic wellness and healing rituals, along with massages and yoga sessions offered in thatched open-air oceanside gazebos.

For more details on schedules and booking at the Jimbaran Bay Cooking Academy, phone (62 361) 701010, or email [email protected], www.fourseasons.com/jimbaranbay/

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Africa, ecotourism, Responsible Travel, Sustainable Travel

Four Seasons Safari Lodge Offers New ‘Walk in the Wild Serengeti’; Hosts Serengeti Lion Project Exhibit

Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti has introduced a new "Walk in the Wild Serengeti" experience with Masai guides.
Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti has introduced a new “Walk in the Wild Serengeti” experience with Masai guides.

Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti has introduced a new “Walk in the Wild Serengeti” experience with Masai guides, park rangers and the Lodge’s resident naturalists leading the way through the bush in this UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Stop by the Discovery Centre for a viewing of the new Serengeti Lion Project Wildlife Photography Exhibition, August 1-31 by Serengeti Lion Project researcher Daniel Rosengren.

Proceeds from sales of photos will support the Serengeti Lion Project Research, the world’s most extensive daily mammal monitoring project, which has gathered detailed data on more than 5,000 lions since the 1960s. Rosengren, a Swedish biologist and senior field researcher who is passionate about travel and nature, traded in his globe-roaming bike for a Land Rover in 2010 to study the daily habits of the Serengeti’s lions. The exhibition will feature 40 or more of his most stunning images.

Inspired to follow in Rosengren’s photographic footprints? Visit The Lodge now and be among the first to experience its new Walk in the Wild Serengeti, a transformative 90-minute guided walk where you’ll help install a “camera trap” that digitally records the Serengeti’s majestic animals on the move. Elephants, cheetahs, lions and even notoriously hard-to-spot leopards are known for their cameos.

This guided walk shines a light on the wildlife sanctuary’s most subtle and unusual characteristics. Led by the Resident Naturalist at Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti, Masai guides and national park rangers, you’ll explore the beautiful landscape of Serengeti National Park as your guides point out animal tracks, interesting insects and useful plants.

Guests can also help The Serengeti Lion Project classify the different animals found in images caught by over 200 remote camera traps that have been set up in the Serengeti by visiting the Snapshot Serengeti website.

The Walk in the Wild and the Serengeti Lion Project Photo Exhibition are among the many innovative experiences undertaken by Four Seasons Safari Lodge and its pioneering Discovery Centre.  Part museum exhibit, part lecture theatre, it’s the first lodge-based conservation research and education platform in Serengeti. Chat with Lodge experts and explore a series of displays, exhibition boards and interactive presentations, or attend periodic talks by guest speakers. Participate in special research projects with local experts closely involved with Serengeti’s wildlife research and conservation projects.

Make your base camp in The Lodge’s two-story great house, with guest rooms and suites that all offer stunning views of the Serengeti landscape.

A more private escape can be had in one of the five freestanding villas. Ideal for couples and families, The Lodge is one of the first on the continent to welcome children ages 8+, a significant milestone for families with young ones and teens. The entire property is accessible via raised wooden walkways making short excursions into the bush not a far venture from the Lodge.

In addition to taking your exploration to an intimate new level during the Wild Walk in the Serengeti, The Kijana Klub offers children their own opportunity to learn about local culture and wildlife through a series of planned activities including short walks in the bush with a Maasai guide and learning basic wildlife research skills such as radio tracking and camera traps.

Other memorable guest experiences include sundowners at the infinity pool while elephants gather at the watering hole below, private romantic dinners in the bush, the Lodge’s celebrated Boma Grill and signature spa treatments featuring Africology spa products at purpose-built Spa.

For more information, visit www.fourseasons.com/serengeti.

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