Sur la Table culinary tour of Northern Vietnam with Michael Coon

Sur la Table Culinary Tour of Northern Vietnam, photo by Michael Coon

Sur la Table is offering a once-in-a-lifetime trip for foodies and culture vultures: The Ultimate Culinary Tour of Vietnam, created and personally led by renowned culinary travel expert, Michael Coon. A veteran of Vietnam travel, Coon has called on his many personal relationships throughout Vietnam to design an itinerary that is unequalled by any other tour company. (He is the former International Travel Program Director for the Culinary Institute of America's Worlds of Flavors tours, and currently World Cuisine R&D consultant for Viking Range Corp.)

From the Society for Culinary Arts & Letters: "Michael Coon  . . . does things right. He picks great places with fascinating and delicious culinary traditions and staffs it with some of the best people in the business."

Ha Long Bay, Vietnam.  Photo by Michael Coon

Sur la Table's "Cooking & Culture in Hanoi & Northern Vietnam," with Michael Coon
March 22-28, 2010
Based in a century-old French-colonial hotel in the picturesque Old Quarter of Hanoi, you will explore the tree-lined streets of this European-influenced city, attending hands-on workshops with top local chefs and learning traditional techniques that have made Vietnamese cuisine so well loved around the globe.

Tour vibrant local markets, watch artisan food producers at work and take a daylong excursion to spectacular, jade-colored Ha Long Bay, flecked with thousands of small islands. Space is extremely limited.  The adventure-packed 6-day culinary expedition includes:

• Hands-on cooking classes & tasting demo with renowned Chef Didier Corlou of La Verticale (of one of Condé Nast Traveler’s 2008 Top 100 New Restaurants in the World)
• Special cooking demon & local food tasting at the Hotel Sofitel Metropole Hanoi
• Guided tours & tastings with local artisan food producers, trips to local markets & more
• Sightseeing at cultural & historic sites
• Full-day excursion to breathtaking beautiful Ha Long Bay
• Luxury accommodations at the Sofitel Metropole, Hanoi’s premier hotel since 1901, in the heart of the city near the old quarter and featuring restaurants, bars, a swimming pool and a new spa
• Breakfast each morning
• Meals in award-winning local restaurants
• Transfers/ground transportation
• Professional English-speaking guide

Hotel Sofitel Metropole, Hanoi, Vietnam. Photo by Sur la Table

For more information: insideroute@aol.com

More about Michael Coon and his newest endeavor, Casa de Cocinas, a food and travel discovery center in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Founder/editor of BestGolfResortsofTheWorld.com,  Karen Misuraca is a travel and golf writer from the California Wine Country. She follows the little white ball around the world and blogs golf travel at bestgolf.typepad.com/blog/