Boston Hotels Offer Chef-Driven Experiences

The main kitchen at the Westin Copley Place Boston is very busy — vast and filled with industrial-size equipment to serve the hotel’s guests and extensive banquet facilities. But once a month, when the bakeshop section is quiet, a group of amateurs gathers in that kitchen to learn from Le Cordon Bleu-trained Chef Roy Kaler.

This monthly cooking class series, which covers everything from pasta to croissants, was an outgrowth of the pandemic, Kaler says. “As we were emerging from the lock-down of Covid and beginning to rebuild our business, we thought it was important to find ways to re-connect with the community,” he explains. “At first, I was offering them every Saturday and every class was sold out. I got to see the relief and joy that people were feeling as they once again got to participate in social interaction.” But as the event business returned to the property, which marked its 40th anniversary this summer, the classes dropped to a steady once-a month event, and usually sell out. The classes are open to the community, and he sees a lot of repeat students, as well as a handful of hotel guests who are delighted when the class coincides with their stay.

By far, the most popular has been the croissant class, Kaler says. “Though the process is quite technical, I think the biggest challenge for most people is convincing themselves that they can, indeed, make croissants,” he says. “People are amazed that we can complete the croissant class in three hours,” but the chef has a few tricks to ensure that every student gets to experience every aspect of making the croissants from start to finish, then have time to enjoy them at the end (and even take some home).

Just across the street, the Fairmont Copley Plaza offers a very different chef-driven experience— a tour of the biggest farmer’s market in Boston to select ingredients for a one-of-a-kind meal. Open only to guests who book the Farmers Market Tour & Dinner package, the event starts with an early check-in (when available) and a private shopping excursion to the Copley Place Farmer’s Market with Executive Chef Zaid Khan. Together, guests and Chef will source ingredients for dinner, then Chef will prep an off-menu three-course meal using the farm fresh selections while participants relax back at the hotel or out in the city. Dinner will be served that evening in the hotel’s OAK Long Bar + Kitchen. While the menu is driven by guest preference, Chef Khan envisions a seafood-forward menu, as he loves working with Jason from Red’s Best who is at the market every Tuesday and Friday.

For this month, Chef Khan is excited to see corn, peaches, tomatillos, cherries and eggplant arriving at the market. “Nothing screams summer to me like corn and stonefruit,” he says. “The wait for this bounty is long in New England, but worth it!”

Corn has already made an appearance at OAK Long Bar + Kitchen, in the new BBQ Chicken dish, with a sweet corn succotash as a side. The chef says the kitchen is also working on a Korean-fusion Corn Elotes concept, in homage to one of their chefs of Korean heritage, featuring Kewpi Mayo, Furkake and Gochugaru Chili while still using seasonal local corn.

Monthly cooking classes at the Westin Copley Plaza, Boston are available to book here and start at $85. The Farmers Market Tour & Dinner package at the Fairmont Copley Plaza is available Fridays only through Oct. 6 and must be booked at least seven days in advance. It includes an overnight stay, the tour and dinner for two.