Bike Riders
The Art of Travelling Wellsm
P.O. Box 130254
Boston, MA 02113
www.bikeriderstours.com
info@bikeriderstours.com
Contact: Lorenzo De Monaco,
Director
1.800.473.7040 |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
ACCLAIMED CHEFS JOIN BIKE RIDERS FOR A SERIES OF
CULINARY BICYCLING TOURS THROUGH EUROPE'S GREATEST FOOD REGIONS
(January 24, 2006) Boston, Mass. - Bike Riders, the adventure travel company offering distinctive adventure vacations, has announced its 2006 line up of award-winning chefs for its Guest Chef Adventures. Now offered for the ninth consecutive year, Guest Chef Adventures offer travelers a chance to combine biking through such well-known culinary regions as Provence, Burgundy, Tuscany, Sicily, and Umbria. New for 2006, Bike Riders has added an additional Guest Chef destination, Puglia, located in the boot of Italy and known for its rich olive oil and fine Mediterranean cuisine. Bike Riders' Guest Chef Adventures merge the best of a bicycle tour with cooking lessons, vineyard tours, wine and cheese tastings and dining in four and five-star restaurants with a renowned chef as a traveling companion.
The Guest Chefs hail from top American restaurants including Chef Rick Moonen, one of the world's most celebrated seafood chefs of rm Seafood at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas; Chef Marc Orfaly, one of Food & Wine's 2004 Best New Chefs and chef/owner of Pigalle and Marco in Boston; Chef James Boyce, James Beard Award Nominee and Executive Chef of Studio at Montage Resort & Spa in Laguna Beach, CA; and Chef Roberto Donna of the award-winning Galileo in Washington, DC.
"Guest Chef Adventures are an ideal way to marry a love of adventure travel with a love of good food," said Bike Riders' Director Lorenzo De Monaco. "The chefs share cooking tips, wine choices and little known ingredients to help our travelers to enjoy the best a region has to offer, from a Provençal pistou to Tuscan artichokes, fava beans and pomodoro straight from the fields. The only requirement is a good appetite!"
Of all the active travel companies, only Bike Riders offer Guest Chef Adventures. Unlike other biking and walking outfitters, Bike Riders limits its Guest Chef Adventures (and its other trips) to no more than sixteen travelers, ensuring that each food lover enjoys personal, first-hand experience of cooking with the guest chef, and a rich give-and-take with local producers and restaurateurs. "Our roots in Italy and France are strong," explained De Monaco. "Over the years we've built excellent relationships with family farms and innkeepers. As a result, we can offer our travelers a chance to taste the first pressing of the olives, sample fresh ricotta, and savor a delicate Morgan from Burgundy from the cellar of the winemaker."
The 2006 Bike Riders' Guest Chefs include:
Italy
Tuscany: Cucina Toscana - Biking
Cost: $3980/person
May 14-21: Francesco Ricchi, Etrusco and Cesco, Bethesda, MD
Sept. 17-24: Roberto Donna, Galileo, Washington, D.C.
Oct. 15-22: Tom Gutow, The Castine Inn, Castine, ME
Umbria: Cycling & Cucina
Cost: $3880/person
Oct 1-8: Sanford D'Amato, Sanford, Milwaukee, WI
Sicily: Cucina Rustica
Cost: $3980/person
Sept 17-24: Marc Orfaly, Pigalle, and Marco, Boston, MA
Oct 6-13: Ron Suhanosky, Sfoglia, Nantucket, MA
Puglia: Cucina Pugliese
Cost: $3980/person
Sept 10-17: Chris Prosperi, Metro Bis, Simsbury, CT
Oct 8-15: Matt Abdoo, Marco, Boston, MA
France
Provence: La Cuisine du Soleil
Cost: $3980/person
Sept 11-18: Brad Steelman, The River Cafe, Brooklyn, NY
Sept 25-Oct 2: James Boyce, Studio, at The Montage Resort & Spa, Laguna Beach, CA
Burgundy: Grands Crus & Great Chefs
Cost: $3980/person
Sept 17-24: Rick Moonen, rm seafood, at Mandalay Bay Resort, Las Vegas, NV
Oct 1-8: Alex Stratta, Alex, at Wynn Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV
About Bike Riders
Since 1991 Boston-based Bike Riders has been offering small, elegant cycling trips to Maine, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, the Canadian Maritimes, Ireland, France, Italy. Spain and Portugal. A Bike Riders trip features off-the-beaten track itineraries, world-class inns and celebrated restaurants, many of which are Bike Riders' exclusives. Privately owned and operated by Eileen Holland and Lorenzo De Monaco, a husband-and-wife team who share a passion for travel and good food, as well as roots in many of regions they visit, Bike Riders "saturates [travelers] in the locale" and avoids the "generic tour" atmosphere of larger travel companies. Bike Riders has been recommended by such publications as Travel & Leisure, Food & Wine, Vogue, USA Today, The New York Times, New York Magazine, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The San Francisco Chronicle, Fodor's, Departures and Italia Magazine. Bike Riders also offers self-guided and private tours. More information can be found at www.bikeriderstours.com
About The Chefs
Matthew Abdoo-Puglia: Cucina Pugliese, October 8-15, 2006
Chef de cuisine of Boston's Marco, Matt Abdoo, has worked in the kitchen at Lupa in New York and beside Chef Marc Orfaly at Pigalle in Boston. Before opening Marco in the fall of 2005, Matt spent an inspirational tour of Italy, cooking at I Ricchi in Florence and Il Rossellino in a small town in Tuscany where he specialized in preparing house-cured salumi.
James Boyce-Provence: La Cuisine du Soleil, September 25-October 2, 2006
Classically trained, 20 year industry veteran James Boyce is Executive Chef of Studio, the signature dining restaurant at the Montage Resort & Spa in Laguna Beach, CA. His passion? "Redefining the classic dishes of the master chefs for today's sophisticated palette." James' award winning cooking style is characterized by rich, robust flavors - artfully enhanced by the regions' fresh healthful ingredients. Since opening in 2003, Studio has been named one of Esquire Magazine's "Best New Restaurants in America" and Food & Wine Magazine's "Top 50 Hotel Restaurants". Studio has also earned the "Best of Award of Excellence" from Wine Spectator Magazine and inclusion in Zagat Restaurant Survey's "America's Top Restaurants".
Sanford D'Amato-Umbria: Cycling and Cucina, October 1-8, 2006
Sanford D'Amato, owner/chef of Sanford in Milwaukee has been delivering fine cuisine since 1989, when the grocery store that had been in the family for 80 years, was transformed into the modern and streamlined dining room it is today. Dotted with wife Angie's personal touches to bring that taste of "home" to the restaurant, it provides a backdrop for the seasonally driven menu items produced in Sanford's kitchen. The commitment to serving food made with products at their peak flavor is exemplified on the daily menu and on the ever-changing Four-Course Seasonal Menu. Sanford has received accolades locally and nationally in such publications as: Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, Wine Spectator, Milwaukee Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, The New York Times and Esquire Magazine.
Roberto Donna - Tuscany: Cucina Toscana, September 17-24, 2006
Born in the Piedmont Region of Italy, Roberto Donna's mission is the promotion of authentic cuisine. As a James Beard Award-winning Chef and Restaurateur in Washington, DC, Roberto is committed to introducing others to the real flavors of Italy, which he provides in his eight restaurants. Expanding his culinary horizons early in his career by working in kitchens across England, France and Switzerland, Roberto arrived in DC at the age of 19. Four years later, in 1984, he opened Galileo and gained a strong following. In 1997, Wine Spectator called Galileo one of the "10 Best Italian Restaurants in America," and the magazine presented Mr. Donna with the Grand Award of Excellence for his wine cellar from 1997-1999. In 1996, Galileo was named one of the twenty finest Italian restaurants in the world by the President of Italy, and Roberto published his first cookbook "Cooking in Piedmont with Roberto Donna."
Tom Gutow - Tuscany: Cucina Toscana, October 15-22, 2006
"The execution of every dish was surpassed only by the magazine-cover plating. The meal was a labor-intensive tour de force," writes the Boston Globe of dining at chef/owner Tom Gutow's The Castine Inn. Looking to local producers as his primary source for ingredients is the anchor of Tom's cooking philosophy. Tom firmly believes the success of his food is inseparable from the quality of the ingredients supplied by the producers of Maine and specifically the region surrounding Castine. In May 2002, The Castine Inn was chosen as one of the top 50 Hotel Restaurants in the United States by Food & Wine Magazine. Articles about Tom and his cooking have been featured in several publications including Wine Spectator, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, The New York Times, and The Boston Globe. Additionally, The Castine Inn dining room and Tom's cooking were recently awarded four diamonds by AAA, recognizing Tom as one of the top chefs in the northeastern United States.
Rick Moonen - Burgundy: Grands Crus & Great Chefs, September 17-24, 2006
Chef Rick Moonen, one of the world's most celebrated seafood chefs, joined Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino's newest wave of destination restaurants with the opening of rm Seafood in 2005. The $8 million, 16 thousand square foot multi-level restaurant features the freshest and very best seafood. r.bar.cafe, offers regional coastal favorites and a bountiful world-class raw bar in a bustling market atmosphere while restaurant rm features Chef Moonen's inventive and refined tasting and a la carte menus, a signature of his craft. As executive chef and owner of New York City's rm, Moonen earned critical acclaim and 3 stars from the New York Times and four stars from 2005 Mobil Travel Guide. It would be difficult to name another chef, cooking anywhere in the world, whose acknowledged skill of fish cookery can match Chef Moonen's. Pair this with his sophisticated culinary skills, passion for the sea ("our last wild frontier" as he calls it) a keen palate, sensitivity to the environment, an analytical mind, and an eye for seeing what's great in "down-home" dining and translating it to a 3-star dish - and you've got Rick Moonen.
Marc Orfaly - Sicily: Cucina Rustica, September 17-24, 2006
Widely recognized as one of Boston's most talented young chefs, Marc Orfaly chef/owner of Pigalle has gained rave reviews from his creation of sophisticated Parisan cuisine with international accents since Pigalle's inception in 2000. In 2004, Food & Wine Magazine named Orfaly one of their 10 Best New Chefs. In the same year, he walked away with his first James Beard nomination, Best Chef Northeast. After establishing himself as a master of traditional French cuisine at Pigalle, Orfaly opened a new venue, Italian restaurant Marco, in Boston's historic North End in the fall of 2005.
Christopher Prosperi - Puglia: Cucina Pugliese, September 10-17, 2006
Christopher Prosperi is the chef owner of the award wining Metro Bis restaurant in Simsbury, Connecticut where he specializes in American Bistro Cuisine. This style of cooking creatively combines flavors, herbs and spices from around the world while maintaining the integrity of their original cuisines. Prosperi is a frequent guest on a variety of cooking segments including Channel 8 ABC News, and NBC 30 News. He teaches regular classes on American Bistro Cuisine and co-authors a weekly column in the Hartford Courant on basics of cooking in conjunction with Bill Daley, food writer for the Chicago Tribune and President of the Association of Food Journalists. Chris has been invited to prepare dinner at the James Beard House in New York three times and even bottles 3 of his own salad dressing under his own label. His first love and main focus is the kitchen where he integrates his culinary experiences to create the menu at Metro Bis and "the holy joy of creation literally lights up his face as he works the stove."
Francesco Ricchi - Tuscany: Cucina Toscana, May 14-21, 2006
A native Florentine, Francesco Ricchi brought a family tradition of old world cooking and the freshest ingredients to Washington, DC where he founded Ristorante i Ricchi, playing host to President Bush only weeks after its opening. Continuing the tradition, Chef Ricchi opened Cesco Trattoria in Bethesda, Maryland minutes from downtown Washington. Chef Ricchi's newest restaurant Etrusco Trattoria, located just north of Dupont Circle in Washington, DC boasts a menu of Tuscan dishes made famous by the chef who in 12 short years has become a Washington landmark. Chef Ricchi has earned dozens of awards including such honors as Best Newcomer (Washington Magazine); Best Italian Restaurant (Washington Magazine); Best New Restaurant in the United States (Esquire); Distinguished Restaurant of the North America Award; Top Twenty-Five Restaurants in North America (Food and Wine); Restaurant Hall of Fame (American Restaurant Association, 1995). Cesco Trattoria has been listed among the Washington Post's "50 Best Restaurants" as well as being named one of the "100 Very Best Restaurants" by Washington Magazine.
Alessandro Stratta - Burgundy: Grands Crus & Great Chefs, October 1-8, 2006
Alessandro Stratta is the executive chef of Alex at Wynn Las Vegas in Nevada, the two-billion-dollar resort that opened in 2005. Former executive chef of Renoir Restaurant at the Mirage, brings a lifetime of work and experience to Wynn Las Vegas. Graduating with Honors from the California Culinary Institute, Chef Stratta's first experience was under the tutelage of pastry chef Jim Dodge at San Francisco's Stanford Court Hotel. Soon after accepting an internship at the Michelin Three-Star Hotel De Paris in Monte Carlo, Stratta was invited by Alain Ducasse to join his team at the Louis XV. Chef Ducasse was also the mentor who advised Stratta to work with Daniel Boulud at Le Cirque in New York, which he did for two years. In 1989, Stratta was hired as the executive chef at Mary Elaine's at the Five-Star Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona and established it as the finest dining destination in Arizona during his tenure there. In 1998, Steve Wynn, Chairman of Mirage Resorts, Inc. asked Stratta to become part of the expanding Las Vegas culinary circle as executive chef of Renoir at the Mirage.
Ron Suhanosky - Sicily: Cucina Rustica, October 6-13, 2006
Ron is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America. He has held positions at restaurants such as The River Café (NYC) and Park Avenue Café (NYC). After an eight month excursion of cooking through the backroads of Italy, he returned to become the chef of Alloro (Boston), Galleria Italiana (Boston) and Il Buco (NYC). Ron's romance and devotion to pasta began as a child when his great grandmother would cook for the family every Sunday. Ron and his wife Colleen, a pastry chef, own Sfoglia, named after his true passion. Sfoglia refers to pasta sfoglia, a sheet of uncut pasta.
Contact: Lorenzo De Monaco, Director, Bike Riders 1.800.473.7040
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