Heads up, foodies: Aman has rounded up a series of culinary experiences at each of its properties. Here's the latest.
Aman Tokyo, Japan Launches The Café by Aman
Aman Tokyo has a new café concept: The Café by Aman. Situated on the ground floor of The Otemachi Tower in the heart of Tokyo's business district, the new eatery serves a seasonal menu of Mediterranean-inspired cuisine with a focus on local produce. The café's signature Afternoon Tea incorporates Japan’s Bento concept with delicate pastries served in customized wooden boxes.
Amanbagh, India Offers Ajabgarh Cooking Lessons and Private Gwaadi Dining
Guests at this resort on Rajasthan's rugged Aravalli hills can learn to cook Indian cuisine in a traditional Ajabgarh styled gwaadi (village hut), built to replicate a local home with mud walls and a straw roof within the resort’s grounds. After picking fresh produce from the hotel's organic gardens, guests cook with Amanbagh’s chefs over a chulha (local mud stove), then dine on their creations. Many of Amanbagh’s chefs come from nearby villages. For guests looking for a romantic getaway, the gwaadi offers private dining in the evenings.
Vietnamese Cooking Classes at Amanoi, Vietnam
As part of the hands-on cooking lessons at this resort, guests learn how to create Bánh xèo, a savoury fried Vietnamese pancake, Bò lá lốt, minced beef fillet infused with Vietnamese spices and wrapped in betel leaf, as well as the signature dish of Vietnamese cuisine, fresh rice paper and vegetable hand rolls.
"A Culinary Journey through East Bali" at Amankila, Bali
Guides from the resort will take guests on a "culinary journey" beginning at Black Sands Kusamba where, across from Karangasem’s famous Bat Cave Temple, the Balinese have produced natural sea salt for hundreds of years. After that, guests visit to the village of Manggis, famed for its mangosteen fruit orchards follows, Mount Agung, and Amankila’s organic farm situated near the Temple of Pasar Agung. After descending through rice terraces and local farming communities to Jasri Beach, guests can enjoy an organic chocolate tasting in a coconut plantation. The journey concludes with a visit to Amankila’s free-range duck farm.
Cooking classes at Amankila, which begin with a chef’s tour of Klungklung Market, are also available.
Amandari, Bali Offers Cooking Lessons and Organic Produce
Amandari’s open-air teak restaurant serves a Balinese Feast which includes a selection of smoked duck, babi guling (suckling pig), lawa (long bean salad) and ayam sambal matah (spiced chicken). Guests can learn to make a number of these and other dishes in cooking classes, held in a local family’s home after a visit to the morning market.
New Beach Club Restaurant and Thai Cooking Lessons at Amanpuri, Thailand
Amanpuri, Thailand, just opened a newly renovated Beach Club with a new dining area that serves Mediterranean dishes and wood-fired food for lunch and dinner. The Beach Club also has a lap pool, cocktail bar and lounge.
For those who would like to try their hand at Thai cooking, Amanpuri is offering cooking classes with Mae Naree, the resort’s Executive Chef. Held in the recently opened Lounge, located adjacent to the Italian restaurant and featuring a cheese drawer and walk-in wine room, the classes guide guests through Thai cuisine’s key ingredients and include the preparation of four dishes. These can be enjoyed afterwards with a glass of Thai wine in The Restaurant.
Matsutake Season and Bhutanese Cooking Classes at Amankora, Bhutan
This matsutake season in Bhutan, which will run throughout August, Amankora will play host to Japanese chef Tsutomu Oba. A professional sushi chef and the owner of boutique sushi restaurant Sushi Kokoro in Kagurazaka, Tokyo, Chef Oba will prepare exclusive sushi and matsutake mushroom gastronomy for guests at the Amankora Thimphu lodge from August 13 to 15. Guests will also have the opportunity to visit Geneka Village to witness the harvesting of matsutake mushrooms and learn more about this special ingredient.
Those visiting Amankora Punakha can take part in unique Bhutanese cooking classes in the lodge’s farmhouse kitchen. They will create their own menu from a list of popular national dishes and enjoy their creations after making them in the lodge’s courtyard.
Cooking in the Rice Paddies and Roti Dinner at Amangalla, Sri Lanka
Amangalla resides within the walls of the UNESCO-protected Galle Fort on Sri Lanka’s south coast. Near the village of Yatagala, the resort has built a traditional Sri Lankan kitchen and a thatched-roof, open-sided ambalama pavilion for traditional cooking lessons or romantic private dining. The cooking lessons begin with shopping for fresh ingredients in the various markets of Galle town. After a short drive inland, participants join Lalitha, a local village lady from Yatagala, who leads the class in making Sri Lankan dishes in traditional clay pots including deviled prawns, dhal, eggplant moju, chicken curry, a variety of sambols and more.
Borobudur Breakfasts and Candlelit Dinners at Amanjiwo, Central Java
Just a few minutes drive from the resort, Borobudur is a UNESCO-protected monument boasting more than 2,600 stone relief panels and over 500 Buddha statues. Borobudur is best viewed at sunrise, after which guests can enjoy a picnic breakfast atop Dagi Hill or at the convergence of two rivers nearby in the gardens of a private art gallery.
Another private dining option is dinner hosted in a private home at a local village, only available to Amanjiwo guests. Candles line the pathway to a local villager Pak Bilal’s home welcoming dining room, where a multi-course, home-cooked Indonesian feast is served.
Amansara, Cambodia Offers Traditional Khmer Kitchen and Private Dining
Within the World Heritage Site overlooking the 10th century royal reservoir of Srah Srang is Amansara’s traditional village house and Khmer kitchen. Here, after a shopping expedition to the local market, guests can gather fresh herbs, chilies and salad items from the garden before learning to cook several Khmer dishes in the rustic stilted house. The Khmer
village house is also a romantic setting for private dinners at sunset to the accompaniment of live classical roneat ek music.
Jimbaran Seafood Market & Cooking Class at Amanusa, Bali
Departing after an early morning breakfast, guests will travel with the resort's executive chef to the Jimbaran seafood market, situated on the shores of Jimbaran Bay. There guests will select their own seafood directly from the market sellers. Back at the resort, guests will then have a hands-on lesson in the outdoor cooking school.
Morning Cooking Classes at Amantaka, Laos
Guests can delve into the culinary experience of Laotian food with a visit to the morning market, a short walk from Amantaka. They will be escorted by the hotel’s executive chef who will guide guests through the stalls of kai pan (freshwater nori), cheo bong (dried chillies) and the array of vegetables, spices and meats on display. Following the market tour, guests are taken to the hotel’s organic farm, The Living Land Company, located in Phongyan village. Upon returning to Amantaka, guests will take part in a cooking lesson in the open air kitchen of the hotel.