Sur La Table to offer cuisine-inspired travel experiences
Sur La Table is traveling abroad — and taking customers along for the ride.
Through a collaboration with educational travel provider Academic Travel Abroad Inc., the specialty retailer of cookware, kitchen electrics and bakeware will be offering an interactive series of educational trips. The program will feature authentic, cuisine-inspired immersive experiences throughout the world.
Called Culinary Journeys, each trip will have detailed itineraries that include exclusive food tours, cooking classes and access to artisan workshops. Each experience is designed to enable customers to explore local customs, traditions, new tastes and cultures. The first two experiences in the series, which kick off in the fall, will debut in France.
The company’s “A Taste of Northwestern France” journey will bring customers to Normandy and Brittany Sept. 1-8. Here, customers will learn the gastronomic culture highlighting the region’s charming seaside villages, organic farms and vibrant local markets. Hands-on experiences include a crepe-making class, a visit to Normandy’s storied island of Mont Saint-Michel and a shrimp preparation demonstration led by a local head chef.
Then on Sept. 29 - Oct. 6, Sur La Table will host “A Taste of Provence and the French Riviera” in Marseille and Nice. This program will highlight French cuisine through exclusive food tours, hands-on cooking classes and artisan workshops. In addition to experiencing regional dishes, the series will also discuss the culture and history that underpins the vibrant food scene of Southern France. There will also be a private tour of Maison Empereur, an iconic heritage hardware store that sells over 60,000 unique items.
These two destinations were chosen as an homage to Sur La Table’s founder Shirley Collins and her inspiration for the brand, according to the company. In 2025, the retailer plans to host trips to Paris, as well as southern Italy.
“As travel and food truly go hand in hand to make a memorable experience, we are more than thrilled to introduce this new series with Academic Travel Abroad Inc.,” said Meredith Abbot, culinary director and trip expert at Sur La Table. “Our mission at Sur La Table is to bring people together through the celebration of food, and this new series will do just that.”
The travel series is the next step in the brand’s experiential retail activations. These include the company’s signature 'Ask a Chef’ program, booking one-on-one sessions with in-store experts for hands-on training, and product demos on various items carried throughout Sur La Table. Merchandise includes knife collections, coffee makers and espresso machines, among other items.
Sur La Table, which opened its first store in Seattle in 1972, has approximately 60 locations nationwide.