These Resorts Offer a Real Taste of American Regional Cuisine

Oyster harvest at the Tides Inn in Irvington, Virginia. | The Tides Inn American resorts are once again having a moment — and it’s not pickleball partisans driving the trend. A new generation of travelers, beset with decision fatigue in their daily lives, are embracing the all-inclusive stay where activities, amenities, and dining are all on the menu and usually just a short walk from their rooms.   Fortunately, stress-free no longer needs to mean bland or generic when it comes to cuisine and culture. Resorts have begun forging deep culinary connections to their surroundings, far beyond merely offering a few regionally specific cocktails or themed burger toppings. Onsite farms, creameries, and distilleries provide fresh ingredients with true terroir, as well as a new category of resort activity: food-and-drink-focused tours and workshops to fill the time between morning yoga and an afternoon poolside nap.  Some resort restaurants, like Clay at Wildflower Farms in New York’s Hudson Valley and Sierra Mar at the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur, California, have become destinations in themselves, where star chefs take diners deep into a region’s foodways.    These resorts leave visitors not just relaxed but also satisfied, having truly experienced — and tasted — a particular place. Partner content from Acura Acura has always done things its own way. We believe the best experiences are created through intentional choices, thoughtful craftsmanship, and the confidence to pursue a different approach. This spirit is reflected in our philosophy of Precision Crafted Performance. Learn more. Hawks Cay Resort Duck Key, Florida By the time you get to Hawks Cay Resort in the middle of the Florida Keys, the blue vistas of the Overseas Highway will have made mainland worries seem very far away. The 60-acre resort on Duck Key offers a spa, five pools (including a saltwater lagoon), and soon a full water park. Also making a splash is Salt + Ash, the resort’s flagship live-fire restaurant from Florida native, Top Chef winner, and former Eater Miami Chef of the Year Jeremy Ford. Of course, fish and seafood from the surrounding waters feature prominently. But Florida flavors shine through in other ways too: Much of the produce on the menu comes from Ford’s Farm, strategically located between Miami Beach and the Keys. That might mean homegrown lychees in a uniquely local take on conch salad, or heirloom tomatoes just hours off the vine accompanying crisp-fried spear-caught fish. The Tides Inn Irvington, Virginia Many resorts lay claim to a signature dish or cocktail. But the Tides Inn, situated on a quiet tributary of the Chesapeake Bay about 3 hours’ drive from Washington, D.C., has something few resorts, if any, can boast: its own oyster. Cultivated near the property by resident ecologist Will Smiley and served exclusively at the resort’s Salt & Meadow restaurant, the Widgeon oyster provides guests with an intimate connection to the estuary it calls home. To taste it is to taste the tides and the weather. “Our oyster changes salinity as the season changes, and as the weather changes,” says executive chef Kyle Perkins. He further notes that the freshwater influx with a heavy rainfall can quickly, if temporarily, change how much of a salty punch a Widgeon possesses. Beyond bivalves, Perkins sources everything from beef to blackberries from the region. Along with activities from lawn games and pickleball to kayaking, guests can even help themselves to the harvest: Those blackberries, a thornless variety, grow in abundance on the property, giving many children a first foraging experience. Wildflower Farms, Auberge Collection Gardiner, New York Though it’s only about a 90-minute drive from the concrete canyons of Manhattan, Auberge Collection’s Wildflower Farms feels a world away. The Hudson Valley property’s 65 cabins, cottages, and suites feature floor-to-ceiling windows framing arcadian views. Thistle, an Auberge Spa, makes use of local botanicals and blooms in its treatments, while the on-site farm provides more than 14,000 pounds of produce annually for the restaurant, Clay. “The Hudson Valley is unique in the array of locally grown ingredients available,” says farm director Will Conway, noting that the resort’s culinary reach extends beyond its 140 acres. The menu is resolutely seasonal; even a dish like ricotta meatballs provides a changing taste of what is coming from nearby producers, with the protein shifting from pork to lamb depending on the time of year. Kohler, Wisconsin Sheboygan County, Wisconsin The Kohler name is, for most people, synonymous with kitchen and bath fixtures. But the  company is also a serious player in hospitality, most notably with Kohler, Wisconsin, its sprawling resort in the town where the company is headquartered, two and a half hours from Chicago. Along with golf, a legendary spa, and outdoor activities like canoeing, hiking, hunting, and fishing, Kohler, Wisconsin, puts a stron