Gourmet Food & Wine Weekend

Bounties of Spring with Chef Thomas Kavanaugh

May 1-3, 2020

Join us for a delicious gourmet food and wine weekend, prepared by Chef Thomas Kavanaugh. Chef Kavanaugh will take you through an Italian-inspired 7 course dinner prepared right here in the heart of the Northwoods of Minnesota. Along side of this tasty tour, hand picked wines will be paired to compliment certain elements within each dish. Light touches of spring time fare are the focal point of each dish and will transport you to the Tuscan country side with each bite. Last year’s weekend sold out, so don’t wait to book your spot at our table!

View the menu here!

Chef Thomas Kavanaugh grew up cooking at the family restaurant, the well known Kavanaugh’s in Brainerd, Minnesota. He began working alongside his mother, Mae Kavanaugh at the early age of ten, quickly taking on her passion for food. By the age of nineteen Chef Kavanaugh was running much of the food service at Kavanaugh’s and during this time continued his education under such renown food personalities as Anne Willin of the La Varrenne Cooking School and Jean Louis Palladin of Jean Louis’s.  Chef Kavanaugh also has studied at the Culinary Institute of America in the Napa Valley. Chef Kavanaugh has been an active member of the American Culinary Federation and was twice named a Chapter Chef of the Year. Chef Kavanaugh competes and judges many culinary competitions and has placed with high honors in a number of competitions ranging from BBQ to seafood and pork. In 2016 he competed in the World Food Championships in Orange Beach, Alabama with friend, Chef Timothy McCarty, with their team The Flying Irish Pig taking 5th place in the sandwich division and then competed again in 2017, finishing 9th in the world. Over the past 25 years, Chef Kavanaugh has also taught over 300 cooking classes that have covered over 30 different cuisines. The famed Kavanaugh’s Restaurant closed in 2005 as the family expanded their resort. In addition to the operation of their resort, he now also does restaurant consulting, high end personal chef work and Italian Culinary Tours including a group in October 2020. As a semi-retired chef he especially enjoys dedicating much of his cooking time to his passion of bringing young, prospective chefs into the industry. Chef Kavanaugh is very involved in the National Restaurant Associations High School Culinary Pro-Start programs, which he feels will be the future of the restaurant industry, and currently serves and the mentor and culinary coach for Pillager High School.

Package Includes:

  • Two nights accommodations in a lakeside fireplace cabin
  • All meals from dinner check-in evening through breakfast check-out morning
  • Gourmet Dinner and Wine Tasting Saturday night
  • All guided Naturalist activities

Package pricing:

  • $339 per person in a One Bedroom Classic Cabin
  • $329 per person in a Two Bedroom Classic Cabin
  • $359 per person in a Romantic Cabin
  • $349 per person in a Gunflint Lake Home
  • Prices based on double occupancy; minimum cabin occupancies apply