Silversea’s S.A.L.T. (Sea and Land Taste) program is a groundbreaking culinary initiative that redefines how travellers experience global cuisine. More than just a food program, it is a cultural immersion – a journey through the flavours, stories and traditions of the world’s most captivating culinary destinations.
Launched with the debut of Silver Moon in 2021 and further expanded aboard Silver Dawn and Silver Nova, S.A.L.T. reflects a broader trend in experiential travel: the desire to connect with the world through meaningful, sensory-rich encounters.
It’s not just about visiting new places; it’s about tasting them, understanding them, and engaging with the people and practices that shape their food culture. The program is a multifaceted culinary adventure, including both onboard and on-land experiences.
Onboard, the S.A.L.T. Kitchen is a dedicated restaurant aboard Silversea ships that serves regionally inspired menus based on the ship’s itinerary.
The S.A.L.T. Lab is an interactive, hands-on cooking space where guests can participate in cooking classes, workshops, and demonstrations by day, and experience the S.A.L.T Chef’s Table by night.
While the onboard offerings are varied and impressive, the program truly comes to life through its land-based experiences, where guests venture ashore to experience local culinary environments first-hand including farms, markets, vineyards, bakeries, distilleries and home kitchens.
A Day at Craggy Range
By Alexandra Carlton
As our coach pulled up to Craggy Range, our excited chatter was instantly silenced by the sight of that famous jagged outcrop – the towering Te Mata Peak – that gives the acclaimed Hawke’s Bay winery its name.
Underneath its dramatic silhouette, we were met by our guide, who – we noted with delicious anticipation – came bearing wine. Lots of it. Right away our glasses were filled with sauvignon blanc, and as we walked and talked, topped up with Craggy Range’s iconic Le Sol syrah, Sophia Bordeaux blend and two other vintages that are usually only reserved for prestige tastings. In fact one, the premium chardonnay, isn’t usually offered for cellar door tastings at all. This, we soon realised, was no ordinary tour.
We were here for the Silversea S.A.L.T. Craggy Range excursion, as part of our voyage on Silversea’s Silver Nova ship from Auckland to Wellington. It’s an exclusive experience that isn’t available to anyone other than Silversea guests, one that involves wandering the chardonnay and merlot vines (while drinking their end products), checking out the sun-splashed kitchen garden and finishing with an enormous five-course lunch in the winery’s cellar.
We spent an hour admiring the grounds – butterflies fluttered around rows of lettuces, orchards groaned with early-ripening apples – before we arrived at the main event: lunch. Snacks to start: marinated carrots pulled straight from the garden topped with buffalo curd, and a pecorino and crayfish fritter, matched with the winery’s 2019 Vilaura Blanc de Blanc.
The entrées – placed in the middle of the table, and more than any of us could possibly finish – were a kingfish tartare laden with fresh summer peaches and tomato, along with roast haloumi and burnt honey dressing. The main courses were just as vast: a fragrant lamb shoulder with almond cream and harissa and dry-aged beef fillet with tarragon sauce.
You could taste the garden, and the terroir of the region, in all of it. We passed platters, made new friends. The flavours were fresh and intense, the servings were generous. It was a perfect day.
Back at the ship the following evening, I happened to be seated next to a gentleman from California who had joined me on the excursion. I’d noticed he walked with a cane, and he mentioned he was vegetarian, so I wondered if he had been able to enjoy the tour as much as the rest of us, with those restrictions. The kitchen made him a beautiful vegetarian menu, he said, and the unhurried garden walk was a delight. “It was,” he told me, “the best experience I have ever had.”
A Southern Feast
By Sally Macmillan
The Bowmont, just across the road from Franklin’s beloved Wooden Boat Centre, was built in 1906 as a commercial bank, used as a general hospital for several years and its restoration as a guesthouse and studio is now a passion project for noted stylist and photographer Michelle Crawford.
It is a beautifully atmospheric setting for today’s cooking demonstration and lunch with Analiese Gregory, the hugely talented chef who famously left her starry career in Michelin-starred restaurants in Europe and Sydney to go back to the basics of hyper-local gastronomy “at the bottom of the world” in Tasmania. Gregory is a warm, bubbly host, welcoming our small group into the gorgeous retro-style dining room with glasses of Dr. Edge Brut Nature Sparkling wine – a deliciously dry drop produced in the Tamar Valley.
While we dive into Dr. Edge and the best bread I’ve tasted in years – a French country-style bread from Cygnet’s Poolish & Co, served with Gregory’s moreish cultured butter – she demonstrates how to cook a couple of her signature dishes. On the menu are scallops in wild wakame butter, and chargrilled octopus with pickled currants and smoked macadamia. These are grilled on a pan suspended above an open fire in the pretty courtyard, as are the legs of lamb marinated in native kunzea that we have for the main course.
Every dish we sample and that we see Gregory prepping and cooking is based on her commitment to sourcing – and foraging – fresh and local produce. The spectacular seafood platter showcases southern rock lobster and local shellfish such as oysters and periwinkles – “in fact, every single type of Tasmanian seafood I could get my hands on this week.” The lamb comes from Derwent Valley’s award-winning Lyndall Farm. Organic leaves in a salad dressed in walnut vinaigrette are picked nearby by Gregory, and the delicious potato galette is made with local pink-eye potatoes.
International S.A.L.T Experiences Showcase the Best of Each Country
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is currently the centre of the Scandinavian gastronomical stage. Chef Rasmus Fischer leads a tour of the organic Seerupgaard Farm, then hosts a private cooking class and lunch.
Bordeaux
Taste the very best flavours of Bordeaux through an intimate meeting with a 2-Michelin Star chef, a cooking class with Chef Nicolas Masse, lunch at La Table du Lavoir and wine tour at Château Haut-Bailly.
Estonia
Embrace the culture and flavours of Estonia during a half-day excursion that includes a visit to a local market, and interactive cooking lesson with Chef Tarmo Griffel.
Belfast
Discover the secret of Northern Irish cooking during this excursion to Strangford Lough. A farm visit to the Jeffery Family Farm is followed by an interactive cooking lesson with Chef Tracey and a tasting.
