I think anytime you visit a new city or place, you’re usually pleasantly surprised by some little gems and local spots that you find. Upon moving to Wisconsin, I knew about the weather, Madison, the university, the Farmers Market and all the glorious cheese. I would soon learn about the fabulous food scene here, restaurants owning farm-to-table, 
Recently, I attended the 
Upon checking in and entering our room, we were given a huge (and heavy) gift bag and found some lovely and delicious chocolates in our room. Now, obviously, if the resort is owned and operated by the Kohler Company, you know the rooms and the bathrooms are nice. To call them “nice” is an understatement. I truly felt like I was staying in luxury and just absolute innovation and comfort in the bathrooms.
I didn’t want to leave the bathroom you guys. Everything was amazing.
This was the coolest shower ever. It was hard not to take an hour long shower.
I was able to bring a guest with me for the weekend and, because it was my birthday weekend, my awesome husband let me take one of my girlfriends, Rina, so we could have fun and enjoy Kohler and the Food and Wine Experience.
The first evening, we attended a welcome reception, where we tried this fabulous martini, The Carrot 43. Significance of 43…It took 43 tries to get it right! This delicious martini was created by a team at the Forbes Four-Star 
Friday started with cooking demonstrations, a Cabernet and Beef Academy tasting, a knife skills 101 class and much more. There were so many different sessions going on (and some at the same time), so I was not able to attend all of them. All of the main cooking demonstrations took place on the 
The first cooking demo in the main stage was Graham Elliot, of 
Next up was one of my absolute faves: 
My Friday high continued as 
Friday night, we attended a party, Taste of the Vine, in the beautiful Kohler Design Center. There was food and over 40+ different brands of wine to sample. Here’s me and 
The design center was so cool. . with . . you guessed it, toilets and bath tubs everywhere. How could I not get in one?!
Saturday was another jam packed, wonderful day .. the highlight? Seeing GZ do another cooking demo and being able to sit and chat with him for 30 minutes with other media reps. He does so much, just wrote a cookbook, 
And the guy’s got mad style. Just look at him.
Saturday ended with a fabulous dinner at 
The weekend ended with a complimentary spa treatment (on my birthday!) at the beautiful 
Photo credit: The Kohler Company
The Carrot 43 Martini
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ oz Hendricks Gin
- ¾ oz Cointreau
- 1 oz Fresh Orange Juice
- ½ oz Fresh Carrot Juice
- ½ oz Fresh Lemon Juice
- ½ oz Simple Syrup
- Garnish: Fresh Sliced Cucumber
Instructions
- Shake all the ingredients together in a martini shaker and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a fresh sliced cucumber and enjoy!
A huge thank you to the Kohler Company and The American Club for sponsoring this trip. This was the media trip of a lifetime and I was honored to be a part of it. And, as always, all opinions expressed here are 100% my own.
Thank you for a wonderful post. You took your reader on this journey with you and what a lovely jam- packed experience it was! And that martini…icing on the cake! Nice!
What an awesome trip! Love seeing all the celebs you met!
Wow – what am amazing 4 days you had! Great recap and your room and bath looked so luxurious!!
Wow – what am amazing 4 days you had! Great recap and your room and bath looked so luxurious…
Wow! what am amazing 4 days you had! Great recap and your room and bath looked so luxurious…
Wow! what am amazing 4 days you had!! Great recap and your room and bath looked so luxurious…
This cocktail sounds almost as amazing as your weekend!! What a fabulous event! And carrot in a martini? Who would have thought that could sound so delicious!
Oh my gosh, that hotel looks amazing, but that shower!! Looks like you had an awesome weekend, and I love that sweater you wore in that photo with GZ. He’s amazing!
Sounds like you had an amazing time! I loved seeing all of those pictures! And this carrot martini sounds incredible! What a fun flavor!
THAT SHOWER!!!!! And everything else (love those tufted sofas). Looks like an amazing weekend with lovely people and food 🙂
Oh my gosh! My year is made just reading this and knowing you met all these cool folks. I HAVE to try this martini!!
OMG Alice, I’m dying to come there next year. All your pictures look fantastic and the bathroom is to die for!
Wow! What an amazing trip! Love seeing all these wonderful photos – the hotel was stunning and so luxurious and that photo of you in the tub is super adorable 🙂 You looked gorgeous with all the celebs too, so glad you had such an incredible experience and this martini looks just as elegant as your trip 🙂
What a fun event and a beautiful location! I am so jealous that you got to meet Chris from America’s Test Kitchen. Now I really want to try that martini!
What a trip!! I loved the Kohler show room when we visited…and the restaurant. Now I’m dying to stay at their hotel. SO swanky.
What an amazing experience for you Alice, and on your birthday weekend! I am in complete agreement with you about that bathroom. I would never, ever leave. I adore cocktails of all kinds so will definitely have to give that one a go!
Wow! What an exciting, memorable experience you had!! The hotel looks absolutely amazing, and I esp love the picture of you in the tub haha.
Oh my GOSH! What an amazing experience!!! Dying over here!
WOW!!!
Seriously I want to go back! And now! The American Club is absolute perfection and I plan on retiring there my friend.
What an incredible experience, Alice! I was squealing with delight for you when I saw all of your photos on Instagram and Facebook that weekend. And while every part of it was fabulous (I mean, look at all the amazing people you got to meet) I’m DYING over the shower in your hotel room. What I wouldn’t give to have that in my washroom, lol. You looked fabulous all weekend too – I want to steal your wardrobe, especially that smokin’ hot blue dress 😉
Talk about the best weekend ever – loved hearing everything you were able to do and reliving it with you!
This weekend looks like a dream. Kohler/The American Club is one of my favorite places on earth (and, yes, I’m with you in that I was surprised how elegant and luxurious it was….poor Wisconsin really gets shortchanged!) and the food there is nothing short of spectacular on a regular night so I can’t imagine the experience you had at this festival! It looks like an absolute blast.