I will argue that Peter Tobler, who over the last eight years has led Windstar’s onboard operations, has the best job in the company. That’s because Tobler, in addition to overseeing many crucial functions, including housekeeping and public spaces, is a visionary whose gift for the culinary arts has lifted the line with new accomplishments.
In Winds of Change, Windstar’s podcast, Tobler talks about his origins (he grew up in Switzerland and his career path following in the footsteps — at least for a time — of his father, also a hotelier). After switching to the cruise industry, he worked for lines such as Seabourn and Princess. And this is a cool bit of karma: “I want to connect two stories,” says Janet Bava, Windstar’s chief commercial officer and host of Winds of Change. “We’ve interviewed (Windstar president Chris Prelog) and he’s talked about his career journey and how you were actually the individual who hired him on board Seabourn, right? So can you tell us a little bit about that story so we can connect your story with Chris?”
“I spent a brief period of time, just about six months, being the general manager of two hotels and six independent restaurants in Austria,” Tobler shares in Winds of Change. “And Chris at the time was the assistant general manager of one of the hotels. I told Chris, I mean, the guy was already a genius back then: ‘If you’re ever interested in the cruise industry, call me.’”
If Prelog’s stories about his first cruise contract at Seabourn take place aboard Windstar’s now-Star Legend, Tobler’s first ship was Seabourn Pride. Which is now Windstar’s Star Pride. What a karmic connection!
For this conversation with Tobler, though, we wanted to focus on the legacy he’s building around Windstar’s food and beverage programs. Here goes.
You’ve been with Windstar for almost nine years now. How has its culinary program evolved since then?
We’ve embraced a more modern, more contemporary approach that’s a reflection of global cuisine with a focus on ingredients, dishes and drinks from the places we’re visiting. We’ve expanded existing partnerships — with the James Beard Foundation and with Gallo’s LUX Wines initiative.
We’ve embraced a more modern, more contemporary approach that’s a reflection of global cuisine with a focus on ingredients, dishes and drinks from the places we’re visiting. We’ve expanded existing partnerships — with the James Beard Foundation and with Gallo’s LUX Wines initiative.
Peter, can you give us a quick, high-level look at what’s evolving in the culinary space onboard Windstar’s ships this year and beyond?
2025 marks the tenth anniversary as the official cruise partner of the James Beard Foundation and that goes beyond featuring dishes created by its chefs, the best in America, to inviting these chefs to host voyages onboard. This year, for such a significant milestone, our five James Beard Foundation cruises (there are still a few left if you want to sign up!) all feature chefs who’ve already been part of this partnership — and our guests are thrilled to welcome them back.
We’ve also created a relationship with the luxury division of Gallo Winery, LUX Wines, to offer tastings of superior wines and other educational forays onboard. This year, we created a new specialty restaurant concept, called Basil + Bamboo. And last, but by no means least, Windstar heads back to Alaska in 2026 and we’re busy creating new food and beverage menus that reflect the region.
It’s been a busy year.
Let’s tackle these one at a time. Tell us about Windstar’s James Beard Foundation partnership.
The 10th anniversary is a big deal for both of us. James Beard Foundation consists of the best chefs in the U.S. Through this relationship we’ve gained access to their dishes, and to the chefs themselves, especially onboard our JBF hosted voyages. I think what they do is an art form, what they do in the culinary scene is truly art. And I think what we’re able to curate on board is absolutely spectacular.
This year we’re also co-hosting seven wine cruises and four of them are a combination of James Beard Foundation chefs and Gallo’s LUX Wines. As well, our guests have loved interacting with these celebrity chefs and winemakers and wine ambassadors. They are such a diverse group of people from all over the world.
And you don’t have to sail on the hosted cruises to feel the James Beard impact onboard. Amphora’s menus continue to feature dishes with recipes that have been created by James Beard chefs; it’s part of our core offering. These additions to our menus occur every single day on every single sailing.
Basil + Bamboo is Windstar’s first new specialty restaurant in a while. Tell us about the new concept.
We launched our first Basil + Bamboo on Star Breeze in Tahiti this spring. It’s a mix of Mediterranean and Asian cuisine, and is what we call a MediterrAsian menu. There’s both a focus on specific Asian dishes (mainly Japanese with some Indonesian) and of course Mediterranean-influenced recipes. Other dishes have been created that fuse the two, like Miso
What should we order from the menu?
Anything and everything! My favorite, when dining with a larger table, is to order sharing plates so we can all taste so many different dishes. Basil + Bamboo has tapas offerings, a raw bar and a sushi/sashimi menu. Entrées include fusion dishes that blend the best of both regions; I love the miso black cod with Spanish jamon, and beef medallions and a creamy parmesan polenta — with ponzu jus.
And the feedback so far has been phenomenal. It’s so popular that now we’ve created a second menu because some of our guests want to sail back-to-back cruises and we want to make sure they have additional choices to select from.
Will Basil + Bamboo be operating on other ships in Windstar’s fleet?
It’s already launched on Star Breeze, in Tahiti. It will be part of Star Seeker, which is debuting in December 2025 and in the same month, Star Legend, which will just be coming from a drydock, will replace Cuadro 44 with Basil + Bamboo. Star Pride will get the new restaurant in April 2026. And when Star Explorer debuts in December 2026, it will also have Basil + Bamboo. (Editor’s note: Tobler pronounces basil as bay-sl rather than like the name of Switzerland’s Basel.)
Next year, Windstar is returning to Alaska for the first time in three years, on the new Star Seeker! From a culinary perspective, is Windstar offering a new approach to the region?
The big innovation is how much we’re focusing on sourcing local foodstuffs, not just for food but also for beverages. For instance, our ingredients, both accompaniments and major ingredients, reflect the region we’re traveling in. We’ll have halibut, rockfish, king and sockeye salmon, steelhead and crab clusters, among our seafood options.
Other dishes will include reindeer kielbasa and venison garlic sausage, venison goulash and reindeer chili. There will be wild blueberry and lingonberry jams, birched honey, and, for pancakes, birch syrup.
Our focus is on beverages, too. We’ll have Alaskan beers like Husky IPA and Alaskan Amber. And if you are a vodka aficionado, you’ll want to try Alaska’s Denali Fireweed.
And even with this fresh approach to the cuisine in the region, I think guests will be comforted to know that we’ll still feature classics, signature dishes, vegan and vegetarian, and James Beard Foundation chefs’ offerings on every menu in Amphora.
And one more thing: We’ll have another fabulous new way to experience Alaska in 2026 but I’m not allowed to tell you yet.
I’ll keep you posted.
