Come winter, few pleasures are as satisfying as holing up in a warm kitchen and preparing a sumptuous feast. And while the 6,500-square-foot kitchen at Yosemite’s majestic Ahwahnee Hotel isn’t exactly cozy, who would pass up the chance to tour, learn, and nosh at one of California’s most celebrated lodges? Each January, the Ahwahnee hosts some of the world’s most renowned and innovative chefs for its annual Chefs’ Holidays events, some themed, some not. In 2008, featured guest chefs include Chris Cosentino of Incanto, Nate Appleman of A16, and a host of other greats for the eighth and final event, “Chefs of the San Francisco Ferry Building,” which will run January 30–February 1. You get face time with the guest chefs at receptions, culinary demos, a tour of the palatial kitchen, and, on the last night, a five-course meal with wine pairings that focuses on the chefs’ signature dishes. As you feast happily in the historic dining room under 34-foot-high beamed ceilings adorned with wrought-iron chandeliers, you can watch the snow drifting into the quiet valley outside and plot your return visit.

Having a great time! “The kitchen is the biggest thing I’ve ever seen,” says Chuck Hurley of Livermore. And you get to make the sort of things that aren’t always easy to prepare in a home kitchen. “I learned how to make Hubert Keller’s baeckeoffe, a traditional Alsatian veal dish.” Hurley and his wife, Ann, will attend their 19th event this year.

-Sarah Mueller Bossenbroek

THE TWO-AND THREE-DAY SESSIONS, INCLUDING MEALS, START JAN. 6 AND RUN THROUGH FEB. 1, 2008, AND COST $1,025–1,129. 559-253-2014, YOSEMITEPARK.COM/CHEFS.