By June Naylor

June Naylor and Cynthia Wahl (photo by Jill Johnson)

Telling people where to find good food on the road ranks up there with breathing as one of my favorite things to do.

Fortunately, I get paid to share my food and travel discoveries. And in doing it for 20 years, it’s become clear that people rely heavily on such information as they set out on their explorations.

In fact, they often want me to plan their trips for them. Pals have talked me into drawing up itineraries for them, and I’ve taken my share of girlfriends’ trips to New Orleans, Santa Fe and Austin, plotting our adventures around the places we’d be eating.

Finally, somebody asked me why I didn’t turn this pastime into a business. If I’m going to go to such trouble, he reasoned, shouldn’t I be compensated? So with my good friend Cynthia Wahl, a former Star-Telegram colleague who’s accompanied me on countless gastronomy journeys, I founded Texas Toast Culinary Tours last September.

Cynthia and I have been leading some local food and restaurant tours since then, and now we’re launching the first in our signature Texas Toast Road Trips series. Our debut destination is Marfa, which happens to sit in my favorite place in the world, the Big Bend Region of West Texas.

We’re heading out west on March 24 for five days and four nights, taking eager gourmands to tour the exotics Texas badlands, where we’ve planned a wealth of food and wine adventures. The experience will include a wine-pairing class, cooking class, farmers market tour, fabulous picnicking beside the Rio Grande, and meals at noted Marfa restaurants, along with hiking, touring and – at night – star-gazing and live music.

Our Marfa Road Trip includes transportation via luxury motorcoach, lodging for four nights at the Hotel Paisano, all meals with adult beverages for five days, cooking class, Big Bend National Park admission, sightseeing and most entertainment. Based on double occupancy, it’s $1,395 per person; you’ll add $395 for single supplement.

(If you want to stay instead at the funkalicious El Cosmico (www.elcosmico.com), that’s an option. We’ll offer packages that don’t include transportation or lodging for those who want to arrange their own.)

Here’s our itinerary for March 24-28.

Day 1 (Wednesday): Depart Fort Worth in the early morning aboard a luxury motorcoach for the 490-mile drive; watch Giant and classic westerns en route. To break up the long trip, we’ll stop partway for a gourmet picnic box lunch (provided by chef Louis Lambert of Lamberts Downtown Barbecue in Austin and Lambert’s Steak, Seafood, Whiskey in Fort Worth) at Big Spring State Park. Arrive in Marfa in time for supper, a barbecue event from Lambert’s, enjoyed at El Cosmico, next to the renowned Chinati Foundation.

Day 2 (Thursday): We kick-start the day with a West Texas chuckwagon breakfast at El Cosmico, to prepared by cooks from the original Reata, found nearby in Alpine. The rest of the morning is free for touring galleries or shopping. Lunch will be at the Blue Javelina, one of Marfa’s popular, newer restaurants serving an eclectic menu with Spanish and Moroccan influences. After lunch, there’s time for touring the Fort Davis National Historic Site, a beautifully restored cavalry fort. (Options may include staying in Marfa for a spa treatment or heading out for a horseback ride in the Davis Mountains.) Then it’s off to Woodward Ranch for a little rock-hunting before a sunset event Cathedral Mountain, a vineyard belonging to Times Ten Cellars, for a food-and-wine pairing event supper. On the way back into town, there’s a stop to see the mysterious Marfa Lights.

Day 3 (Friday): We’ll take a continental breakfast along for the drive to magnificent Big Bend National Park for a full day tour with optional hiking. Beside the Rio Grande, Louis Lambert will present a grand picnic lunch. We’ll stop briefly in Terlingua for some photographs in the ghost town and a little shopping before heading back to Marfa. In the evening, we’ll enjoy dinner at Maiya’s, one of Marfa’s landmark restaurants, with a style that mixes a little New York with San Francisco sensibilities. Afterward, we’re off to Padre’s Marfa for dancing and live music.

Day 4 (Saturday): Our day begins with breakfast at the Austin Street Café, a hip American dining room inside a restored cottage. Afterward, we’ll wander through the Marfa Farm Stand, picking up some items to use in a cooking class with Louis Lambert, to be held at El Cosmico. Lunch will conclude the class, and we can spend the afternoon shopping and roaming the galleries. At nightfall, we’ll have a cookout, campfire music session and a star party with local astronomers at El Cosmico.

Day 5 (Sunday): Bidding farewell to Big Bend, we return via motorcoach to the DFW area, watching Lonesome Dove along the way. A stop midway home will include a picnic box lunch from Lambert’s.

Another Marfa Road Trip will be offered in May, as well. Follow updates on facebook and Twitter. For details, email texastoastculinarytours@yahoo.com or call 817-239-1634 or 817-228-5220. www.texastoastculinarytours.com.

June Naylor is State Fare Editor of EscapeHatchDallas.

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