TOURISM

Cooking Up Elegance: Cruise vacationers are familiar with the honor of dining at the captain’s table while at sea. Now the Westin South Coast Plaza hotel has introduced a similar arrangement for landlubbers.

The hotel is offering “chef’s tables,” in which well-heeled diners can lunch with Executive Chef Hans Loschl. The elegant lunches are held right in the kitchen, recalling the European tradition of bringing all the hotel cooks together to taste test dishes of the day.

The table is set with fine china and ornate flatware, set against the starkly utilitarian nature of a busy hotel kitchen. And the menu is tailor-made to fit the guests’ tastes. For instance, the Westin’s Boston hotel had a chef’s table lunch for the New England Patriots on the eve of a game with the Buffalo Bills.

The main course: buffalo, naturally.