A two-part, travel-themed podcast series recorded in Bermuda during Restaurant Weeks 2020 officially released its first instalment today online.

The content, produced by the online travel storytelling community Travel with Meaning, is intended to promote next year’s Restaurant Weeks, which will mark the campaign’s tenth anniversary.

Malcolm Gosling, president and chief executive officer of Gosling’s International, is the interviewed subject for the debut episode.

Bravo TV’s Top Chef finalist Eric Adjepong, this year’s Restaurant Weeks headliner, is the star guest for the second episode of the series, which premieres March 9.

Mr Adjepong, known as Chef Eric, returns March 19 to the Bravo series as a contestant on season 17’s Top Chef All-Stars LA.

Glenn Jones, chief experience development officer at the Bermuda Tourism Authority, said: “We have a multiyear, multifaceted plan for raising the profile of Bermuda Restaurant Weeks.

“I witnessed both podcast recordings live and can’t wait for the rest of the world to hear what these gentlemen have to say about Bermuda.”

“Eat, Drink, Travel: Podcast Conversations by Travel with Meaning” is a media partnership between the media company based in California and the BTA, the organisation said.

Travel with Meaning founder and podcast host Mike Schibel travelled to Bermuda for Restaurant Weeks to experience the island’s food scene, including January’s Culture & Heritage Dinner, for which Mr Adjepong created a four-course, history-inspired meal.

Mr Schibel, who launched Travel with Meaning in 2017 and added a podcast element in the spring of last year, said: “It was inspiring to be part of Bermuda Restaurant Weeks to share conversations with two extraordinary professionals who represented our theme of Eat, Drink, Travel so very well.”

He added: “I enjoyed learning Malcolm’s family heritage and was fascinated by the role travel played in the expansion of the Gosling brand.

“Meantime, hearing how Bermuda’s locally grown and foraged foods opened Chef Eric’s culinary mind was really something. Then to be at the table for his Culture & Heritage Dinner was an incredible experience of history and cuisine. All of it shines through in the podcasts.”

The BTA said next week’s episode with Mr Adjepong includes an announcement that Bermuda Restaurant Weeks 2021 will be extended from its typical three-week run to a four-week campaign. The tenth anniversary dates are January 14 to February 11, 2021.

Mr Jones said: “With bold, new thinking around food experiences, better articulation of our wintertime food harvests, and a longer marketing runway, the extended promotion in 2021 should help steadily grow visitor numbers as Bermuda Restaurant Weeks heads into its second decade.”

The BTA said video trailers for both the Gosling and Adjepong podcasts have debuted on social media.

The first podcast is on the Travel With Meaning website at www.travelwithmeaning.com/podcast