If you’re looking for something fabulous to get mom for Mother’s Day this year, start with Mother’s Day Brunch at Loews Ventana Canyon. Begin to make up for all of those years of hard work poured into home-cooked meals by treating her to a mouth-watering brunch offering, well, everything under the sun. Whether you want to stick to your omelettes and traditional breakfast fare or venture over to the ’90 Miles North of the Border’ station with fajita fixin’s — this brunch has it all.

Brunch is served from 11 am until 2 pm on Sunday, May 10th. The cost of the brunch is $45 per adult and $22 for children 12 and under. Call the Canyon Café at (520) 615-5496, and be sure to book your reservation soon. This brunch will fill up quickly!

If that isn’t quite enough to show your mom how much you appreciate her, give the perfect gift of Loews Culinary Classes. Held at the Flying V Bar and Grill, your mom (and you, too!) can learn to dice and chop like a chef. Spend the day with our award winning chefs who will show her how to combine the perfect flavors with supreme technique. It’ll be the gift that keeps on giving; you’ll be sure to reap the benefits of her soon-to-be pro cooking. Classes begin Memorial Day weekend, May 30th, and will be held once a month until September 5th. Check with the Concierge at Loews for specific dates and availability by calling (520) 299-5107.

One more thing to consider: if cooking isn’t her style but pampering herself is, Spa Happy Hour is ongoing. You can treat mom to one of the three treatments offered for $75 (regularly $120), Sunday – Thursday. Help her indulge in a Swedish Massage, a Classic Facial, or a manicure and pedicure combo. Call Loews Lakeside Spa at (520) 529-7830.

Show mom you’re thankful for her at Loews Ventana Canyon. Happy Mother’s Day!

Times have changed. Where one used to be able to spend more frivolously, they’re now slightly choosier in deciding where to spend their hard earned paycheck. However, the aim should still be luxury, and one doesn’t need to shortchange themselves because they’re short on change this year.

The Ventana Room at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort has already reduced the price of their Five Diamond menu ($42 from $85), and now wine is taking center stage. The extensive wine list, entailing 861 different wines, excluding their collection of dessert wines, has been re-priced as of late.

“Now is the time to become a foodie – and a wine connoisseur,” says Michael Scherzberg, manager of the Ventana Room. Wine prices have been reduced drastically at Loews, and the goal is to keep luxury affordable for the clientele.

The Ventana Room’s array of fine wines features a mélange of both highly sought after wines and more affordable options for the palette in training. The menu is broken down by Sommelier’s Selection of Wines by the Glass, by specific types of wine, and by region of origin. Each region in the menu offers a small story about the delicate process that is wine making and how it varies from country to country. Scherzberg says that “the wine list tells a story of the grape – it allows you to be your own sommelier.” With tangible descriptions of each wine, selecting the perfect glass becomes intimidation free.

At most places, wines by the glass are pricier than purchasing the whole bottle. At the Ventana Room, wines by the glass are now offered for less than what you would pay at a wine shop. Krug, for example, is the “most expensive, least consumed champagne in existence”, according to our Sommelier, Kate Tullar. At the Ventana Room, a glass of Krug “Grand Cuvee” costs $40. It is rare to find a restaurant that offers this particular vintage champagne, but even rarer for it to cost $40 when it typically sells for $75 to $140 per glass.

There are 861 wines on the Ventana Room wine list. Five hundred and six of the bottles cost under $100 – that’s 58 percent of their list. Of those 506 wines, 233 of them are at or less than $50, which makes that 27 percent of their wine list. “We don’t have trophy bottles that we hang on to,” says Scherzberg. “We want to share them and turn over our wine list so we can try new varieties. This is our micro-level stimulation of the economy.”

The goal is simple: to remind people that luxury isn’t beyond their reach. “We want to keep people interested in exceptional dining, and to bring it home by making it affordable.” This is Scherzberg’s goal in infusing his passion into the Ventana Room. “People look at fine dining as a form of entertainment, “says Scherzberg. “It’s not dinner and a movie – dinner is theater.” And for those who are worried that these prices will only be available for a short time, fret not. Michael Scherzberg has reassured us that he has “no intention of raising prices” when the economy is in a better state, he just “hopes that his guests come back more often.”

For reservations call the Ventana Room at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort at (520) 615-5494 or visit www.ventanaroom.com for more information.