Joshua Schwartz: Rebuilding Hospitality Around the Water

On food, fly fishing and creating a more sustainable way to take care of people.

A moment of brief personal context.

“I spent all of my twenties and the better part of my thirties working in the food and beverage industry. From hovering over grills and cutting boards as a line cook at the hole-in-the-wall burrito joint on my college campus, to mixing craft cocktails at a Wisconsin-style supper club in the heart of northeast Minneapolis, to pouring semi-warm beers at outdoor music festivals, I developed a deep appreciation for the fast-paced, always exhausting and deeply rewarding work of taking care of people through food and drink….”

A Film by Travel Creel Hospitality & Dorsal Outdoors

Chef Joshua Schwartz spent decades grinding up the ranks in the nation’s most prestigious kitchens. Defying expectations, Joshua instead chases his own dreams, forging a unique path with his business, Travel Creel Hospitality.

Together with his wife, Samantha, can their shared passion for providing exceptional service and Joshua’s love for fly fishing become the means through which his creativity and talents can truly shine?

Article by Hilary Hutcheson

Images by Jon Coudriet

Featured in Fly Fisherman Magazine’s 2025 Destinations

“I can no longer hope to die without regrets since my fly-fishing career is riddled with them. It’s not the kind of bemoaning that warrants wishing for a DeLorean to change history, but the sort that makes me snap my fingers, shake my head, and say, “Next time.” Mostly, they have to do with missed cultural opportunities during fly-fishing travel. Why didn’t I go to that local soccer match in Mexico? Why didn’t I stay up late for the Northern Lights in Alaska? Why didn’t I ask more questions about that parade in Belize?

And, always, I rue the food I never tasted.”

{READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE}

As Maine As It Gets

Written by Scott Sadil

Images by Brian O’Keefe

“First it was the boats. I knew O’Keefe and I had left the West Coast far behind when our striper guide, Ben Whalley, out of Portland, Maine, showed up at dawn with a traditional flats skiff, a boat you rarely if ever see in my neck of the woods. From Alaska to the tip of Baja, the Pacific is the Pacific, and captains there, like everywhere else, would rather not risk their boats.

Or their lives.

Was there more to it?” {SUBSCRIBE TO GRAY’S TO READ ON}

The Maine Thing

Issue #86

“I’ll be the first to admit that it was rather embarrassing telling someone that prior to August 2025, I had never even seen a striped bass. And I had never been to Maine before. Well, that box is checked, and in a big way. It all started with an invite from Joshua Schwartz, owner and head chef of Travel Creel Hospitality, who creates ‘pop up’ fly fishing lodges all over the world….”

{SUBSCRIBE TO CATCH MAGAZINE TO READ ON}