Inside the Retreat
Seven Days of Cooking, Tasting, and Exploring Umbria
Vallo di Nera: Our Kitchen, Our Village
When you step through the medieval gates of Vallo di Nera, you’re entering more than a preserved stone village — you’re stepping into the place we’ll call home for the week. This small walled town in the Valnerina becomes our base for cooking, gathering, and living Umbrian daily life. Mornings begin with coffee in the kitchen or at the local taverna, and evenings end in the garden with wine, simple snacks, and the quiet of the valley settling in.
This retreat isn’t just about what we cook — it’s about where we cook it and who we cook alongside. We’ll walk the cobblestone streets, visit the 14th-century Church of Santa Maria, stop at the old fontana, and share coffee with neighbors like Franca. Each day we head out to farms, wineries, olive mills, and kitchens across the region — and each evening we return to Vallo, unpack the day’s flavors, and gather around the table again.
Hands in the Dough
Experience the magic of an authentic Italian tradition as Vallo natives Giacomo and Anastasia bring our 200-year-old garden oven to life specifically for our retreat group. This isn't just a lunch; it's a front-row seat to the ancient artistry of wood-fired baking, where you’ll watch hand-stretched dough and seasonal ingredients transformed into steaming, fragrant pizzas over an open fire. Surrounded by the tranquility of the villa garden, this sensory experience perfectly blends the simple joy of a shared meal with the rich culinary heritage of our mountain village.
It provides the ideal restorative pause between your morning yoga flow in the sun-drenched upper piazza and our afternoon journey to explore the Roman and medieval landmarks of Spoleto. You’ll leave the table not just nourished by world-class food, but feeling a genuine, lasting connection to the local people and the authentic, welcoming soul of Umbria.
The Garden Oven Experience
On Sunday afternoon, the outdoor oven at Casa della Zia is lit and the garden begins to fill with the scent of wood smoke. Stefano guides us through the Umbrian approach to roasting — from seasoning and tying the meats to preparing potatoes and seasonal vegetables that will cook alongside them. We begin the prep together at La Taverna Bordone, learning technique and timing, then carry everything to the garden oven where the real magic happens.
While the roasts cook slowly in the heat of the stone, we gather for a relaxed garden aperitivo that doubles as a light lunch. Local bites, simple snacks, and a glass of wine or prosecco in hand as we talk, watch the fire, and let the afternoon unfold. When the meats are ready, we carve and serve them together at a long garden table, paired with local wines and the vegetables we prepared earlier. It’s not a demonstration. It’s a shared meal built from start to finish, Umbrian style.
Medieval Towns & Daily Life
Between meals, we wander. Assisi’s layered history and the Basilica of St. Francis, Spoleto’s sweeping valley views and dramatic Ponte delle Torri, Norcia’s reopened Piazza San Benedetto and its famed salumerie. We move at a human pace — stopping for coffee and pastries, browsing small food shops, stepping into artisan ceramic studios, and lingering in quiet cobblestone streets that feel unchanged by time.
These towns are not day trips to check off a list. They’re part of the rhythm of the week. We explore with intention, guided where it matters, and given space where it doesn’t. Time to look, taste, shop, sit, and absorb. Simply experienced, not rushed.
Wine & Olive Oil — From the Source
We step into the places where Umbrian flavor begins — in the vineyards of Montefalco and the olive groves of Trevi. At Azienda Agricola Bocale, we walk through the vineyard and into the cellar for a guided tasting of Montefalco wines, paired with bruschetta and conversation about soil, climate, and tradition. You’ll hear directly from the people who grow the grapes and shape the wine, learning how this hillside region gives structure and character to every glass.
In Trevi, we visit Il Frantoio for a guided olive oil tasting and tour, exploring how harvest timing, pressing methods, and hillside groves influence flavor. From grassy and peppery to soft and round, you’ll begin to taste olive oil differently — not as a finishing drizzle, but as an essential ingredient shaped by place.
These aren’t quick stops. They’re opportunities to understand where Umbrian cooking begins — in the land itself.
Evenings Back in Vallo
No matter where we spend the day — a vineyard in Montefalco, the piazza in Norcia, or the streets of Assisi — we return each evening to Vallo di Nera. The pace softens. Church bells echo across the valley. The kitchen lights come on.
At Casa della Zia, the house is always stocked with mineral water, local wines, cheeses, ricotta, cured meats, olives, fruit, pastries, and chocolate. Sometimes we gather around the table with bruschetta and a glass of red. Other nights we sit in the garden, comparing notes from the day, or sample a small tasting of local liquori, amaros, and grappa.
There’s no rush. Some evenings we dine together in town, other nights you’re free to wander to La Taverna Bordone or Cacio Re for a quiet meal. The point is not to fill every hour — it’s to settle into village life. By the end of the week, Vallo doesn’t feel like where you’re staying. It feels like where you live.
