Bitters & Cocktails
Happy hour included lakeside cocktails by Genevieve Brazelton and a deep dive into bitters with Lauren Nischan.
Workshops
Bourbon & Ham Tasting
Sara Bradley paired Kentucky bourbon with country ham in what might be the most epic tasting workshop in Eat Retreat history.
Budget Brick Oven
With 45 bricks, 8 cinder blocks, two sheets of metal and a bag of sand, Anthony Calleo built an oven and threw us a pizza party in the woods.
Citrus Tasting
Rick Nahmias traveled across the country with a box of California citrus for a fruit history lesson and blind tasting.
Coffee Roasting
We learned to roast coffee from green beans with Alex Roth of Pepper Peddler Coffee.
Community Building
In true collaborative spirit, Liz Martin, Liz Fitzgerald, Nadine Nelson, Rick Nahmias and Simran Jaising led a heart-felt session on developing meaningful partnerships and community engagement.
Cruz de Asado Roast
With a whole pig donated from Stonybrook Meadow Farm, Laura del Campo organized a open-pit whole animal roast for the opening night of Eat Retreat.
Domestic Cheese Tasting
Eat Retreaters ate their way across a domestic cheese board curated by Alex Jones, considered Midwestern Foodways and debated the future of our national food culture.
Eggsploration
From tiny quail eggs to the jumbo emu egg, Liz Martin led an investigative workshop all about eggs—included her own backyard chicken eggs.
Fermentation
Jeffrey de Picciotto and Chris O’Brien discussed fermentation techniques and traditions as we tasted ferments such as miso, koji, kimchi and kvass.
Food Media
We got pro styling tips from Elle Scott, Julie Zyromski and Rebecca Stumpf ; pitching advice from writers Rachael Narins and Anna Roth; and connected the dots with media mavens Jenn de la Vega and Christine Liu.
Food Styling
Food stylist Tina Bell Stamos showed off her tricks of the trade.
Gluten-free Baking
Baker Erica Fair led a session in baking with alternative flours, resulting in the ultimate breakfast treats.
Hands-On Slaughter
Under the guidance of Heather Marold Thomason each Eat Retreater harvested a chicken, destined for a buttermilk bath.
Jamming
Dafna Kory of INNA Jam taught us how to preserve small batches of seasonal fruit.
Knife Sharpening
Sushi chef Erik Aplin taught us how to treat our knives and also demonstrated his fish butchery techniques on a whole bluefish.
Mushroom Foraging
We hunted for mushrooms with long-time forager Bob Lesnikoski and enjoyed the spoils during brunch on our last day together.
Salmon Smoking
Neil Davidson used local salmon to demonstrate the Native American fish smoking ceremony celebrated by his family.
Pie Baking & Sourdoughs
Bakers Susan Reid and Rose Lawrence taught us about crusts, ferments, and working with grain.
The Talent Show
Poetry and tap dancing, puppetry and twerking… it turns out, Eat Retreaters’ skills go way beyond the kitchen.
Trout Fishing
We visited a local Wisconsin trout fishery to learn about aquaculture and catch our dinner.
Whole Lamb Butchery
Andrew Plotsky showed us how to break down a lamb, which was raised on Hidden Villa’s pastures. Attendees cooked the whole animal for our first meal together.
Yogurt Making
Eat Retreaters took home live culture from a yogurt-making session led by chef Mirit Cohen.