Join me in Greece…

 

Each year I host a number of culinary retreats here in Greece, celebrating all that I love about my home.

So hoping you can join me for full cultural immersion and live cooking demonstrations, plus a chance to meet my Yiayia, the woman that has inspired the entire Matriarch Eats brand.

For more information on exactly what we do on the retreats, please follow the links below!

Flavours and Foundations in Corfu
28 September - 3 October, 2024

An Epicurean’s Weekend in Athens
Spring 2025

Flavours of Corfu Retreat Highlights

Spring in Corfu is my favourite season. The island, one of the greenest in all of Greece, is in full bloom. Wild flowers burst from the sides of the road, the buzz of honey bees is a permanent hum and bright yellow lemons hang heavy on their branches. The weather, a sweet 20-25 degrees C is perfect for the first swim of the season. Just writing this has me excited to welcome you all at this time of the year.

As well as being my island, where I was raised and where I have spent every summer of my life, Corfu has somehow managed to absorb the influences of so many other places and people. The Venetians brought olive cultivation to the island, as well as some of our most iconic dishes, like the sweet, cinnamon-spiked Stifado (in Venetian ‘Stufato’) stew, a completely different flavour to what you might find in the rest of Greece. They also influenced the architecture on the island, which in contrast to the stark white homes of the Cyclades, are rich reds, faded pinks and golds. Corfu Town, with its narrow alleyways strung up with washing and cobblestone paving feels like Venice, though it was the French that built its most famous esplanade ‘The Liston’, now my favourite place to sip on a glass of white wine and people watch.

The English influence is also inescapable. Prince Phillip (of Greece, before he married the Queen) was born at Mon Repos Palace in Corfu, a spot I like to swim at when the day gets too chaotic in Corfu town. Writers like Edward Lear and Gerald Durrell made the island their home in the past and though tourism has changed the island since then, there are so many secret sides to Corfu that you can only truly discover with a local. Hence, this retreat.

Every summer I’m flooded with messages for ‘Corfu tips’. This retreat is the ultimate combination of those tips. It’s wild flower foraging in endless olive groves that end in secret beaches, getting to know those old ladies dressed in black. It’s meeting producers and eating at the very best of Corfu’s restaurants and sea-front tavernas. Cooking Corfiot dishes as a group and enjoying the company of new people in a beautiful, 18th Century Venetian villa.

This is an eating holiday. There’s no yoga or mindfulness. What there is, is cooking, indulging, as well as hiking, swimming and some art workshops that combine our love for food with a playful element. There’s also dancing. It’s simply about showing you the very best of my island’s secrets while eating some really good food and having fun in the process.

So hoping you can join me.

INCLUDED

5 nights accommodation at a historic Venetian villa
Welcome dinner at the very best place to eat on the island
All meals
A meal with Yiayia (my Greek grandmother and inspiration behind the book Grand Dishes)
Meeting local producers + the chance to buy home-grown produce direct from them
Hiking to secret beaches
Art workshop with a contemporary artist (think ceramics, life drawing and cyanotypes in the sun)
Visits to hilltop villages
Lunch at seafront taverna
Visits to Corfu town and a culinary tour of town
Corfiot cooking workshops
A comprehensive guide to eating in Corfu + other spots to visit on your free days after the retreat

NOT INCLUDED

Travel insurance
Car hire (essential!) / Transfers
Travel to / from Corfu


LOCATION

The south of the island is so rarely explored. It’s rural, rustic and considerably more ‘Greek’ than what you might find in the north of the island (aptly nicknamed ‘Kensington-on-Sea’. In the south, locals still play backgammon in the dappled shade outside of Kafeneions. Tractors and cockerels might well wake you from an afternoon siesta and you can easily get lost down winding dirt paths, deep into centuries-old olive groves.

ACCOMMODATION

San Stefano Estate is an 18th Century Venetian Manor home and I am so pleased to be hosting the retreat here. It’s very well located in the hills above the fishing village of Benitses, giving us relatively speedy access to both the rural south of the island and Corfu town. Its location way above the village also lends it a sense of serenity, not so easily found on the coastline. Antique furniture, plenty of original features and sweeping views across the turquoise Ionian and onto the mainland contribute to the house’s romantic appeal.

We’ll be enjoying pool-side aperitivos and dining al fresco on the veranda as much as possible…

IMPORTANT TO NOTE

  • This house is a 300 year-old listed building, which means the bathrooms are not en-suite but shared! There are three bathrooms.

  • To attend you will need travel insurance.

  • Due to the nature of the event and the way the accommodation is rented, there will be no refunds, however if you’re unable to make it, you can have a friend attend in your place.

  • Everyone will need to show proof of vaccination or have tested negative for Covid-19 and can prove it with an antigen test taken within 24 hours of the first day or PCR taken within 72 hours.

  • The list of activities is provisional. If the weather bends our plans and we can’t swim / hike , we will be doing some alternative fun activities.

  • If we do not reach a minimum number of guests for the retreat, it will be moved to another date.

INTERESTED IN TAKING A BITE OUT OF CORFU?

EMAIL ME TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT.

anastasia.miari@gmail.com