Culinary Arts Program: Retreats & Residencies-April/May 2027
Jenn Davis and her Acacia & Elderflower Gateau at Camont-May 2025
I want to call attention to a few special events and retreats also on the books as we publish all the new open dates for 2027 creative residencies at Camont.
Culinary Arts Programs April~May 2027
A Little History:
What started spontaneously in Spring of 2023 with a coven of food photographers hosted by Ruth Ribeaucourt whose wonderful photographs are featured throughout the website. The next year, a Food Writers’ retreat with Kathy Gunst in May 2024, joined the May tradition of inviting visiting authors along with a couple young chefs-in-residence. Suddenly, writing wasn’t the only focus but cooking delicious meals everyday was, and it became, as they say, “a Thing.” So while May turned into a food driven month, it was natural that the James Beard Award winning chef and author Melissa Martin of the renowned Mosquito Supper Club in New Orleans became a cherished returning resident on several visits to discover the road between her own Bayou and our Gascon country markets.
Last year, we welcomed Lisa Marie Donovan (chef and author of Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger) and Toni Tipton Martin (senior editor of America’s Test Kitchen and When Southern Women Cook) in May to join us as honored mentors while they were both in Paris. And while many more of my friends and colleagues pass through our kitchen doors, I wanted to formalize this continuum from refocusing my 30+ years of the Kitchen at Camont to the Camont Creative Residency.
To experience Camont at her most delicious, we are offering two retreats and two residencies sessions in a 6-week Spring Culinary Arts Program: Retreats & Residencies From April 19th to May 30th 2027. See calendar here.
Retreat #1~ Introduction to French Pastries Baking Retreat with Jenn Davis.
Jenn Davis is the mastermind (baker, recipe writer, photographer, and writer) behind the award winning website Two Cups Flour and My French Table on Substack. No more than 6 bakers will join Jenn in the kitchens at Camont for daily demonstration and hands-on instruction. Guests will stay in lovely small hotel in nearby Agen and shuttle to Camont each morning for coffee and pastries before daily classes. Read all about the wonderful easy French pastries that you will learn here.
Residencies Culinary Arts #1 & #2~
Next there are 2 two-week creative residencies open to food writers, cooks, food photographers, artists, farmers, and other disciplines. This is a self-driven time where you are free to work at your own pace, shop, cook and eat as you like, and indulge your culinary creativity as you desire.
Retreat #2~ La Plume & La Cuisine with Kate Hill
The last week of our Culinary Arts Program is a retreat week I am hosting called “La Plume & La Cuisine.” A gently guided week of culinary-focused writing, recipes, cookbooks, memoir, travel, historical, and fiction with mentors Kate Hill and a surprise guest teacher. More details and information to come soon.
Make it stand out
Dates in 2027: Look at your calendar and decide when you can join us for a Spring celebration of the Culinary Arts.
April 19-25 French Pastry Baking Retreat with Jenn Davis- 7 days/ 6 nights (lodging off site)
April 27-May 10 Culinary Arts Residency Session #1 - 14 days/13 nights
May 11- May 24 Culinary Arts Residency Session #2- 14 days/13 nights
May 25-May 30 Culinary Arts Writers Retreat- La Plume dans La Cuisine with Kate Hill- 6 days/5 nights
For those looking to combine weeks, just ask for a special rate. Write, photograph, paint, research, read, practice, and taste as long as you like. The kitchens and gardens at Camont await you!
