Food Writers at Camont

May 6-12 w/ Kathy Gunst, May 13-26 & September 9-15 w/ Melissa Martin and Kate Hill, Sept 16-29, 2025

Inspiration in the 18th-century Kitchen at Camont

Food Writers at Camont is a special invitation to those in the culinary arts to work, cook, research, write, photograph, style, and enjoy the unique atmosphere of Kate Hill’s 18th-century Gascon kitchen. Kate Hill hosts a month-long celebration of the culinary arts at Camont twice a year. Guest workshops with leaders and writing coaches offer special weeklong workshops, as well as independent work at two-week residencies.

Spring 2025

  • May 6-12: Food Writers and Memoirists Workshop with Kathy Gunst, a James Beard award-winning food journalist and the Resident Chef for NPR’s award-winning show, Here and Now. This guided week features daily workshops sharing prompts, private writing time, and one-on-one mentoring with Kathy Gunst. Meals provided by the Relais’s Chef in Residence, local culinary touring to markets and farms. More info at : kathygunst.co

  • May 13-26: A two-week self-led residency dedicated to the culinary arts for food writers, researchers, photographers, and stylists who seek inspiration, practice, and research in a quiet, productive space tailored to their needs. Rather than a group retreat, this is a special time in the Relais’ general residency schedule to allow food writers full access to Camont’s two kitchens, potager, herb gardens, surrounding Gascon farms, and our favorite bistros and restaurants. Free cooking time for all residents, along with some family meals, is provided by the Relais’ Chef-in-Residence.

Autumn 2025

  • September 9-15 Partager: Shared Words is a Food Writers Retreat led by cookbook authors Chef Melissa Martin of The Mosquito Club, New Orleans, and Kate Hill. See more information below.

  • September 16-29 A two-week self-led residency dedicated to the culinary arts for food writers, researchers, photographers, and stylists who seek inspiration, practice, and research in a quiet, productive space tailored to their needs. Rather than a group retreat, this is a special time in the Relais’ general residency schedule to allow food writers full access to Camont’s two kitchens, potager, herb gardens, surrounding Gascon farms, and our favorite bistros and restaurants. Free cooking time for all residents, along with some family meals, is provided by the Relais’ Chef-in-Residence.

Food Writers at Camont Residencies are for those needing a relaxed individual pace in an inspiring culinary environment in Southwest France—a kitchen, garden, French markets, and farms. Writers work at their own pace on individual projects (book, research, articles, curriculum, etc) while sharing common social space and time in the kitchen, salon, studio, and gardens of Camont with up to three other residents. Residents cook for themselves in the common kitchen, and these impromptu shared meals can be the highlight of your stay.

Mentor, cook, and author Kate Hill shares her extensive cookbook library and is available for one-on-one consulting and mentorship.

Food Writers at Camont sessions are scheduled twice a year—in May and September—and are limited to four residents. Please see the calendar for 2025 dates; residency rates (737-875€ per week) are the same as published. Complete the form for more information.


Partager: Shared words

A Food Writer’s Retreat with Chef Author Melissa and Kate Hill— Sept 9-15, 2025

Kate Hill and Melissa Martin in the Kitchen at Camont. Photo by : Enas Nashif

“Partager: Shared Words” is a Food Writing Retreat for Women hosted by Kate Hill and Chef Melissa M. Martin at Camont, with the words of Patience Grey, MFK Fisher, Madeleine Kamman, Isak Dinesen, Alice B. Toklas, Elizabeth David, Jane Grigson, and all the other women who have gone before.

You are invited into the Relais de Camont’s 18th-century French kitchen and its Gascon table with Kate and Melissa to partager—the French word for share—the food and stories of Kate’s Southwest France and its Cajun connections with Melissa’s beloved Bayou. Gather around all the stories that cooking women tell as the kitchen table is set with old French pottery and big platters of delicious food. Imagine a Salon & Supper Club meeting at a Writer’s Retreat in Southwest France! Join us for this collaboration of words and meals cooked together with Kate Hill and Mosquito Supper Club.

Partager: Shared Words is hosted by Relais de Camont’s founder, cook, and author Kate Hill and chef and author Melissa M. Martin, Mosquito Supper Club NOLA, at the Relais de Camont in Southwest France, just one hour from Toulouse and Bordeaux and three hours from Paris. There are just four spaces at this table for Sept 9-15, 2025.

  • 5500€ per person; private single room with ensuite bathroom in the Relais de Camont.

  • Sept 9-15, 2025, 7 days / 6 nights; private accommodation, local transportation, all meals, workshops, and mentoring.

  • Ask for FAQs on travel, booking, and payment information here—application.