Loire Valley with Naomi Pomeroy and ellen laing
october 3-8, 2025
Naomi and ellen join us for round two in the loire valley - a real treat for us all! a week of traditional technique, stories, and incredible food awaits.
6 Days, 5 nights
october 3-8, 2025
From $5500.00 USD
We have the pleasure of again welcoming two of our favorite guest chefs to our Loire Valley retreat this year! Naomi Pomeroy, James Beard award winning chef and owner of the late Beast and current Cornet Custard in Portland, Oregon, will join us for the week along with her nearest and dearest Ellen Laing, farmer, and fabulous pastry chef.
This duo comes with a beautiful history, a love story, and the food they bring to the table when together is an absolute delight. You’ll get to join them in the kitchen for workshops on mastering the Mother Sauces and demystifying the soufflé! And of course, as we’re in the Loire Valley, you can count on plenty of wining-and-dining to your heart’s delight. All of this at the astounding Château de Jalesnes, your ultra-luxe accommodations for the week.
What will you do?
The Loire Valley is all about breathing it in - from the intoxicating aroma of a Loire white wine to the undeniable fragrance of fresh plum pastries baking in the oven. We will eat, cook, drink, and otherwise revel in the two good brains and bright spirits of Naomi Pomeroy and Ellen Laing. We can’t wait for you to discover their dynamic workshops, where you’ll learn kitchen tips that you’ll never forget.
The Reverie team will take you out to discover the surrounding villages and cities, including wine tastings with local experts and winemakers, visits to some of our favorite bakeries, and a meal at one of our favorite restaurants in the Valley. When we’re not out and about, we’ve made sure to design an itinerary that allows for plenty of relaxation in the sun, in your bed, and on the terrace with a glass of that Loire Valley nectar. It’s a very, very good time!
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While we hope everyone will participate, all experiences are optional.
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Rêverie has carefully selected activities and experiences that we believe represent the best of the region and our own expertise, aiming to provide an optimal experience for the participants.
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Cooking is communal and we have the opportunity to cook together, learn from experienced cooks, and practice new techniques. The kitchen is an open space for everyone.
your guest hosts
Get To Know your guest hosts!
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Naomi POmeroy
Naomi Pomeroy is a James Beard award winning chef from Portland, Oregon. Beginning with “Family Supper” in the early 2000’s, she has played a pivotal role in the evolution of the local food scene, from “prix fixe” stalwart Beast (2007-2020) to cocktail bar Expatriate (2013-present) Naomi’s passion for local ingredients and exacting technique continue to keep her at the forefront of the scene. She has appeared in print and television throughout her career, and continues to flex her culinary muscle through events, consulting, and occasional international cooking workshops. Her James Beard and IACP award winning cookbook was released in 2016, and continues to wow readers with it’s clear, detailed instructions and timeless recipes.
In late summer or early fall 2024, Naomi will open a new restaurant concept in Portland.
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Ellen Laing
Ellen is a farmer and chef who lives on her family’s organic farm in Ontario, Canada, halfway between Detroit and Toronto. Since her family were restrictive organic hippies, she has a well-established affinity for seasonal cooking and had to bake her own treats of all kinds from a young age, so pastry was a natural fit. She loves to forage, preserve and bake.
While Ellen worked at Beast mostly in pastry on and off from 2011-2015, Naomi and Ellen solidified their friendship with a trip to Japan in 2013, and over the next few years while working to write, recipe test and style Naomi's cookbook Taste and Technique. They both have an intimate relationship to cookbooks - like most self taught chefs in the age before the internet. But it also means that they bring a certain critical lens to teaching, and a linear approach to building flavour and technique. They prefer to cook and teach as a team because of how it elevates flavour and ideas, and because it's such a good time.
YOUR ITINERARY
*Please note that changes to the itinerary may occur between now and your retreat start date*
DAY ONE
friday 10.03.25
Welcome to France! As you approach the beloved Château de Labusquière, you’ll feel swept away by the inviting vistas and the wheat fields. You’ll be welcomed with a glass of champagne and some post-travel snacks made by your hosts and then you will settle into your room before we gather for a welcome lunch to kick the week off! In the afternoon, we’ll kick off the workshop ceremonies with Erin’s first workshop on the mysterious yet deceptively simple Macaron! Come evening, we will all sit down to our first dinner at the château where local vegetables and good wine will be served in abundance!
DAY two
saturday 10.04.25
On our second day, you’ll be greeted with breakfast: fresh local croissants, brioche, French yogurt and as much fresh fruit as we can cram on a table. The group will then head to the nearby village of Saumur to walk the local market and explore the charming village, castle included! Then it’s back to the Château, where a market lunch will be waiting for you. After some time to unwind, Naomi and Ellen will begin their Mother Sauces workshop in the kitchen. Aperitif, dinner and some standard reverie will wrap up the first full day.
DAY three
sunday 10.05.25
Today we’ll journey out once more to begin to explore the extensive wine region we are residing in. First stop, Ackerman caves, premier producer of Crémant, in Saumur. We’ll have lunch in a traditional cave-dwelling restaurant near Saumur before heading back to the chateau to unwind. As the sun sets, we’ll join Manon from La Tonelle for a rooftop wine tasting with the view of a lifetime. Manon brings the good stuff - perhaps even some of her own! And, she usually stays for dinner, so get ready for an inspired love of wine and great stories!
DAY four
monday 10.06.25
Today is for soufflés and chateau time! Early morning souffle workshops will lead us straight into lunch in the courtyard, where guests will sup on the souffles they proudly made, alongside some locally made galettes and crepes. Then, after a moment of post-lunch rest, the celebrated Richard Ruan from La Boulangerie des Carmes will join us for an afternoon pastry workshop to teach of some magical secrets. That night, we have our traditional Rêverie grill party – yard games and French junk food included!
DAY five
tuesday 10.07.25
This is a very special day! We have our final workshop day with Naomi and Ellen, then, we head out for a big day in the truly wonderful city of Angers! We’ll take in the sights – including visiting our dear friend Richard Ruan’s Boulangerie de Carmes - and you’ll have plenty of time for souvenir shopping. At the end of the day we’ll meet for some bottles of local wine at Le Cercle Rouge in the heart of the city, and then we’ll head to the vans together to make our way to a magical last dinner in Montreuil-Bellay at the charmed restaurant L’Auberge des Isles, where we will have our final dinner of the week together on a patio bedecked by weeping willows and quiet crickets.
DAY six
wednesday 10.08.25
Today, we depart from our home for the week and we soak up every last breath of the wide open air of Gers. Breakfast will be served and we will say our goodbyes as the vans arrive to shuttle us all away from Labusquière and toward the airport so we can all make our way to our next destinations.
workshops
Naomi, our Soufflé sherpa will spend a morning demystifying the Magical Soufflé! Impressive? Yes! Hard? No! Learn a few little tricks and tips and you’ll be pulling this one out at your next dinner party without breaking a sweat. Kitchen tricks aside, you’ll also get to hear some truly lovely stories of her childhood dinners with her mother over these incredible, yet truly simple, masterpieces.
Then we’ll move on to a series of demos on classic French sauces - rouille, beurre blanc, and hollandaise make the cut, plus a few surprises up Naomi and Ellen’s sleeves. Learning how to make these easy-to-use and sure-to-impress classic French sauces is a must for any good cook’s repertoire.
Ellen Laing, goddess of pastry and farming, will share some of her favorite kitchen tricks as well - she is a fount of knowledge and skill and we can’t wait to spend another week with her!
WORKSHOPS
Demystifying soufflé !
Saucy times !
Pastry wonders !
French baking workshop with Richard Ruan of La Boulangerie des Carmes in Angers
Natural Wine Workshop with Manon Lavaud of La Tonnelle in Saumur
* Due to the nature of the experience we wish to provide, we can accommodate vegetarians, but will be unable to accommodate any further dietary restrictions.
explore
We can’t wait to show you around! There will be a trip to the gorgeous city of Angers. We will visit a local natural winemaker to see how it’s done as well as the caves of Ackerman, one of Saumur’s premier producers of crémant. La Tonnelle wine bar in Saumur will give us an introduction to natural wines. For one of our final dinners together, we will venture out to Montreuil-Bellay for an enchanting dinner at L’Auberge des Isles.
OUTINGS
Explore the beautiful city of Angers and the Marché La Fayette on Wednesday morning
Visit La Terre de l’Elu, one of the Loire’s leading producers of natural wines, during harvest season!!
Dinner at L’Auberge des Isles in Montreuil-Bellay
what’s included
Everything! Well. Except for your ride over the ocean and to the Angers train station. But once you arrive, we got you.
Transfers from the Gare d’Angers Saint Laud (Angers train station) to and from the Château de Jalesnes
Workshops and all materials associated
Recipes galore
All meals, unless you go rogue
All wine and beverages, unless you wanna have your own after hours party
Private coach transportation while on retreat
All scheduled tours and events during our week
Chateau lodging, naturally
getting here
Airplane
Guests will fly into Paris (Charles de Gaulle airport - CDG). From there, guests can take a train directly from the airport to Angers, or from the Gare Montparnasse in the Paris city center. We will arrange for pick up at the Angers Saint Laud train station. For a fee, we can arrange private transport directly from the Charles de Gaulle airport or from your hotel in Paris to the Château de Jalesnes.
*Cost of airfare and train tickets are not included in the cost of your reservation. Please let us know if we can offer any moral support or guidance with your travel plans - we’re happy to help!
Car
The Château de Jalesnes is about a 4-hour drive from the Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport outside of Paris. For those comfortable using a GPS and driving out of big cities, this could be a great way for you to get around and have a little more freedom during your stay with us. If you allow for extra time, you can even take the back roads and enjoy that incredible scenery as you follow along the Loire River. Please let us know if you do decide to rent a car so that we inform our car service.
We can hire a private car for travel from Paris directly to the château for an additional fee.
Train
A few direct trains are available from the Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport to the Angers Saint Laud train stations, and several trains leave the Paris Montparnasse train station every day to Angers. If you plan to travel by train but are unfamiliar with the system, we would be happy to help you book your ticket.
Travel Reservation
If you would like guidance with booking your travel to the Château de Jalesnes, please reach out! We are happy to help make this part of your trip as easy as possible.
Our friends at Coucou French Classes offer some incredible online French language classes - whether you’re looking to brush up on your high school French or looking to learn a few phrases to feel more comfortable with travel, Coucou French Classes is the way! Check out their website for more information.