Women at the Table — a seasonal culinary retreat for women in Tuscany, Italy. Not to escape life. To return to yourself. Four times a year, in a private villa in Pistoia, with seven women and five days of food, slowness and beauty.
"You have seen it in films.
A woman arrives in Italy.
Something shifts.
She stops pretending.
She remembers who she is."
That feeling is real. It is not a cliché and it is not a postcard. Italy does something to the rhythm of a life — slows it, softens it, opens it. Not because Italy is magic. Because Italy creates the space for you to stop lying to yourself about what you need.
Women at the Table is built on that truth. Five days in a private villa in Tuscany, with real food, real slowness, and seven women who arrived as strangers and left as something else.
This is not a cooking course. It is not a wellness programme. It is the space Italy has always offered — and that most of us have never let ourselves take.
Food in Italy is never just nourishment. It is the reason to gather, the excuse to slow down, the language of care. At our table, cooking is not the product — it is the means.
The means to return to yourself. To remember what matters. To rediscover a rhythm that feels human again. Elisa has been cooking for over 20 years — not as a profession, as a calling. She will cook for you the way she cooks for people she loves. You will feel the difference.
The philosophy is always the same. What changes is the season — the light in the garden, the ingredients Elisa cooks with, the rhythm of the days. Because life has seasons too. And the right retreat is the one that meets you where you are.
When things start again. The garden wakes up. The air smells of something new. A retreat for the woman who is beginning — something, anything, herself.
The long days, the heat, the abundance. Elisa cooks with what the garden gives. A retreat for the woman who needs to remember what pleasure feels like.
When everything softens and slows. The harvest, the wine, the golden light. A retreat for the woman who needs to let go — of summer, of hustle, of who she has been pretending to be.
Next edition ↓When everything is stripped back and you can finally hear yourself think. The quiet, the fire, the slow cooking. A retreat for the woman who needs stillness more than anything else.
Three women who know what it means to stop. To finally ask — what do I actually want? To think only of ourselves, without guilt, without apology. We open our home, our table, our garden — and our story — to you.
Sara grew up among gardens and plants. A partner in the family business designing gardens around the world, she brings an eye for beauty built over a lifetime of caring for it. The garden, the orto, the sensory herb walk, the table set for the evening — everything here carries her hand.
Elisa has been cooking for over 20 years — since she was twenty. Not as a profession but as a calling. Rooted in Tuscan tradition, guided by instinct and a deep care for detail. Her food is not performance. It is the most generous thing she knows how to give. Cooking alongside her is one of the truest experiences of this week.
Italian, from Pistoia. Architect in New York for over twenty years. Then one day she understood that was no longer her life. She came back — to her grandmother's house, to morning walks in the centro, to the slow rhythm of a real city. Patrizia doesn't sell this retreat. She lives it. She is the proof that choosing differently is possible.
You are a woman who wants a few days away from noise, roles and expectations.
You love food, slow conversations and beautiful places — or you used to, and you'd like to remember.
You do not need to be good at cooking. You only need to be willing to sit at the table, listen, taste and breathe.
You can come alone. Most women do. You will not feel alone for long.
You have been taking care of everyone else for long enough. This one is for you.
"This is not therapy, and it is not a performance retreat."
It is a small, carefully held experience made of food, conversation, beauty and time. We will not ask you to share more than you want. We will not push you toward any insight. We will simply hold the space — and let Tuscany do the rest.
"Women at the Table is not a wellness retreat in the usual sense. It is a seasonal culinary retreat for women in Tuscany — a few days around food, beauty, conversation and the quiet possibility of returning to yourself."
Yes. Most women join alone. The retreat is designed to feel intimate and welcoming from the very first evening. You will not feel alone for long.
Not at all. This is not a cooking school. It is a food and slow living experience. You only need to be willing to sit at the table and enjoy.
Only 7 women per retreat. The small group is intentional — it is what makes the experience intimate and real.
In Pistoia, Tuscany, Italy — approximately 30 minutes from Florence airport, 1 hour from Pisa airport, and 40 minutes from Lucca.
Four retreats a year — one for each season. Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Each one is shaped by the season and what it brings.
It is a slow, food-led women's culinary retreat focused on rest, conversation, beauty and time at the table. Not therapy, not yoga, not a programme. Just real food, real time, real connection.
Pricing is shared personally upon enquiry. Write to us and we will tell you everything — dates, availability and investment. No pressure, no obligation.
