Food & Drink
Vermont Cooking Retreat
What’s Included in Your Culinary Retreat Tickets:
Tickets purchased here are for the Cooking activities only and do not include lodging. See below for more information on lodging.
Join Milk Street’s Director of Education Rosemary Gill and Director of Culinary Production Wes Martin for a hands-on cooking intensive in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont—a rural, remote and beautiful slice of New England. You’ll spend two days visiting farms, cooking with Wes and Rosie and enjoying lavish meals made with the best seasonal produce and local products. There will also be time to enjoy a wood-fired sauna, explore the local community, relax with a book or hit the world famous mountain biking trails of Burke, Vermont, our home base.
The retreat starts on Monday evening with a Welcome Dinner prepared by Wes and Rosie. You’ll get to know your fellow students and learn about the days ahead. Tuesday morning, we’ll visit Chandler Pond Farm, an integrated beef, flower and berry farm to learn about regenerative farming, grass-fed beef and the life and economics of small-scale agriculture. With steaks, flowers and stories in hand, we’ll return to The Farmhouse—our cooking classroom in Burke—to cook in outdoor and indoor kitchens at The Village Inn, all under Rosie’s and Wes’s expert guidance. Expect comparative tastings, skill challenges and a celebratory meal. On Wednesday, we’ll start at Firefly Farm, a small family farm committed to working with nature to grow produce, raise animals and tap maple trees. There we'll take an in-depth tour, try some hands-on farming and eat lunch of wood-fired pizzas cooked on site. We’ll then return to The Village Inn and get cooking once more, this time with the freshest spring produce from Firefly Farm. Again, we’ll use live fire and indoor kitchens to produce our farewell dinner feast.
We offer only a very small handful of these retreats per year. This one is limited to just 10 students. Get your tickets now.
If you are a local NEK resident or an employee of the Kingdom East School District, please get in touch for special rates.
About Firefly Farm: Firefly Farm is a family owned and operated diversified farm, located in the hills above Burke Hollow, VT. Sustainability, resilience, and community are at the center of how we farm. We draw from both traditional practices and modern science in order to grow and raise food in a way that honors and supports the animals, plants, and land on which we work, as well as the people we feed. We pride ourselves in caring for our community while at the same time caring for the earth that feeds us all. We offer a whole diet range of nutritious foods, grown and raised in a system that strives to work within the natural processes of our piece of land.
About Chandler Pond Farm: The Chandler Pond Farm has a rich agricultural history, and has been home to great land stewards over the years. The Dills are thrilled to care for, and call this beautiful place home, and grow a family that will someday be able to carry on the agricultural tradition. Farming holds a special and critical role in the Dill family’s lives: the desire to promote stewardship of the limited land base available today, provide honest, quality food for the community, and maintain a lifestyle of solid work ethic, appreciation and understanding of the limited resources available in a world where much of the population is removed from its food system.
LOCATION: The retreat is centered around Burke, Vermont. Our cooking classes will take place at The Farmhouse, located at The Village Inn in Burke. The farm visits are all within a 30-minute drive of The Farmhouse. Students are responsible for securing their own lodging at the location of their choice.
TRANSPORTATION: Tickets for this retreat do not include transportation. Students are responsible for their own transportation to, from and during the retreat. Students will need to get themselves to The Farmhouse in Burke, Vermont, and to each of the farms we visit. Milk Street cannot provide carpooling services.
LODGING: Tickets for this retreat do not include lodging. You are expected to find your own lodging in or near Burke, Vermont. We recommend The Village Inn, The Wild Flower Inn and rental properties managed by Liv & Wilder Real Estate. We have reserved rooms at The Village Inn for retreat students, which are being held until October 25. You must call to book your room; if you look online the rooms will appear unavailable. This is because they are blocked for us. Please call and say you are with Milk Street. After October 25 you are not guaranteed a room at the Village Inn but there are ample other lovely options in Burke. Our cooking classes will take place at The Village Inn.
DIET: We can accommodate most dietary requests with advanced notice. Please clearly note your dietary preferences and requirements on the Order Form.
FAQs
Is this an in-person event?
Yes. The retreat is centered around Burke, Vermont. Our cooking classes will take place at The Farmhouse, located at The Village Inn in Burke. The farm visits are all within a 30-minute drive of The Farmhouse. Students are responsible for securing their own lodging at the location of their choice.
Are transportation and lodging included in my ticket?
No. Tickets for this retreat do not include transportation or lodging.
Students are responsible for their own transportation to, from and during the retreat. Students will need to get themselves to The Farmhouse in Burke, Vermont, and to each of the farms we visit. Milk Street cannot provide carpooling services.
Lodging: Tickets for this retreat do not include lodging. You are expected to find your own lodging in or near Burke, Vermont. We recommend The Village Inn, The Wild Flower Inn and rental properties managed by Liv & Wilder Real Estate. We have reserved rooms at The Village Inn for retreat students, which are being held until October 15, 2025. You must call 1-802-626-3161 to book your room; if you look online the rooms will appear unavailable. This is because they are blocked for us. Please call and say you are with Milk Street. After October 15 you are not guaranteed a room at the Village Inn but there are ample other lovely options in Burke. Our cooking classes will take place at The Village Inn.
What is the NEK Resident ticket?
We have reserved two reduced-priced tickets for residents of the Northeast Kingdom. We ask that only year-round full-time residents of the Northeast Kingdom purchase these tickets. Proof of residency is required.
Is my registration ticket refundable?
No. We do not offer refunds for in-person registrations. However, your ticket is fully transferable to another person for this event on these dates. You are responsible for finding someone to use your ticket, arranging reimbursement, and for sending us the new attendee's full name, contact information, and any special dietary requests.If you purchased tickets for this class on behalf of someone else, please be sure to forward this message to them so they can come prepared.
Are meals included?
Your ticket includes Monday dinner, Tuesday breakfast, lunch and dinner and Wednesday breakfast and late lunch.
I have an allergy or dietary restriction. Can I still come?
We work hard to accommodate as many allergies and dietary needs as possible. You are welcome to write us at cookingschool@177milkstreet.com to get more detailed information on whether this event is a good fit for you.
Are children allowed?
Children 11-17 are allowed to participate if they attend and cook with an adult parent or guardian. The minor and the adult must each have a ticket to the event.
How many people does one ticket cover?
One ticket covers one attendee.
How early do I need to arrive?
Monday's welcome event starts at 5:30 p.m. at The Farm House. You are welcome to arrive anytime 5:30-6:00 p.m.
I'm an Insider. Do I get a discount to the in-person classes?
This event is not hosted at Milk Street, so Insider benefits do not apply to it.
These dates don't work for me. Will this class be offered again soon?
We offer in-person events on a very limited basis. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that this class will be offered again soon.
Where can I contact the organizer with further questions?
Write to us with any other questions at cookingschool@177milkstreet.com.
