For foodies and wine lovers looking to treat themselves to a weekend getaway in California’s wine country, there’s no better place for a Jewish culinary retreat than the rolling hills and sprawling vineyards of Sonoma County.
This idyllic Bay Area setting is home to URJ Camp Newman in Santa Rosa, a 500-acre Jewish summer camp and year-round luxury retreat center.
The first-ever Jewish Food & Wine Retreat – featuring Shannon Sarna, founder and editor of The Nosher and renowned cookbook author, among others – will take place from September 13 to 15.
Featuring a dynamic lineup of world-class winemakers, chefs, food critics, rabbis and Jewish educators, the Jewish Food & Wine Retreat, organized in collaboration with Congregation Beth Shalom of Napa, will be a delicious celebration at the intersection of food, wine and Jewish culture.
“Connecting with food and wine is a valuable and legitimate way to be Jewish,” notes Jordanna Flores, director of year-round programs at Camp Newman.
The retreat experience aims to nourish the body, mind and soul. Each workshop, gathering and tasting is designed to underscore how deeply participants are connected to what strengthens them, what inspires them and what gives them strength.
Headliners for the weekend include Shannon Sarna, cheesemaker Omer Seltzer of Mt. Eitan Cheese, chef and nutritionist Micah Siva, Covenant Wines founder Jeff Morgan, San Francisco pickler Sam Paone, artisan winemaker Drew Neiman, food agriculture expert Arielle Dubowe, grill master extraordinaire BJ Rasmussen, chef and entrepreneur Eliot Swartz, Hagafen Cellars owner and winemaker Ernie Weir and others.
Weekend all-inclusive packages start at $675 per person, with special rates of $475 for Camp Newman alumni under 30. Participants who register early with code Nosh50 receive $50 off registration.
Kicking things off Friday night is Camp Newman Chef Danny Robinow and Morgan of Covenant Wines, who will host a Shabbat dinner featuring several Moroccan-inspired dishes, each from salad to dessert served with a different Covenant wine, followed by a sip of Covenant brandy.
If brandy isn’t your favorite, don’t worry: There will also be a friendly mixology competition to create a signature Camp Newman cocktail – aptly named “The Porter Creek,” after the road that leads to the camp.
“It will be a fun journey for participants as we explore our dinner plates and wine glasses,” Morgan said. “Food and drink help us understand where we come from and each other.”
Throughout the weekend, retreat participants can choose from a variety of food experiences that cater to all tastes, including dairy lovers, meat eaters and vegetarians. They can also enjoy a range of other activities, including a food gathering hike, lemon tree planting, creating a collaborative art project and participating in a hunger relief project.
On the dairy side, artisan cheesemaker Omer Seltzer of Mt. Eitan Cheese will share his family philosophy and technique for cheesemaking, as well as offer a tasting of some of his creations.
“Cheesemaking is my family heritage,” says Seltzer, who is originally from Israel. “It’s my calling. I’m fascinated by the process that turns milk into something very special and brings out its unique flavors.”
Sarna, founder of Nosher magazine and author of Modern Jewish Baker and Modern Jewish Comfort Food, will give a hands-on class on babka-making.
“Right now, it’s so important to find joy in Jewishness,” Sarna said. “Dough is my passion. I love that it’s so much more than its ingredients, and I love sharing where the food comes from and why it’s a Jewish food.”
A panel discussion on the origin stories of several well-known Jewish delis in the Bay Area will be moderated by food journalist Alix Wall and will include some samplings of those menus.
For those looking for ideas for vegetarian holiday meals, recipe author and chef Micah Siva offers two courses highlighting trends in Jewish plant-based cooking straight from her new cookbook, Nosh. Familiar Jewish holiday dishes reimagined as mushroom-tofu brisket and vegetarian cabbage rolls are some of Siva’s favorites.
“As a child, I was a vegetarian and often felt left out during Jewish holidays,” said Siva. “With all the innovations in plant-based cuisine, we can now eat a little differently than our little ones.”
For an additional fee, an exclusive wine tasting is also offered at nearby Hagafen Cellars before the weekend.
“For us Jews, wine is one of the sacred foods and has historical significance,” said Ernie Weir, owner and winemaker of Hagafen Cellars. “Participants of the Newman retreat will have the opportunity to taste exclusive, high-quality wines from Napa Valley that they have probably never tasted before.”
The Jewish Food & Wine Retreat will also be something of a reboot for Camp Newman, a beloved institution founded in 1947. It moved to its current location in 1997 but was almost completely destroyed by the Tubbs Fire that devastated Santa Rosa in 2017. Camp Newman reopened in 2021 and was rebuilt with the intention of creating a woodsy, spiritual gathering place for the Jewish community, complete with luxurious hotel-like accommodations and amenities.
“Newman has been carefully rebuilt in this special, beautiful location so that we can come together as a joyful Jewish community for an upscale and cultured camp experience,” Flores said.
Whether they come for the food and wine, the beautiful scenery or the luxurious accommodations, participants can expect to leave the retreat at Camp Newman wanting more.
“We hope that people leave the Jewish Food & Wine Retreat with a sense of fulfillment – not only in their bodies, but also in their Subscribe,” Flores said, using the Hebrew word for soul. “That they develop a sense that there is still much to be done in the world; that they not only learned something, but that it was conscious.”
Register for the retreat here.
This story was sponsored and produced in partnership with URJ Camp Newman, California’s premier Jewish summer camp and leading year-round retreat and conference center. This article was created by Nosher’s native content team.
