What We Served at a Weekend Designed Around Movement

Yokayo Ranch Yoga Retreat Recap

This month we spent four days at Yokayo Ranch in Ukiah, cooking for a 30-woman yoga retreat with Sunset Retreats. Chef Malekae led the kitchen from Thursday's welcome snack through Sunday's closing brunch, building each meal around what the local farms had that week.

Produce came from Filigreen Farm, Coke Farm, and Big Mesa Farm, bread and bagels from Grainsong, and wild local salmon from Lemons Philo Market. That sourcing showed up in everything: a Saturday bagel bar with herbed cream cheese, heirloom tomatoes, and cucumber ribbons, a Friday night built around pork meatballs with nuoc cham and sambal-spiced chicken thighs, and a wine pairing dinner that closed with roasted salmon over cheesy corn polenta and a strawberry shortcake made from fruit picked days earlier.

With allergies and preferences across the group, every course had a version that worked for everyone at the table, without anyone feeling like an afterthought. Four days of good food in the middle of nowhere, cooked for thirty women who showed up ready to slow down. Grateful to Sunset Retreats and Yokayo Ranch for having us.