A Journey To Jovial's Culinary Getaway

In 2014, a dental hygienest from Michigan was having some health concerns, so her doctor recommended she start a gluten free diet. When doing research online for recipes, she came across jovial’s website and the culinary getaway. The next trip was just a few months away, and the more she read through the information, the more she wanted to go. She had never travelled outside of the US. She wanted to go with a friend, but those who were interested could not take time off from work.

A week later after not being able to get the trip off her mind, she decided to call the jovial office with a few questions. “Talking to Heidi was what made me book the trip. She was nice and knowledgeable, and she answered all of my questions, then all of my mom’s list of questions.” Desi booked Due, one of the nicest rooms at the villa, and when she arrived, she was taken aback by the beauty of it all. She quickly bonded with many people on the trip, as well as the jovial staff, and travelling alone was never an issue for her.

The getaway Desi attended in 2014 included people from all walks of life and all with a different sets of kitchen skills, which is pretty typical of the getaways. It is also pretty common to have at least one solo female traveler in the group. On that trip, we had a gluten free blogger, a chef, and a woman who ran a gluten free bakery in Boston, as well as many people who had never even made a loaf of bread in their life. Somehow, it all just works, and the cooking classes are fun and productive. This group really bonded and even spent their free days at the villa, cooking together.

At that time, Carla had already purchased the John Randall Homestead, and was getting ready to start construction of the new headquarters, which would include a test kitchen. Carla had always dreamed of having a kitchen and staff to test her recipes, and produce photographs and videos. Previously, she was alone at creating jovial’s recipe content, and with her busy job, it often meant working on the weekends instead of spending time with her family. Once Carla met Desi, she knew she would be a perfect fit. Very talented in the kitchen, yet not a trained pastry chef or cook, Desi would be the perfect person to determine if the recipes and instructions were accurate and suitable to a home cook.

So, that’s Desiree’s story. Eventually, the position opened up at jovial. She sold her house, packed up, and moved to Connecticut. We love having Desi at the company. She is warm, caring, and she unites our staff. She makes a cake for every employee on their birthday, and proudly distributes her test batches throughout the office and the warehouse daily. When we have meetings, she prepares lunch, which is a great way to work. She also is at every culinary getaway in Italy, right by Carla’s side.

If you’ve been dreaming of attending our getaway, but have not had the courage to take the last step and book your room, we hope Desi’s story will help you to just do it. We guarantee the experience will be memorable, and it might just change your life in some magical way you never expected. Learn more about Jovial Foods Culinary Getaway.