Retreat Catering

my thoughts on retreat catering

I see retreats as a place to connect, expand, and nourish, whether their intention is yoga, personal development, meditation, dance, or entrepreneurial. The food is vital to this, and I am committed to matching the retreat’s energy with intentional food preparation.

Retreats have been my primary culinary focus since 2014, and I’ve pioneered the yoga retreat catering industry and mentored many connected and aspiring chefs through my online platform More Pleaze.

I am trained in holistic nutrition, classic culinary arts, Ayurvedic cooking, raw food cuisine, Hawaiian medicinal food, and more. I also am a part-time yoga teacher myself.

I bring not only food to retreats but also aligned assistants (most of them are also yoga teachers!), intentional beverages (my Kangen machine comes with me!), and overall energetic ambiance (I bring altars, oracle cards, sage, and more).

This menu guide reflects the most popular styles of retreat-style catering, but customization is always available. It’s very important to me to be an asset to the retreat, and for the food to help empower both the hardworking leaders as well as the participants in their journey.

I am a full-time Maui resident, and am very familiar with the island’s local produce, vendors, products, and retreat centers, and am proud to be a recommended chef at many venues. I also travel for select work and am frequently in California, where I grew up and lived in San Francisco for my 20s, up and down the coast to prepare my food.

Retreat catering is a fully immersive experience, and although the work is labor-intensive physically and mentally, it is a true honor to support sacred space. Thank you for your consideration In bringing me into your intentional event.

retreat catering package

chef bio

My food is my art, the truest way I’ve found to combine my loves of travel, hospitality, and wellness into one place.

My menus are as influenced by my California roots as they are by years of backpacking through Southeast Asia and Central America. I love the rustic elegance of wine country-esque meals, as well as the explosions of flavor and texture characterized by Panasian and traditional Mexican cuisine. In short: I am happy to keep it classic – or offer a unique contemporary experience, always featuring the culinary bounty of Maui’s farms and seas.

My training began with a classic French cuisine Le Cordon Bleu degree, but I also have studied many healing styles of cooking including Holistic Nutrition with Hawthorn University, Ayurvedic Chef Training with Hale Pule, Raw Foods with various chefs, and Wildcrafting with Earth Medicine Institute. I boast almost twenty years in the hospitality industry, working both in the front and back of restaurants, event management, catering, wine industry, festival production, and weddings.

It means a great deal to me to be versatile and open-minded in my cooking and energy, and I love merging healthy cuisine with rich invigorating flavors – creating a new style of health food that doesn’t lack in depth or satisfaction.

If you’re looking for rich vibrant farm-to-table food, and a chef with love, passion, and knowledge to bring an intentional and interactive experience, please contact me. I can’t wait to hear from you.

client praise

“

Our family owns multiple restaurants in both Chicago and Seattle, some for more than 30 years. During that time we’ve sampled the food of dozens of chefs who wanted to work for us, including CIA grads and some with Michelin stars. KYRA RANKS AT THE VERY TOP. With her terrific assistants, Heidi and Allisa, Kyra created an incredible 6 course dinner and served 10 of us with incredible style and timing from the miniscule kitchen of our hotel suite. We’ve eaten in fine restaurants all over the world (including our own) and would rate the meal Kyra created for us as truly among the very best. You’ll be lucky if you can book her!
Dan RosenthalRestauranteur, Pike Place Hospitality Group, Seattle

“

Kyra was so accommodating to my picky eater status. She called me ahead of the retreat to ensure she had food for the week that I would be able to enjoy. I was very appreciative. Throughout the week I ate way more than I thought I would and even tried some new foods I had never had before. She is an amazing, creative chef who I highly recommend!
Brittany MacKinnonMother and cancer survivor, Project Koru

“

Kyra and her team provided us with a world-class experience of cuisine during our company retreat in Maui. She also helped get us in touch with other amazing people in the hospitality industry that included a mixologist, massage therapist, and more. Highly recommend!
Armon PetrossianFounder & CEO, Coalesce Software

“

Kyra is amazing! She was always pleasant and very responsive to my emails. Meeting her in person was a delight with her upbeat personality and love for her craft! She is skilled and creative. The plant based meal she created for us was thoughtful and delicious! Each dish is beautifully prepared and presented with attention to every detail. She went above and beyond our expectations! If you are looking for an extraordinary experience I highly recommend Kyra-you will not be disappointed!
Janice WrenProfessional vacationer and foodie

“

Kyra is pure magic! I worked with Kyra to create a stunning picnic on the beach in Hawaii, and her food was so delicioius. On top of that, she helped to coordinate a gorgeous picnic set up with some of her colleagues out there, and holy MOLY was the result incredible. She *even* helped us get a few professional photographs--which speak for themselves. If you are looking for any kind of catering or prepared meals, Kyra infuses all that she makes with pure love. Thank you for making our experience so special, Kyra!
Susannah StokesPresident, Dountoinc & Retreat Leader

“

I had the pleasure of hiring Kyra to cater my most recent ShaktiRize retreat in Maui. She showed up on so many levels, from bringing altars, to Kangan water, to dropping into class with the other women. The menu was fully vegan and gluten-free and was not only delicious, but also intentional and presented beautifully. She put a lot of work into featuring local vendors and produce. I can't wait to work with her again.
Jasmine JudsonFounder, ShaktiRize