Chef Katie Fiore has prepared a healthy and wholesome breakfast for a small group of retreat guests—a beautiful presentation of organic berries and yogurt, sprouted oatmeal drizzled with honey, and slices of toasted Ezekiel bread. With a busy day ahead, and no time for post-food lethargy, it’s the sort of slow-release energy infusion that sets folks up for a day of get-up-and-go. 

The group of guests gathers around the food. Having just finished an early morning yoga session, they fill their plates and discuss the day’s itinerary. It’s the first full day of the “Infinity Wellness Adventure”—hosted by Asheville-based Infinity Greens, a popular maker of superfood supplements—and the group will be heading out for a hike, followed by qigong, meditation, one-on-one health coaching and relaxing stints by the retreat center’s koi pond. 

Between the activities will be a lineup of flavorful snacks and hearty meals, showcasing several local ingredients and prepared onsite by Fiore and her team. 

This weekend’s retreat—taking place at Bend of Ivy Lodge, a stunning property nestled in the rolling mountains of Madison County—is the type of event in which Fiore specializes. Her five-year-old catering company, Fioreously Delicious, which offers a weekly meal service in Asheville, has also become a popular provider of customized menus for multi-day retreats, with a particular focus on what she calls “healthy comfort food” for wellness gatherings. 

“It’s really rewarding because when people come to retreats, they’re not usually thinking about the food. They’re here for healing and relaxation,” Fiore says. “But when they get here, and the food is delicious, it becomes something that makes the retreat special.” 

To be sure, there’s a whole side of Asheville’s popular food scene that’s often overlooked. Far from the bustle of the city’s award-winning restaurants are the mountain retreat centers that welcome visitors from corporate groups and yoga practices, and everything in between. And the food there is just as impressive, with customized menus prepared by talented local chefs using the freshest seasonal ingredients. 

Just as important are the retreat venues. The mountains of Western North Carolina are home to several retreat centers that welcome guests and offer a quiet space for work and reflection, along with comfortable lodging and engaging on-site activities. 

The Bend of Ivy Lodge, the location of this weekend’s event, sits on 40 acres in a peaceful valley about 20 minutes from downtown Asheville. As you turn onto a one-lane road, a mountain landscape worthy of a watercolor greets you. A wooden bench is perched on a viewtop peak and a small sign encourages visitors to slow down for turtle crossings; farther down the road, a trail for viewing birds, butterflies and bees winds into the woods. 

With lodging for 26 people, and two spacious indoor meeting spaces—including a bright, welcoming space inside the The Lodge, a central gathering point—the Bend of Ivy Lodge also invites guests to relax by a koi pond, view the gardens of a four-acre organic farm or amble along any one of a dozen trails. The Salamander Valley Trail is a relaxing 45-minute journey, with a walk along Ivy River leading to a lookout point at Hound Dog Hill, where visitors will find a beautifully restored hemlock forest.

“People can definitely leave the center and go out and explore, but they usually just stay here for the time of their retreat,” says owner Susan Walters Minker, a former landscape designer who now works as a life and leadership coach. “This is our purpose, to have a place for healing work and deeper conversation.” 

Having finished breakfast, guests attending the Infinity Wellness Adventure pull on their hiking boots for an afternoon amble around the property. Inside the kitchen, Fiore is preparing boxed lunches for each guest: a dish of black rice, edamame, pickled vegetables and a tamari-tahini sauce. When they return, they’ll decamp for various other activities while Fiore turns her attention to dinner: a flavor-rich Thai green curry, served with fresh vegetables, rice and either chicken or tempeh. 

“I work with just about any kind of diet,” Fiore says. “Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, vegan, plant-based diets … it can all be flavorful and taste really good.” 

Traveling through Southeast Asia in her 20s, Fiore discovered a passion for cooking and was particularly impressed with the region’s vegetarian dishes and rich flavors. After returning to the States, she enrolled in the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont, where she met her husband, Kirk (who’s now the executive chef at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove in Asheville), and together they opened a farm-to-table catering business in Burlington called Sugarsnap Catering. 

When the couple moved their family to Asheville, Fiore continued to perfect a style of cuisine that both impressed the palate and strengthened the body, cooking at the Asheville Racquet Club and later Red Radish in Black Mountain. In 2019, she formed Fioreously Delicious, offering personal chef services, weekly meal deliveries and catering—for dinner parties and weddings, in addition to retreats—all of which have grown quickly. Now, having recently hired two additional chefs to her team, she’s looking forward to a busy future. 

“It’s been good to see all of this happen,” she says. “I’m just trying to keep up.”