Oaxaca · the Central Valleys
Oaxaca: Smoke, Spice & the People Behind the Craft
Eight days in Oaxaca with Enrique Montaño — into family kitchens, working palenques and village workshops.
The place
A city, and the valleys that feed it
Oaxaca City is the reason most people come — a historic centre of ochre walls, courtyards and markets trading the same chiles, cacao and herbs they have for centuries. But the cooking, the mezcal and the craft all come from somewhere else: the Central Valleys, half an hour out, where black clay is turned in San Bartolo Coyotepec, alebrijes are carved and painted in San Martín Tilcajete, wool is dyed with cochineal and indigo in Teotitlán del Valle, and agave is roasted in the ground at family palenques.
We spend the week moving between the two. One hotel in the heart of the city to come back to, and days out in the villages with the people who actually make the thing — long lunches, open-air kitchens, and enough time in each place to stop being a visitor.
Your host
Enrique Montaño
Chef & traditional cook
Tlalixtac de Cabrera · Spanish & English
Enrique Montaño is a chef and traditional cook from Tlalixtac de Cabrera, in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca. He trained outside the state and made a deliberate decision to come home. His work treats cuisine as a cultural system — territory, community and memory — rather than a set of recipes.
He founded Colectivo Yuu Guet, which brings traditional cooks, local producers and neighbours in Tlalixtac together through gatherings, workshops and shared projects. He now leads Lucina Cocina de Humo, part dining room and part working workshop, where he builds everything from tasting menus to hands-on classes.
He cooks with local ingredients only and keeps to the old techniques — nixtamalisation using ash and firewood among them. He narrates as he goes, so you leave knowing where an ingredient came from, what the agricultural cycle did to it and whose family history sits behind the dish.
What stays with you
Four things you couldn't book yourself
The last night at Alfonsina
Dinner hosted by chef Jorge León, who owns Alfonsina in San Juan Bautista la Raya and runs it with his mother, who cooks there alongside him. Five courses, from whatever the territory is giving that week.
Mezcal at the palenque
A family-run distillery out in the agave fields. The roasting pit, the fermentation, the hand-distilling, and a tasting of what comes off the still — then a long lunch.
Ash, fire and the metate
A cooking class with Enrique in his open-air kitchen: nixtamal over ash and firewood, toasting on the comal, grinding on the metate. Then everyone sits down and eats what they made.
Colour that comes from a plant
Teotitlán del Valle, in a Zapotec weaver's own workshop, where the reds come from cochineal, the blues from indigo and the yellows from marigold, and every skein is dyed and woven by hand.
From the ground
Oaxaca, in motion
Kitchens, markets and palenques as we find them, week by week.
Day by day
The city, the valleys, the villages
One hotel, seven nights, and no day that asks you to rush.
The itinerary
Eight days
Tap any day to open it.
Day One Arrival & WelcomeMet at the airport, at a table by evening.
- Private airport transfer to the hotel in the historic centre.
- Afternoon at leisure — the streets, the courtyard, the rooftop bar, or nothing at all.
- Welcome cocktails and dinner built around Oaxacan flavours.
Day Two Markets & the Magic of Oaxacan CuisineThe market first, then you cook what you bought.
- Morning market tour in Jalatlaco with a local chef.
- Chiles, cacao, herbs, handmade tortillas — what's in season and why it matters.
- Cooking class with Enrique in his open-air kitchen: mole, tlayudas and seasonal dishes.
- The meal you made, paired with mezcal or agua fresca.
Day Three Black Clay & AlebrijesTwo villages, two crafts, one very good lunch in between.
- San Bartolo Coyotepec: barro negro pottery in a family workshop, techniques centuries old.
- Open-air lunch cooked over wood fire.
- San Martín Tilcajete: alebrijes with the artist who carves them — paint your own.
- Dinner at one of Oaxaca's celebrated restaurants.
Day Four Textiles, Chocolate & MezcalCochineal, cacao and the still, in that order.
- Teotitlán del Valle: a Zapotec weaver in his own workshop, and natural dyes — cochineal, indigo, marigold.
- Hands-on chocolate making on stone mills: cacao, spice, sugar.
- A family-run palenque in the agave fields — roasting, fermenting, hand-distilling, private tasting.
- Leisurely lunch at the distillery.
- Dinner at a sustainability-led restaurant, cooked from the chef's own garden.
Day Five Monte Albán & the Highland KitchenTwo thousand years before lunch.
- Monte Albán with a private guide: the Zapotec capital, the great plaza, pyramids and stelae.
- Traditional cooking class in Atzompa, hosted by the family, in an open-air kitchen.
- Comal, metate, and everyone eating what they made.
- Late afternoon free — artisan shops, rooftop drinks at sunset, or rest.
Day Six Chef's Table & Street FoodWhite tablecloth at noon, plastic stool at night.
- Exclusive chef's table: Isthmus of Tehuantepec cooking, ancestral techniques, whatever is in season.
- Afternoon at leisure — boutiques, galleries, the terrace.
- Guided street food tour of downtown Oaxaca: tlayudas, memelas, tamales oaxaqueños, vendor by vendor.
Day Seven Mezcal & the Farewell TableThe last day is the slow one.
- Morning free — the streets, the markets, the courtyard.
- Intimate mezcal tasting with a local expert: small-batch expressions, floral to smoky, and the families behind them.
- Farewell dinner at Alfonsina, San Juan Bautista la Raya — five courses hosted by chef Jorge León, who owns the restaurant and runs it with his mother.
Day Eight DepartureBreakfast, goodbyes, and a private transfer to the airport.
- Final breakfast.
- Farewells.
- Private airport transfer.
Take it away
The full brochure, as a PDF
Every day in detail, the producers, the hotels and the practicalities — the document we'd send you if you rang us. Useful for showing whoever you're travelling with.
Thank you.
Your brochure is ready. It opens in a new tab — save it from there and it's yours to keep.
Open the brochureWhere you stay
Seven nights, one boutique hotel
You unpack once, in the historic centre. We use one of these three houses, and confirm which at booking.
Oaxaca City
Hotel Sin Nombre
A restored colonial house turned quiet, contemporary hotel: arcaded courtyard, stone columns, cactus in the pots and almost no colour. The calmest of the three, and the one that feels least like a hotel.
hotelsinnombre.com
Oaxaca City
Quinta Real Oaxaca
A sixteenth-century convent with the arches, stonework and frescoes intact, and a pool set against the old walls. The most historic of the three, and the largest.
grupocaminoreal.com
Oaxaca City
Casa Antonieta
A small townhouse hotel of a handful of rooms around a green courtyard, with its own café below and the centre on the doorstep. The most intimate of the three.
casaantonieta.comWe confirm your hotel when you book. Occasionally a property isn't available on our dates — if that happens we substitute a hotel of similar standard and character, and tell you in advance.
The week, in pictures
Oaxaca, as our guests found it
The detail
What's included
- Seven nights in a hand-picked boutique hotel in Oaxaca City
- Seven breakfasts, five lunches and six dinners — seasonal and locally sourced
- Alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks throughout meals and hosted events
- Your chef host and local culinary partners throughout
- Private dining with celebrated chefs and traditional cooks
- Hands-on cooking classes rooted in Oaxacan tradition
- Private mezcal tastings at artisanal palenques
- Artisan studio visits — black clay pottery, weaving, alebrijes
- Guided visit to Monte Albán with a private guide
- Guided street food tour
- Every named itinerary activity
- Private airport transfers on arrival and departure
- Gratuities for local partners and guides on individual experiences
Not included
- Gratuities for your host
- International flights
- Travel insurance
- Any meals or events you choose to skip
- Anything not specified in the itinerary
2026 & 2027 departures
Three departures, twelve places each
Autumn
7 – 14 Nov 2026
Day of the Dead has passed, the marigolds are still out, and the city is at its warmest.
Choose these datesLate winter
20 – 27 Feb 2027
Dry, bright and clear in the valleys — the best light of the year on the agave.
Choose these datesAutumn
6 – 13 Nov 2027
The same week a year on, once the harvest and the festivals have settled.
Choose these datesDeposits & payment schedule
- A $2,000 deposit per person secures your place. It is non-refundable if you cancel.
- Single occupancy carries a $1,500 supplement, payable at booking — $3,500 in total for a solo traveller.
- We need a minimum of five travellers to guarantee a departure. If we cancel because that number isn't reached, you receive a full refund, deposit included.
- The balance is due 180 days before departure, or 30 days after your deposit if you book inside 180 days.
- Bookings made within 90 days of departure are payable in full.
- We accept credit card, debit card and online bank transfer.
- Travel insurance covering cancellation, medical costs and repatriation is a condition of travelling with us.
Good to know before you book
- The group is capped at twelve.
- Occasionally an experience isn't available on the day. We replace it with something comparable and tell you in advance.
- If a hotel isn't available we substitute one of similar standard and character, with advance notice.
- Excursions are optional, but we can't refund meals or events you choose to skip.
- Tell us about dietary requirements when you book and we'll coordinate them with the chefs and producers in advance.
Full terms are in our Booking Conditions.
Secure your place
Six questions and a deposit
Your place is held the moment the deposit clears. Everything else — dietary notes, flights, insurance, passport details — we collect afterwards, at your own pace.
Prefer your own group?
The same doors, on your dates
Every journey we run can be built privately for your family, your friends or your clients — the same producers, the same hosts, on a calendar of your choosing.
Twelve places per departure
Come and eat with us
Tell us which departure you're drawn to and we'll come back to you personally — no automated brochure, no sales sequence.