Istria: A Farm-to-Table Dinner with Local Wine

In the quiet countryside, we arrive at a working organic goat farm as the afternoon begins to soften. Before taking our place at the long communal table, we discover the animals, dairy and craft behind the food, followed by six seasonal courses shaped by what is growing in the garden and being made on the farm. 

The Experience

From the Farm to the Dairy

We begin with a guided walk through the farm, visiting the stables, dairy production spaces and cheese-aging rooms. The farm's goats graze on organic Istrian pasture, while their milk is transformed on site into fresh, semi-aged and mature cheeses. It offers a glimpse into the journey behind the ingredients before we ever sit down to eat. 

Six Courses from the Season

At the communal table, a seasonal six-course menu unfolds slowly. The dishes are rooted in what the farm is producing at that moment, accompanied by its own cheeses, homemade focaccia and handmade sides prepared with ingredients from the garden. The menu changes with the seasons, allowing the landscape rather than a fixed formula to shape what reaches the table. 

A Long Table at Sunset

The experience is designed to linger. Local Istrian wine accompanies the evening as we share one long table beneath the open sky. Sunset brings a softer rhythm to the farm—less a formal restaurant experience and more an evening gathered around food, wine and the countryside that produced it.

What Awaits

• Guided tour of the working organic farm
  
• Visit to the stables and dairy
  
• Cheese-aging rooms
  
• Seasonal six-course farm dinner
  
• Artisan goat cheeses produced on site
  
• Homemade focaccia
  
• Garden-grown seasonal accompaniments
  
• Local Istrian wine
  
• Long communal table
  

Beyond the Experience

For another way to experience the farm, separate visits include guided goat-cheese tastings, walks with the herd, traditional lunches and hands-on cooking classes. These are additional experiences rather than part of the long-table dinner.

An Invitation

This is an evening that begins long before the first plate arrives. We meet the animals, step inside the dairy and see where the ingredients come from before gathering around one table as the Istrian light begins to fade. Six courses arrive at an unhurried pace, accompanied by local wine, conversation and the simple pleasure of eating food deeply connected to the land around us.