Enjoy our greenest season of the year with waterfalls, lush vegetation, wild mushrooms, and fabulous local greens. Enjoy the incredible bounty that the mountain climate provides in delicious traditional Mexican dishes.
This is the GREENEST AND MOST TEMPERATE SEASON OF THE YEAR! Most people think that it has to be hot in the summer in Tepoztlan BUT IT IS NOT! This is the season of beautiful waterfalls and wonderful green vegetation. The temperature drops to the 70s during the day making it very enjoyable. It may rain for a bit at night but the sun will come out the next day making it crisp, clean, and green. In August and September, the bounty of wild mushrooms spring out of the mountain. There is also a bounty of other local greens, huitlacoche, squash blossoms and stone fruit such as apples, peaches, and pears from San Juan Tlacotenco which is a nearby village in the mountains. It is a time when we enjoy the true bounty of what the mountain climate offers.
WILD MUSHROOM AND FORAGING ITINERARY
BOOKED! September 7-14, 2025
Important! This schedule is posted to give the guest a general idea of our 7-night package schedule on a normal week. The lineup of dishes WILL CHANGE to take advantage of seasonal dishes, ingredients or the interests of our guests. EVERY WEEK IS DIFFERENT! LVB reserves the right to modify this schedule and the dishes contained herein. 5-night packages follow the same schedule with the exception of breakfast and departure on Friday morning.
Sunday – Make yourself at home!
Check out the new kitchen!
Arriving at MEX (Benito Juarez Mexico City International) with airport pickup, guests enjoy a 1.5-hour trip to La Villa Bonita. They are welcomed with Chef Ana’s renowned Margarita featuring her homemade Calamondine Orange liquor, alongside bocadillos such as guacamole, cheeses, salsa, and tortilla chips.
Later, guests relish Chef Ana’s 4-course gourmet dinner sourced from local ingredients or things grown in our garden, served in our open-air kitchen overlooking the valley or in the elevated dining area with panoramic mountain views. Chef Ana shares insights into her dishes and discusses the week’s schedule.
Monday – Mountain Harvest
The day kicks off with Chef Ana’s renowned hearty breakfast featuring fresh fruit, biscuits, homemade jams, jellies, and a rotating selection of authentic Mexican dishes. Participants venture to the bustling Tepoztlán market to handpick premium ingredients sourced by Chef Ana’s trusted local vendors, which they then use in hands-on cooking sessions in the picturesque open-air kitchen.
Guacamole made with local tomatoes, avocados, chiles and special round cilantro harvested in the mountains.
Today is a day to start enjoying the harvest in the mountains that the summer provides, with a focus on taco and quesadilla stuffings as well as delicious salsas. An example of dishes that may be created that day is guacamole with wild mountain cilantro, wild mushroom soup, use of masa for tortillas, and quesadillas with stuffings (called “guisados”) such as squash blossoms, wild mushrooms, potatoes, and poblano chiles, huitlacoche, and Pipian with tender beans. We will also make a variety of salsas, such as fava bean salsa from local produce. Cooking generally goes from 11 to 2:30 in the afternoon, with lunch of dishes prepared in the open-air kitchen or the elevated terrace with wine and beer service and coffee or tea with dessert. An agua fresca with fruit, horchata, Jamaica, or tamarindo accompanies each lunch. Learn how to use red, white, or blue masa from ancestral corn varieties produced locally, make your tortillas, and place them on the comal with Mari, your “ama de llaves” during your stay at La Villa Bonita.
Tuesday: Wild Mushroom Hunting Hike with Local Expert and Visit to Goat Cheese Ranch
After a great breakfast we will have our first foraging excursion. Today is the day to see the incredible variety of mushrooms that our region has to offer. Here you will see and harvest bright blue indigos, coral mushrooms, oyster, broomsticks and many others. Go with our local guide and take a hike in the mountains to harvest our own wild mushroom feast. After a hearty hike to collect our mushrooms we will have a delicious lunch of salsas and guisado or mushroom taco fillings with hand-made tortillas at our guides home.
Afterwards we will take a short trip up the mountain to visit one of the country’s premier goat cheese producer, Regina, at Sierra Encantada. We will take a tour of her goat ranch and see how she produces her award-winning cajeta and goat cheeses. Then, of course, we will try one of the most elaborate cheese plate with homemade bread, crackers, and fruits along with a collection of her incredible goat cheese. This is not to be missed! You can also buy more to bring home. Makes a great gift!
Wednesday: Tepozteco Cuisine – Huanzontles
The day begins as always with a fabulous breakfast and a trip to the market to select ingredients and to meet the local butcher and cheese vendor. Guest return to LVB to cook up a storm. Huanzontles are the main dish of the day. They are the pre-hispanic protein powerpack made from the young stems of the amaranth plant. An example of
other dishes that may accompany the huanzontles are a red tomato caldillo or broth which accompanies the huanzontle, clay pot beans (de la olla) and rich lentil soup. Dessert may be fresh corn cake topped with Tepoztlan’s famous local ice cream with flavors such as avocado, mamey, or mezcal among many others.
Guests enjoy lunch of dishes prepared with drink service in the open-air kitchen or the elevated terrace. After late lunch, guests will have an opportunity to take a walk into the downtown, relax around the pool with a good book or take a great nap! You are on vacation, it is up to you!
Thursday – Pozole Rojo with Oyster Mushrooms!
After a hearty breakfast, guests will dedicate the day to the production and use of masa with a trip to the Masa Mill to produce our own masa from corn grown locally. Guests will then return to prepare a Mexican classic – Pozole Rojo with Wild Mushrooms. Pozole is a soup made of hominy and usually prepared with pork. Since this is the wild mushroom season we will use wild oyster mushrooms foraged from the mountain. As well, we will make tacos dorados or flautas with potatoes and requeson cheese, and finish things off with a delicious Tres Leches Cake adorned with local peaches.
Friday – Chiles Rellenos and Chiles en Nogada
The most patriotic dish in Mexico, Chiles en Nogada
We start with a fabulous breakfast as usual (with departure to the airport for 5-night guests) and begin our preparations to enjoy the grandeur of the poblano chile in Chiles en Nogada. This is the national dish of Mexico for its representation of the colors of the Mexican flag with the white (the nogada sauce), red (pomegranates from our trees) and green (the poblano chile). Guests will learn the proper technique for blistering and preparing fresh poblanos. We will also prepare taquitos de quelites (local greens) and bunuelos with candied local apples for dessert.
Saturday: Your day, your way.
The view from the Tepozteco pyramid is spectacular.
After your delicious breakfast, you have a day to enjoy on your own. Take a hike, enjoy the weekend artisan market, go out for lunch or just relax. Today is a day to do whatever your heart desires . . .
Sunday: Departure
After breakfast, we will organize our return to the Mexico City airport and count the days until we see each other again for a new culinary adventure.
Tepoztlan, a “Pueblo Magico” (magic village) and one of Mexico’s most unique destinations is located about 5280 ft. above sea level and roughly 1 hour 15 minutes south of Mexico City making transportation easy (we pick you up in the Mexico City airport and bring you back). Because of its incredible “eternal spring” climate, Tepoztlan is a year-round destination where our award-winning packages take place.
La Villa Bonita is located on the upslope of the Tepozteco mountains with a privileged perch above the town and an incredible view of the ex-convent below. We are a 15-minute walk to the central downtown circuit so there is not an excessive amount of traffic in front of La Villa Bonita but we are just minutes away from the centro and zocalo.
Due to its year-round average daily temperature of 83 F/28 C, Tepoztlan has become an off-the-beaten-path destination for those who want a wonderful climate with a picturesque, authentic, and traditional Mexican backdrop. Tepoztlan’s temperate climate with prevailing sunshine, its wonderful adobe facades, incredible local festivals, and ancient cobblestone streets attract Mexicans and foreign tourists from all over the world who seek a traditional, small-town environment.
Tepoztlan is one of the most unique, authentic, and safest places you can visit and has a lower crime rate than most cities and towns in the US. You will get this understanding in the first 15 minutes after setting foot in the village. It is a place that time seems to have forgotten with time-honored culinary traditions, wonderful local produce, and a very enjoyable pace of life focused on family and friends.
Tepoztlan is made up of stubborn townspeople and subsistence farmers who vigilantly guard their traditions from change, which makes it an ideal destination for the “foodie” and the traveler seeks to experience a wonderful culture. “Tepoztecos,” as they are known here, appreciate the foreign tourist because you appreciate their culture. You can walk anywhere day or night and people will say “hello” to you, be cordial, but not overburdening.
This Magic Village with its mystical vibe is known as the “Sedona of Mexico” and consists of a very small, tight-knit community where people are very content with their lifestyle — a full social calendar that consists of constant cultural events, celebrations, and festivals during both the week and weekend. Tepoztlan is a piece of art without comparison – exquisite but not commercial. In Tepoztlan, you will hear the enveloping sounds of the community, the church bells, the rooster crowing, the occasional firecracker and the music wafting through the valley. So, enjoy your stay and when you go home, please tell everyone about your experience in the “hidden culinary jewel of Mexico.”
Wild Mushroom & Foraging Season
September 7-14, 2025
4
HANDS-ON COOKING SESSIONS WITH TRIPS TO THE DAILY MARKET, FARMER'S MARKET, AND TORTILLA MILL
7
NIGHTS STAY AT LA VILLA BONITA
$ 1,899.00 USD plus tax
PER PERSON DOUBLE OCCUPANCY
+ $399 USD plus tax
SINGLE SUPPLEMENT
5% DISCOUNT FOR PAYMENT IN FULL OR HALF NOW AND HALF ON FIRST DAY OF MONTH PRIOR TO ARRIVAL
2
HANDS-ON COOKING SESSIONS WITH TRIPS TO THE DAILY MARKET AND FARMER'S MARKET,
5
NIGHTS STAY AT LA VILLA BONITA
$ 1,599.00 USD plus tax
PER PERSON DOUBLE OCCUPANCY
+ $399 USD plus tax
SINGLE SUPPLEMENT
5% DISCOUNT FOR PAYMENT IN FULL OR HALF NOW AND HALF ON FIRST DAY OF MONTH PRIOR TO ARRIVAL
1
HANDS-ON COOKING SESSION WITH TRIP TO THE DAILY MARKET
5
NIGHTS STAY AT LA VILLA BONITA
$ 1,299.00 USD plus tax
PER PERSON DOUBLE OCCUPANCY
+ $399 USD plus tax
SINGLE SUPPLEMENT
5% DISCOUNT FOR PAYMENT IN FULL OR HALF NOW AND HALF ON FIRST DAY OF MONTH PRIOR TO ARRIVAL
La Villa Bonita No-Change-Fee Guarantee!
We want you to enjoy your vacation at La Villa Bonita and we know that things may come up that preclude you from joining us. While we do not accept cancelations or refund payments, if you need to change your reservation for any reason you can do so ONCE without penalty and subject to availability. You will receive a credit towards the same experience that you can apply to a different date or different experience. If you choose a more expensive experience you will need to pay the difference. Please contact us for further details.
Payment Options and Sales Tax
You can receive an additional 5% discount by paying in full upon making your reservation or you can pay full price paying half to reserve and half due on the first day of the month prior to arrival. The 5% discount is not valid with any other discount, sale or promotion. We will send you an invoice by email that you can pay online or you can call us and we will receive your payment information. Prices do not include 16% sales tax which will be added to the final price of your package. Tips for the staff are not included.
Welcome to Chef Ana´s mountain home that was specially designed for her culinary program. The property consists of 8 guests rooms all with private baths. Each room has a different design and are very comfortable. All rooms have a king bed and some rooms have the possibility of 2 twin beds or 1 king. All rooms have french doors that open up to a common courtyard with incredible views of the surrounding mountains and steps from the open-air kitchen.
La Villa Bonita is built in a citrus orchard on a hectare of terraced land, complete with an herb and vegetable garden. The specially-designed open-air kitchen is complete with a living area, three sinks, lots of cooking and prep space as well as a 360-degree view of the majestic mountains. Above the kitchen sits our 16-person-capacity glass table with an incredible panoramic view of the Tepozteco mountains, the ex-convent, and the town below. La Villa Bonita is located in a very quiet residential area of town away from the downtown hum.
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Included
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Not Included
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La Villa Bonita offers Chef Ana Garcias’ award-winning culinary and cultural vacation experiences in our specially-designed resort in the foothills of the Tepoztlan valley.
Contact Info
Start your Mexican culinary adventure now! Dates available year-round. Contact us for the most up-to-date availability.
+1 (631) 994-3436 // US
email: [email protected]
