16 Day in-person
LEVEL 1: Raw Food Chef
Residency Program
Raw Food Chef Certification Program & Holistic Healing Retreat
16 Day in-person​
LEVEL 1: Raw Food Chef Residency Program
Raw Food Chef Certification Program & Holistic Healing Retreat
LEVEL 1: Raw Food Chef
Immersive Raw Food Chef Certification Program.
Master Plant-Based Culinary Arts and Holistic Wellness
Level 1 Raw Food Chef Certification Program
16-Day Residency | Ometepe Island
NOV 8th – 23rd, 2026
What You Will Learn
- Foundation Staple Foods
- Nutrient Dense Plant-Based Nutrition
- Knife Skills
- Flavor Balancing
- How to Stock your Kitchen
- Soaking and Sprouting
- Cultured and Fermented Foods, Kimchi and Kraut
- Sustainability and Ethical Choices
- Nut-Free Cuisine and Food Sensitivities
- Detoxification and Your pH
- Healthy Digestion and your Gut Microbiome
- Foods the Promote Digestion
- Tips and Tricks for Healthy Detoxification
- Healing Spices from Around the World
- Gourmet Raw Vegan Meals
- Raw Desserts and Superfoods
Transform Your Culinary Skills and Your Relationship with Food
Join us for a 16-day immersive residency that goes far beyond raw food preparation. Yes, you’ll learn to craft vibrant, healing meals using plant-based, nutrient-dense ingredients—but this program is also a deep dive into personal transformation.
Through daily hands-on practice, you’ll explore the art of raw food preparation, learning how to balance flavors and textures, master foundational techniques, and begin developing your own unique culinary identity. Whether you’re a food lover, aspiring chef, or wellness advocate, this is where creativity meets nutrition.
But food is just the beginning.
You’ll also experience powerful holistic practices—breathwork, laughter journeys, meditation, yoga, and emotional release tools—designed to nourish the nervous system and restore balance from the inside out.
You’ll leave not only with new skills, but with a deeper connection to yourself, to food, and to your purpose. This program is for anyone ready to embody a lifestyle of vitality, conscious living, and empowered health—whether for personal growth or professional evolution.
Level 2 Coming November 2027: Continue your journey with advanced holistic culinary training, deepening everything you learned in Level 1.
What's Included in Your Experience?
- Airport TransferÂ
- 15 nights accommodation in a private resortÂ
- All meals included, meticulously curated for your culinary journeyÂ
- Embroidered Personalized ApronÂ
- Culinary Project Support for hands-on applicationÂ
- Holistic Nutrition Classes to deepen your understandingÂ
- Daily morning yoga, movement, and meditation facilitated by Special Guests for holistic well-beingÂ
- Instructional Plant labs for practical learningÂ
- Chocolate Tour and Tasting for a delightful experience
- Breathwork Experience for holistic wellnessÂ
- and so much more.Â
Private Room
Supported
$3333
(Payment Plan Available)
Sustainer
$3997
(Payment Plan Available)
Supporter
$4299
(Payment Plan Available)
Shared Room
Supported
$2997
(Payment Plan Available)
Sustainer
$3497
(Payment Plan Available)
Supporter
$3749
(Payment Plan Available)
Private Room
Supported
$2500
(Payment Plan Available)
Sustainer
$3333
(Payment Plan Available)
Supporter
$4166
(Payment Plan Available)
Shared Room
Supported
$2249
(Payment Plan Available)
Sustainer
$2999
(Payment Plan Available)
Supporter
$3749
(Payment Plan Available)
Our trainings are for...
 the stay-at-home mom
 the nutritionist
 the Chinese medicine doctor
 the new retiree
 the red seal chef
 the professional athlete
 those looking for a new career
 those looking to enhance their nutrition intake
 the fresh out of high school
 The seasoned entrepreneurÂ
… and many more. All these types of people have taken Pachavega’s Raw Food Chef Certification Course.
What we have in common is a desire to create healthy whole food recipes for our families, loved ones, clients and ourselves. We want to know how to help our body do what is designed to do, heal itself.
This course offers an in-depth study into a whole foods, plant-based lifestyle as a means to heal your body and ignite your spirit of adventure and passion to get you into the kitchen and experiment and in turn, improve your health and wellbeing for life.
You will Make Simple as well as Gourmet Recipes
All of our recipes are made with gluten-free, plant-based ingredients that are designed by nature to build health
Kind Words about our Courses
What our graduates are saying about us!
Pachavega's Raw Food Chef Certification Course dispelled the myths of living foods prep and lifestyle. It’s not just what you eat, but how nutrition can influence your physical and emotional state that truly matters. Danielle Arsenault is a passionate and inspiring teacher who has infused this desire to live life to its fullest in me and many others.
This is a practical course that teaches you not only how to make amazing healthful food, but teaches you the science of why we would eat this way. The way the course is structured really heps to maximize the time for optimum absorption of the information. I have learned skills here that I will use for the rest of my life. Thank you Danielle for creating this inspirational course!
Before coming to Pachavega I had been transitioning to plant-based of life. It was a slow process because I wanted to do it responsibly, nutritionally. Taking this course not only jump started the process, it accelerated the process by giving me tools and education to know how to eat a nutrient dense menu. Totally worth every penny and an investment in myself from a health perspective!
Introducing Your Teacher...
Danielle Arsenault, founder of Pachavega Living Foods Education, is a passionate Raw Food Chef and Plant Based Nutrition Educator. In 2011 a near-death rock climbing accident changed her relationship with the world and life as she knew it. It gave her the realization that we are truly blessed to be alive. After she healed her body with food, she made it her life’s purpose to educate the world about the healing power of plant-based whole foods and a healthy lifestyle rooted in compassion for the planet.Â
Danielle is a professional educator, internationally renowned chef, published author of 7 cookbooks and an award-winning vegan influencer. She is a best-selling co-author and has been on the TedX stage. She has also been featured in over 40 podcasts, 50+ magazine articles, several online summit series and catered over 50 retreats, including almost 30 in-person Raw Food Chef Certification Trainings.
Her professional career includes a stint as a college professor, a Raw Food Chef and Nutrition Consultant at a tropical wellness resort and designing and teaching over 350 students, online and in-person, through her Online Culinary Arts Institute and in-person Holistic Wellness Retreats. She lives on the island of Ometepe, Nicaragua and frequently donates her time and passion to teach healthy cooking skills within her local community.
As Seen In:
Location and Accommodation
Ometepe island. nicaragua
2025 + 2026 Programs will be held at Om Island Retreats.
The Pachavega Plant-Based Culinary School is located on the beautiful island of Ometepe, Nicaragua, at La Vida Bonita. This holistic wellness center is currently under creative construction. The land was purchased in 2024, with plans for our dream kitchen still in the works. We are excited to begin hosting Pachavega in-person programs in 2027.
You enjoy what we do and wanna stay up to date with our new products, contents & promotions?
We encourage you to follow us on Instagram by clicking this link here.
By following this link, You can also find our new E-book Tropical Treats & Savory Eats, it contains 3 days of nourishing raw vegan meals from the tropics.
