A Transylvanian Hide Away

The green and verdant region, on the Hungarian border, has long been a leafy get-away. It is packed with beautifully preserved Medieval towns and full of great hiking opportunities. Even as Romania has gone through political, and economic, ups and downs this area 200 miles northwest of Bucharest has remained a refuge.

I hadn’t been in the region since I went to see Bran Castle, Dracula’s castle, two decades ago. There was much less infrastructure here: which is both good and bad. There were also fewer tourists. However, the good news is that the region is mostly being discovered by Romanians from the capital, and other urban areas, seeking some fresh air and piece of mind. International travelers have yet to discover the place.

A Little Village Called Cund

When you head up to Valea Verde, which literally means green valley and it is, you go back in time crossing tiny villages with rose-bedecked gardens. Right before you get to the property you hit a dirt road and lose cell service: too bad if you wanted to take one last Zoom meeting.

The village has a population of approximately 180 people and features one little restaurant and a cheese shop (more on that later). However, is works in symbiosis with the lush, verdant resort of Valea Verde. All the employees are from the village and most only speak Romania and German as many Germans are returning to their historical stomping grounds in the area.

The hotel features a number of rooms clustered around the restaurant.

Outdoor tables sprawl around a lush green lawn and there is a whole building dedicated to hammocks, perhaps a dozen of them swinging in the breeze. There is an outdoor swimming lake and a hidden private dining room in the garden.

The inside of the dinning room is warm and cozy: lit with candelabras even in the summer months. It is also full of books: great travelogs about Romania and some of Julia Child’s best content.

It is also the home to a dynamite kitchen that turned out vegan meals for a group of 20 yoga practitioners while they were staying at the resort.

Food is the Engine

Jonas Schäfer was a successful music executive in Germany for many years. He had spent a year abroad in Scotland and his host family had started going to Transylvania. They encouraged him to come down and he was smitten with the place. He saw a multi-room property near a cluster of larger homes in the village, just down the street that was too good to resist, so brought his wife Ulrike and they decided to make a good of it and opened the place in 2007.

Schäfer is the chef because he couldn’t find the right person for the job. He did a few stages in major German restaurants and is knocking it out of the ballpark. The dinner menu features seven courses with constantly rotating Romanian wine pairings. Foreign wines and tons of international spirits are available. Every night, and morning, guests are greeted with a basket of freshly baked bread (I gained five pounds).

The soups and the meats were the highlight. Pea and cauliflower cream soups to die for and pork neck in red wine was divine. Schäfer also plays with local vegetables—like beets—and goat cheese with chili jam. The pace is relaxing. When I asked when dinner was served, I was told from 6pm until one in the morning if I so desired. Horses and cows pass by the property while you eat. Truffles were also showered all over everything—including eggs benedict at breakfast—when I was there.

Guests can rent rooms and houses in the village and pay for the meals à la carte. Hence you can select three dishes from the seven and choose the wine pairings for go for your own bottle. Some of my favorite wine finds were LaCerta’s indigenous reds and whites and Davino’s blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and local grape Feteasca Neagra.

The hotel is a short drive from Sighisoara, a stunning medieval city and other charming destinations such Medias and Biertan. Even closer to the hotel is the astounding cheese shop simply called Manufactura de Branza “cheese producer,” a former employee of Schäfer’s. His cheeses have hit the hit marks in so many places he can’t even supply them to Valea Verde.

He makes some stunning cheeses with walnuts and brandy as well as with garlic. He has also started to make goat cheese with the help of a Ukraine refugee he took in who turned out to be a cheesemaker!