Food is never far from my thoughts and so it seemed logical to me in the early stages of developing our property that while the rainy season prevented work on an access road a sensible alternative would be to build a wood fired clay oven. Apparently many of our friends didn’t understand my reasoning with comments along the lines of “crazy” or worse. Undeterred and with the assistance of my ever supportive wife I pressed ahead anyway and what began some six years ago as a way of filling the time while we waited for dry season to arrive is still standing and still producing pizza for those same doubters. Sometimes you just have to follow your own path. It’s certainly easier to justify when there’s a meal waiting at the finish!
You now have the chance to experience the difference a real wood fired oven makes when making pizza. Every full moon we welcome a small group of just 12-15 diners and give them the opportunity to bake their own pizza in the belly of the “smoking pig”. If you prefer to keep your hands dough free we’ll make them for you with your choice of freshly prepared ingredients. We cook pizzas one by one and serve family style so every slice is piping hot and you will get a chance to try each one. There’s a complimentary beer for everyone to wash down your meal and we keep cooking ’til you are full or we run out of dough!! Get a group together and we’ll fire up the oven for your own private event.
FULL MOON DATES FOR 2018; March 31st, April 29th, May 29th, June 27th, July 27th, Aug 26th, Sep 24th, Oct 24th, Nov 23rd, Dec 22nd
If you will not be around for a full moon date we are happy to fire the oven for private parties. For a fixed price you can invite up to 12 guests and we will cook to order until everyone has had enough. This is not a race though, we work at a gentle pace allowing your guests time to mingle. Between slices of delicious pizza you can learn about the history of pizza and clay ovens, how to construct your own, how to fire an oven for bread or pizza and of course learn how to make wonderful pizza dough. The whole process normally takes around three to four hours. We can provide drinks at a modest charge or you can bring your own selection. If you choose to have your party in the afternoon there will be ample opportunity to explore the gardens at Tesoro Verde but if an evening event suits you will get to see the oven in it’s full glory, glowing deep red surrounded by the dark jungle.
Contact us at tesoroverdepanama@gmail.com
tesoroverdepanama.com 
We made our first ever visit to Panama with our three kids over the Christmas holidays … I am not sure we were fully prepared for this adventure but we were happy to leave the snow and cold behind in Calgary, Canada to spend some time in the heat and to learn about a different culture. Navigating the roads of Panama City was our first interesting challenge but we were determined to make it to our private pizza party in Portobelo. I felt this area was off the beaten track and the drive certainly provided opportunities for us all to get a taste of the local life as well as to take in the lush scenery.
With three busy kids, pizza is a bit of a staple at our house (or on the fly) but anything homemade is always better… so the idea of making pizza as a family sounded like a perfect activity while on holidays. (Secretly I would love to have my own pizza oven, so this was a bit of a test). The setting is gorgeous – in the jungle, up on a hill and overlooking the ocean. Jim and Heather were great hosts! We had a hands on day where we all built the fire, made the dough, made our own pizzas, and then slide them in the oven to bake. While we waited for the fire and the dough to rise, the kids were kept busy with the jungle walk and the maze. Whatever toppings we used, the pizzas were all delicious! We enjoyed the many small tips that Jim shared about the mechanics of the pizza oven as well as his wealth of knowledge about Panama. It was a memorable and filling day on many levels! We would certainly recommend this to any family or group!
Thank you again for the great day!
Sean, Paul, Kate, John and Eeva
We celebrated our birthdays there! We thought about throwing a dinner party on the boat and realized how busy we would be, with the cooking and cleaning. Then we thought about Jim and Heather ‘s full moon parties and asked if they could throw one just for us to celebrate our birthdays (which are three days apart) on a different date. They said yes and off we went.
They helped us drive our guests there, everyone was in awe of the natural beauty and also the warmth of the oven area, protected from the sun and the rain but open to those luscious shades of green. It was so much fun, everyone was so engaged in interesting discussions while walking around the forest, making their own pizza creations or standing right next to the counter to make sure they tasted every single one that came out. Night fell and the sky was filled with stars. We had such a wonderful time and it was so relaxing, we did not have to go shopping (they even got the drinks for us) or prepare anything AND when we felt tired we just said goodbye and went home. What a wonderful idea that was! We’ll definitely do it again!