To book or for more information
Contact: IV Travel

DATES  and RATES

Prices

$2400 Eur per person, double occupancy
20% single supplement
Minimum: 4 people; maximum 12 people

 

WHAT IS INCLUDED

5 nights' accommodation
 

6 breakfasts, 6 lunches, 6 dinners
 

Wine & oil tastings
 

3 cooking classes
 

Italian and Canadian guides

All transfers, all taxes, daily refreshments.

WHAT IS NOT INCLUDED

Airfare

 

Travel and Medical insurance

 

Items of personal nature, phone calls, passport and visas (if applicable), laundry or tips

 

Personal transport, excess baggage, security and government taxes, travel insurance.

 

Beverages unless specifically described.

 

Entry fees to places other than those specifically mentioned in itinerary.

 
   

Click to enlarge map

 

To book or for more information
Contact: IV Travel
Experience Tuscany the Italian way. Discover a little piece of Tuscan heaven and savour the very best in Tuscan living gathered together in our kitchen and around our table.


Tuscany Landscape, By Jesse Andrews

 

  • Join the Tuscan Chef on a 6 day residential cooking course at a luxury 17th century Lucchese villa (groups of between 8-12) during the Spring and Autumn each year.

  • For small, unique and individually designed courses of one day or a weekend, wine and dine with the Tuscan Chef "at home"; an olive press dating back to the 16th century. 

  • Take the Tuscan Chef home with you to your rental villa where he can prepare lunch and/or dinner as well as offer hands-on cooking lessons

  • Tour with the Tuscan Chef on a sensory journey exploring hidden towns and villages, Chianti and Bolgheri vineyards, markets and specialist food suppliers.

Courses are hands-on under the guidance of professional Italian chef, Valter Roman, and also feature guest chefs from around the world including Alvaro Maccioni of La Famiglia restaurant in London.

Alvaro is a passionate advocate of using fresh, seasonal produce and traditional methods of cooking.  He believes that 'if a chef cooks like his mother, he is a great chef.  If he cooks like his grandmother, he is even greater!' 

Valter believes cooking is not just a matter of weights and measures and following a recipe but of feeling and instinct and hands-on experience. 

Alvaro and Valter’s taste of Tuscany is a special blend of only the finest ingredients in life.  Together in the kitchen you will learn to be experimental yet not lose sight of the true Tuscan flavours and disciplines in cooking.  You will be encouraged to explore the tastes and textures of some of the finest and freshest ingredients on an inspiring culinary journey in and out of the kitchen and you will discover, recognise and start to understand the true soul of Italian cooking and how Italian food really should taste.

The Villas

The Tuscan chef offers these courses at one of these two luxurious Tuscan Villas (selection depends on availability):

Sample Itinerary

SUNDAY

  • Transfer for arrival at the villa on the outskirts of Lucca around midday for a welcome buffet lunch prepared by your Italian chef for the week, Valter Roman.
  • Buffet lunch - meet your hosts & cooking colleagues with time to settle in and relax before the first hands-on cooking lesson. 
  • Vegetarian hands-on cooking lesson with preparation of dinner
  • Welcome aperitivi and orientation before dinner

MONDAY

  • Breakfast available
  • Join us for a leisurely morning stroll around the ancient walls of Lucca
  • Pasta and its Sauces - a specially themed cooking lesson
  • Lunch alfreso followed by a short guided tour of Pisa and its Leaning Tower
  • Freezer friendly hands-on cooking lesson with preparation of dinner
  • Aperitivi and dinner

TUESDAY

  • Breakfast available
  • Depart for a Chianti adventure stopping off at an enchanting market town as well as two renowned vineyards for wine-tastings and lunch.
  • Leave Chianti and return home for an informal pizza supper in the lively village trattoria, just a short walk from the villa.

WEDNESDAY

  • Breakfast available.
  • Chef’s tour of the bustling market town of Pistoia to choose fresh produce for dinner followed by a kitchen challenge where students and chefs work together to prepare a buffet lunch with items found at the market.
  • Lunch followed by free time to relax and enjoy the peace and tranquillity of the villa.
  • Hands-on cooking lesson and preparation of a tribute to the Florentine steak dinner.
  • Aperitivi and dinner 

THURSDAY

  • Breakfast available
  • Guided tour through Lucca followed by a specially selected tasting menu for lunch at one of the best restaurants in Lucca, Buca di Sant'Antonio.  After lunch there’s plenty of time to  discover Lucca for yourself with great shopping along Via Filungo or to return to the peaceful haven of the villa for an afternoon of relax. 
  • Hands-on cooking lesson and preparation of a fish supper.
  • Aperitivi and dinner.

FRIDAY

  • Breakfast available.
  • Pastry and desserts hands-on cooking lesson and preparation of lunch.
  • Lunch followed by a free afternoon to relax or do some last minute shopping in Lucca.
  • Hands-on cooking lesson and preparation of dinner.
  • Farewell drinks, graduation ceremony and celebration dinner.

SATURDAY

  • Breakfast available and transfers to your next onward destination.


Looking for suggestions to extend your journey to Italy?

  • How about a few days in Tuscany where you will find extraordinary landscapes, gregarious people, and long, wonderful days under a hot sun.
  • What about an excursion into The Marche and the Adriatic Coast.
  • Or go to the Cinque Terre and marvel at one of the least visited but most interesting regions of Italy.

Want to extend your tour for a few more days?
ItalianVisits.com can customize your tour.

Contact: IV Travel
Visit our Tour Portal