Flavors Of The Real Italian Countryside

The cooking class was good. The recipes were straightforward, tasty, and with top-quality ingredients. The English from the chef was good. The only thing I would change about the cooking class is that I would like to have recipes to take away. There were only general measurements and quite a bit of "add a little more of X until it looks right". I respect the chef's ability, but it will be somewhat challenging to recreate some dishes. Cheese and ham tours were good. The wine tour, however, was disappointing. Essentially, we ate at a restaurant that overlooks a vineyard and is run by a winery. Contrary to the description on your website, we did not dine in a cellar or receive an explanation of the wine production (at least not beyond the basics of each wine when the server brought it to our table). [Regarding the cooking vacation packet:] The packet provided sufficient information, but the presentation of the material could have been improved. We expected a packet from The International Kitchen at check-in outlining our itinerary and activities. We did receive information from the hotel, but only after asking. Also, what we were then given was (1) a simple e-mail itinerary outlining our day at the farm and cooking class (with plaintext e-mail headers and all), and (2) an itinerary from the local tour provider for our cheese, ham, and wine tour day. None of this was a problem, and we fully realize you work with local tour operators, but on previous trips, every item we received had "The International Kitchen" on it, and materials seemed more seamless and generally more professional. Materials on this trip made things appear "cobbled together". [Regarding The International Kitchen staff:] Yes. Great interactions with the US office. Jeff & Cindy B., TX _Response from The International Kitchen:_ Thank you for your feedback! We have updated our website itinerary to more accurately reflect the lunch at the winery on day 3. In regards to the recipes, we have written your hosts and will send those recipes to you when they are received. Many recipes in Italy are passed down for generations and as such, many recipes are by 'by sight' rather than direct measurements! Regarding the cooking vacation packet, a voucher and itinerary were provided by us, with our logo, prior to your trip. Thank you again for booking your third trip with us.